BFA+MFA Thesis 2023

The Living Legends of Sholoukhشلوخ الأساطير : Facial Scarification in Sudan

MFA in Design

Sholoukh—ritual face scarring—is a dying art form in Sudan. Used to distinguish members of one tribe from another, sholoukh reflects the tribal pride of an individual. In the past, sholoukh was seen as important as having a passport for a tribe member, however, it was not always applied by choice. Using just a razor blade, the wisest, most senior tribal elder would scar the face of a child, initiating them into the tribe for life.

As this tribal art form fades away, the dwindling sholoukh-bearers have become living legends in Sudan.  To honor them, I create a collage of images of these beautifully scarred individuals. To celebrate sholoukh and its symbols while giving choice back to the individual, I create a set of facial tools that allow someone to experience the beauty of sholoukh either temporarily or permanently, preserving this Sudanese cultural treasure and reviving it for future generations, celebrating the diversity that Sudan represents.

Frewayni’s Garden: Preserving Tigrayan Culture in a Period of Ethnocide

MFA in Design

The recent and ongoing genocidal war in Tigray, Ethiopia, has witnessed the looting and destruction of countless historical religious sites, ancient manuscripts, and artifacts, leaving Tigray’s remaining cultural heritage extremely vulnerable. Such cultural loss erases a shared understanding across generations, robbing them of their history and identity. My work seeks to safeguard Tigray’s cultural heritage and collective memory, informed by literature on cultural preservation efforts in post-war societies, and a series of interviews with Tigrayans in the diaspora and in Ethiopia.

Coffee is ceremonious in the Tigrayan household, representing a time of togetherness and intergenerational cultural exchange. This is embodied in my work in a series of distinct jebenas, traditional Tigrayan clay coffee pots, featuring near-field communication (NFC) technology—the same technology that enables wireless card payments. The NFC chip in the jebenas links to Frewayni’s Garden, an interactive online archive of Tigrayan culture. Each unique jebena’s form represents a different time, place, or piece of history, directing viewers to its specific story in the garden via the NFC interface. Frewayni’s Garden is inspired by the community gardens Tigrayan refugees have created in Sudan since being displaced by the war, poetically symbolizing new life, beauty, and healing after pain. In this way, I illustrate how cultural heritage can be preserved, and passed down using the latest technology within traditional Tigrayan objects.

Refashioning Style from the Outside-In: A Pakistani Diasporic Response

MFA in Design

Pakistan’s traditionalists and modernists hold opposing political, religious, social and nationalist views creating a constant tension within the culture set against a broad diasporic backdrop. Within the country, this tension creates a local fashion industry with two extremes, one side reflecting traditional influences and the other reflecting globalizing modernist trends.

Informed by my own diasporic perspective, I offer a third space that is neither completely traditional nor entirely modern. Methodologically, I address this tension in several steps. First, I analyze the craft and context of traditional Pakistani men’s clothing. Next, I incorporate traditional construction techniques into the making of garments that reflect aspects of tradition and globalization, using materials sourced from across the world. Finally, in a series of five looks, blending several influences including Persian, North Indian, Afghan, Colonial, and Neo-Colonial styles, I generate hybridized garments that offer an alternative perspective, where traditional elements and the global vocabulary of fashion co-exist dynamically and harmoniously.

TYPE NRITYA

Graphic Design

With a particular emphasis on conventional Indian dance styles, Type Nritya translates hand movements used in dancing into Hindi inspired typography. It demonstrates the integration and similarities between dance and design and how one form may be transformed into the other. My Indian background, with love for both forms, is what sparked this creative fusion through the patience and trust in the process, communication of an idea and embracing uniqueness. By translating dance with a focus on typography, I push boundaries of what design and dance in India signify, while also giving Indian dance forms a new form.

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Fidgetopia: Edutainment Environment Raising Awareness of ADHD in Qatar

Interior Design

Hey there! I’m Ahmad, a Qatari interior designer with a passion for creating spaces that are both beautiful and functional. When I’m not designing, you can usually find me hanging out with my furry friends – I love animals more than you do! I’m also an adventurous person and always up for a new challenge. Despite being an ADHD person, my superpower is my ability to read people and understand their design needs. I’m a good listener too, but don’t take it personally if my mind wanders – it’s just my creative ideas flowings! My design philosophy is simple: design the experience before the space. With a kind and generous spirit, I approach each project with a sense of fun and playfulness, and I’m always looking for new ways to infuse joy into my designs.

As a Poem:

My superpower is reading people

Don’t worry, I use it in design… Nothing illegal

I design your experience, not just the space,

To make it feel like a warm and inviting embrace.

So let’s work together, and create a masterpiece,

that truly reflects you… or inspired by Greece.

Adventurous and silly, with nothing to hide

It’s not my fault, my ADHD decide

Cats, lizards, an animal lover… If you would

I love animals, more than you could

I’m Ahmad, your interior designer, and guide

Crafting from scratch or refining, let me be your stride.

Above The Clouds

Painting and Printmaking

Aisha Al-Abdulla is a multidisciplinary artist who tells stories about her fictional characters and gets in touch with her inner child and mental state by using a combination of fantasy-narratives, world-building, and character design. Japanese animation, western cartoons, video games, and how globalization has affected Aisha’s interests all served as inspiration for her visual language. She generates sketches through a stream of consciousness, which are then refined to create a character and the environment they live in.

Aisha’s thesis project is an installation based on one of her worlds, “Above the Clouds,” which exists beyond human reach and where creatures that look like women live. These creatures are responsible for changing the sky and creating weather conditions that can help the earth function. Aisha uses paper pulp to show how, despite her efforts to bring her fictional worlds into the material world, they could quickly disappear because of the fragility of the material.