This is it! In my thesis and new project I embark on a journey to discover the Kafiye of today. Starting from the assumption that the Kafiye is the strongest symbol to come out of the Arab world, I uncover the elements that have made it what it is today. By touching on issues like identity and appropriation, I make a powerful discovery filled with original research and never before exposed findings.

al-Kafiye: A Potent Symbol Uncovered is a project that traces back the origins and narrates the path of a design that is synonymous with one of the foremost global political issues, the Palestinian dilemma, and yet has managed to infiltrate high fashion and street wear all around the globe. Arab at its core, the Kafiye manages to be a multitude of things at the same time—traditional, ethnic, practical, stylish, trendy, scary, and revolutionary. Adopted by various fashion designers, commercialized and cheaply produced in China, one would expect the Kafiye of today to have lost any meaning or depth. That is far from the case, as this extraordinary item is still reinventing itself. Keeping the power of this symbol alive depends on the spread of information and the expansion of discourse.

Through a process of analysis and understanding, the story of the Kafiye is uncovered from Ancient Mesopotamia until contemporary times through a novel study of design, identity and material culture opening up the discourse on design in the Arab World. For further information, please log on to www.kafiyelab.org (online soon), a new organic platform, to learn more and promote the social design debate on the Arab World through interaction, dialogue and exchange.

I will be presenting my research findings in the first Design Criticism Conference - Crossing the Line, this Friday April 30, 2010 in NYC. More information here.

Everyone is invited! Please RSVP at dcrit@sva.com to attend. Hope to see you there.

Did you know that the way we eat has changed more over the past 50 years than the last 10000 years? That our modern supermarkets has on average 47000 products, many of which are made with the same ingredients, many from corn! The food industry is at its most powerful state with a “faster fatter better cheaper” ideology. Where do we stand in all of this dichotomy? The power lies in our hands every time we buy something.

Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner worked for over six years to help shed the light on all these issues and more in his enlightening documentary Food, Inc. If you haven’t seen it already, then you should definitely do so. I guarantee it will change your outlook on food, or at the minimum become a bit more aware.

I ordered something off the Victoria’s Secret website a couple of months back. That was it. I now live in fear. Every time I go down to my mailbox, put in the key and turn, I have one of their catalogs in there. I mean one if I am lucky – sometimes I get two or three! I can’t escape the mass targeting; I am now under their radar, and it seems for good. This is a recurring thing with many retailers; the list is so long that I wouldn’t know where to start.

As I complained about my suffering mailbox, several of my friends, male and female, had the same critiques. I systematically opened my mailbox and take out a bunch of catalogs, leaflets, and flyers and dump them directly in the recycling bin where all other tenants in the building had done the same. I kept wondering why do these companies even bother? At least online there is a junk folder to contain all the unwanted email bursts, but who is stopping the mail spam?

(more…)

It was 1989. I was a 10-year-old Arab who had fled the Lebanese civil war with my family and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Not only was my name unfamiliar and virtually unpronounceable (Hala pronounced Ay-la in the south) by almost every American I interacted with, but I was the only Arab in my class, possibly even in my school. Students stared and pointed, and the brave sometimes ventured over to quench their curiosity with numerous questions about the far away land of Arabia. Do you ride on camels? What about magic carpets? What is the desert like? Have you ever seen rain, winter, snow? Do you own guns? Shoot people? Are you like a billionaire? I was shocked; not only had I never seen a camel in my life, I had just come from a country on the Mediterranean Sea with no sand or desert whatsoever! What were all these kids talking about?

Arab stereotypes have tainted American popular culture for more than a century. According to Dr. Jack Chahin, “Arabs are the most maligned group in the history of Hollywood. They are portrayed basically as sub-humans.” In his book Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Dr. Chahin goes on to explain that after looking at more than 1000 films with Arabs in them he could draw a dangerously consistent pattern of hateful Arab stereotypes that have been so normalized that most people don’t even notice them or see them anymore. He goes on to emphasize that a few images have been repeated over again and again, those of the Arab villain.
(more…)

SUPERBLOG. SUPERVIDEO

“If I’d only followed CNBC’s advice, I’d have a million dollars today - provided I started with a hundred million dollars.” Jon Stewart

One of my favorites from The Daily Show a couple of weeks back. I had to post it!

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

I finally registered on Twitter today. I have been curious about this phenomena for some time but have never really had the urge to explore it; I feel like Facebook takes up enough of my time!! To tell you the truth I don’t know how much I will stay active on Twitter but only time will tell. I guess like any first-timers, I will only get better with time and practice…

(more…)

Yes, it’s exactly what it looks like! This is a Mason jar lamp. I had no idea these things even existed until I saw one at a local thrift shop. I mean I was intrigued – who made these things and were people actually selling and buying them?

I started a bit of an information hunt around to discover the story behind this weird object. Turns out, there is a whole jar art craft community! There are many ideas for jar craft as suggested by Marie Browning in her book Really Jazzy Jars. Enthusiasts also can join the various blogger communities and get inspired from places like www.homecrafting.com. I guess if you have a lot of time on your hands and well, jars, this is a new hobby for you. On a more serious note, with the way things are going, we can expect to see a bigger do-it-yourself surge across various categories. Who knows what might just come out of your home next!

I was lucky to have a canceled class today as I managed to catch MOMA’s viewing of video artist Jesper Just. After a screening of some of his films, there was an informal talk between him and Guiliana Bruno, film and visual culture scholar. My favorites were his most recent trilogy: A Voyage In Dwelling, A Room of One’s Own, A Question of Silence - 2008 and the black and white A Vicious Undertow - 2007. Just’s work is very intense drifting between reality and the subconscious with emphasis on the aesthetics and high production value. He deals a lot with desire and challenges cultural stereotypes with a painfully beautiful ambiguity. Beautifully scored, his pieces can be enjoyed over and over again. Although you can find parts of his film on youtube, I would not suggest you ruin the experience as it will not do his art justice.

I saw Michel Gondry in 192 Books - Chelsea, NYC - last week for a talk and signing of his new book You’ll Like This Film Because You’re In It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol. Gondry, a pioneer director famous for shooting avant-garde video clips for artists like Bjork, The White Stripes and The Chemical Brothers within others, is a unique character indeed. He showed us his latest Bjork video clip - Declare Independence - his concept was around the relationship of the singer and her concert audience. This came about after watching Bjork live, “She feeds her audience with her energy and they would respond to her by giving her energy back and so forth” Gondry explained. That explains the creation of the machine Bjork sings into in the video! The clip does have a light fascist feel to it as well; something Gondry assured us was not done on purpose at all!  Bjork - Declaring Independence

His book, on the other hand, introduces a do-it-yourself concept inspired from his latest film Be Kind Rewind. Gondry wanted to put filmmaking in the hands of as many people as possible and establish it as an entertaining past time far from commercial activities and the commercial system. His 80-page guide for creativity and how to have fun while doing it is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in film.