'I want to create a visual revolution'

Artist and graphic designer Ghada Wali on preserving and promoting the Arabic language and culture in creative ways - that also include legos.

In 2017, graphic designer Ghada Wali gave a TED Talk that went viral. In the video, the graphic designer, who hails from Egypt, described an incident that occurred when she was studying for her masters in Italy; she had been missing her native language, Arabic, and decided to visit the local library to find books in the language. What she didn't expect to find was that the 'Arabic and Middle East' section of the library held only books on topics such as terror organisations.

"My heard ached," she said in the Ted Talk, "because this is the way we (the Arab world) are portrayed to the world from a literary perspective."

In a separate interview with WKND recently, she elaborates on her thoughts: "It's crazy how the whole world overlooks an entire region with genius minds in all fields, including arts, culture, music and so on. It became a personal mission to try and change that through my work."

After that visit to the library, Ghada sprang into action, looking for a way to keep the Arabic script alive while changing the world's perception of it. "I asked myself how I could stop the world from seeing us as evil or terrorists? How could I save and honour the Arabic script and share it with other cultures?"

These were the questions that would lead her to create Let's Play - a unique bilingual learning system using Legos. In her tiny apartment in Florence, Ghada created a full Arabic abstract display typeface by building each letter using differently coloured Lego blocks. Each letter is explained through sound, form and words in function, with the equivalent in Latin, resulting in a pocket book with the letters simplified in their initial, medial, final and isolated forms. This learning system is available as a 3D letters book, dictionary as well as a 'Join the Lego Blocks' online game and app - all designed to teach kids and other early learners the Arabic language.

"Arabic is a very complex language," she adds. "Lego helps simplifying the letters into abstract anatomical units, with visible colour keying to the ascenders and descenders of each letter. The 'building' call for action adds to the fun of interactive gaming."

The use of Legos - other than being an effective tool for this project - was also about sending a message to the world.

"What if I could combine two significant symbols of innocence and Arab identity? What could be more pure and innocent and fun as a Lego? One set of building blocks can make two languages - after all, we are all made of the same building units," she says.

Today, her TED Talk has over 1.5 million views and has been translated in over 21 languages. It was chosen as one of the best 100 graphic design pieces in the world by the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago. It also won the Granshan competition in Munich, and was featured on the World Economic Forum, Quartz Africa and Dubai Design District amongst others global platforms.

But for Ghada, it's about changing lives, whether it is by preserving the language or by helping refugees integrate with their host societies. "A lot of refugees, especially in European or non-Arabic speaking countries, face the instant feeling of not belonging which is simply a major language barrier that affects their daily lives and normal interaction with their host societies. Because Let's Play is a bilingual learning system, it is an attempt to mutually shake the language barrier of both the parties."

Having grown up between the UAE (her father lived in Dubai) and Egypt, Ghada didn't always want to be a graphic designer - in fact, her first love was art. "I have always been quite an introvert and I think I was not very good in verbal expression, so I found that art was was my only outlet to the world. People constituted my main muse - I found myself especially drawn to the eyes and faces. I usually painted portraits. But I wanted more than art to connect with people. I found visual communication - or design - to be a platform where I can use my art to affect people's lives, even if slightly."

Now a leading graphic designer in the region - Ghada has worked on a number of projects that would intimidate just about anyone - she is all the more convinced about the power of graphic design which, she believes, can do anything - including topple a dictatorship. "The first interaction between a human being and his surrounding is sight which is why I think design and visual communication is one of the most important mediums of communication. Graphic design's potential is not in being static artwork. Just look at the 2011 revolution in Egypt - the city was flooded with graphic design from posters to signs to graffiti. Visual communication just spoke louder than words."

Her ultimate goal is to use this power of graphic design to proudly showcase the Egyptian and Middle Eastern identity to the rest of the world - in a contemporary manner. "One who doesn't have a history, does not have a future. I have gained recognition for work that specifically celebrates my identity but in a globally understood formula. An ancient civilisation that has been overlooked, commercialised and then fallen into abused clichés. The role of design is to find innovative ways to preserve history while keeping up with the fast-moving future."

Ghada's latest project is an initiative to rebrand The National Library in Cairo after it was devastated in 2014 by a car bomb explosion. It's one of the largest libraries in the world, holding more than 60,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and other languages.

"I want to create a visual revolution in Egypt and the Middle East. I want to spread graphic design education and increase awareness of its necessity in our daily lives. I hope that one day, I can be responsible for implementing the role of graphic design in education, health, politics and any other field that can contribute to promoting our country."

Looks like a project that started because of a visit to a library has come a full circle. One thing is certain - we can hope to see a lot more from Ghada Wali in the future.
janice@khaleejtimes.com