Ode to Beirut
2020 | Publication Design | Graduation Project | American University of Beirut
Ode to Beirut is a trilingual (English/French/Arabic) artist book that acts as a celebration of Beirut through a poetic interpretation of the city. It is an exploration and immersion in the experience Beirut offers, in its intensity and essence, a love letter to the city. The publication includes bits and pieces of texts, stories, poems, and lyrics that reflect a passion for Beirut. Each text is in the original language it was written in, not translated: Arabic, English or French. Some were written by known writers, poets and singers, others by friends of mine, others by myself. Ode to Beirut is a limited-edition book, that can be found in special bookstores that sell artists books, fanzines, diaries and all sorts of alternative publications.
Introductory text: In the past few months, Beirut, which has a thousand names, and many faces, has shown us new facets. Beirut the revolutionary, resplendent, dreamed of for a long time, fantasized, finally real, made of hope, strength, courage and resilience. But also, Beirut the confined, made of loneliness, growing questions, and silence sometimes punctuated by birdsong. In these moments of lockdown where we can only imagine her, dream of her and hope that she will, once again, rise up from the blows struck at her, I allow myself, throughout these few stories, poems, and reflections, to offer you fragments of Beirut, a poetic walk through its streets that we all miss.
