Hybrid Expressions

  • Nada Abughris

An imagined future scenario in which the Arabic script becomes a thing of the past, preserved in glass frames, admired for its intrinsic beauty absent in functionality, understood by only a few. The limitations of first generation mobile phones paved way for an informal hybrid language system known as Arabic Chat - A language primarily used in instant messaging, that transliterates Arabic text using the Latin alphabet and numerals. For some this represents an expression of youth culture and a regeneration of the Arabic visual culture. For others a detriment to the Arabic script. Hybrid Expressions consist of hand crafted typography reading informal Arabic greetings in four dialects in the pan-Arab colours . These posters show how dynamic the Arabic script is in visually depicting even a basic informal greeting. Frames custom handmade with Pine wood to fit individual posters.