Exploring a large range of materials, Choucair combined her knowledge in science, Islamic geometry, engineering and poetry to produce many of the design works made over a period of five decades. Despite the many challenges faced by Choucair during her career, she went on making work that was both modern and Arabic. Based on her own Arab heritage, rather than western traditions and forms, she introduced geometric abstract art with a modernist approach. She was fascinated by Sufi geometry and the concept of infinity. She had a particular interest in developing interlocking shapes and building modular forms while exploring, manipulating and combining new materials in developing solutions not only for sculptures and paintings but also for design products. She confronted those who saw her work as too “feminine” or too European, and refused to be categorized as a woman artist, or a Lebanese artist. For her, art and design were universal. Her approach in eliminating the boundaries between art, architecture and design will continue to inspire present and future generations of artists and designers.
About the Artist
Saloua Raouda Choucair is a pioneer of abstract art in the Middle East. She is an artist with a multifaceted career who did not only create paintings and sculptures but also helped shape thinking about design processes and production.
About the Author
Yasmine Nachabe Taan is Associate professor of Design and Design History at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut.
She hold a PhD in Art History and Communications Studies from McGill University. Her research focus is on design writing and research, visual culture and gender representation, design, media, photography and visual cultutre in the Middle Eastand North Africa. She publishes articles on visual culture in a number of international journals. She has illustrated more than twenty children’s books and has participated in a number of residencies in Berlin, Cairo, Beirut and Bratislava. Her artwork has been exhibited in New York, Berlin and Beirut.
About the Publisher
Khatt Books is a specialized publishing house, established in 2010 as a commercial arm of the Khatt Foundation. Khatt Books focuses on topics such as typography, graphic design, architecture, other applied and visual arts from or dealing with the MENA region.
