Arabic Student Work

Students in CNELC's Arabic program frequently produce original pieces as part of their coursework, including collages, paintings, graphic novels, poetry and multimedia productions. Browse some examples of past work.

Visual Art

A newspaper article written in Arabic based on "The Vow of the Virgin," a short story by Libyan author Ibrahim al-Kuni

This original news article describes the floods in the story from the perspective of the government. The piece contextualizes the natural disasters in Libya at the time and how King Idris might have handled them.

Drawing of a yellow sun with Arabic script and waves on the sides

The poem describes a man in prison and his lover, awaiting his release. The two sides of the artwork demonstrate the woman stuck waiting by the cold sea and the man trapped in the heat of a desert prison.

Illustration of a silhouette of birds, snakes and beetles in a field

This piece advocates for an end to cyclical oppression. The people shown at the bottom are angry at their exploitation by the elite, represented by the crows, snakes and locusts who walk all over them.

This project portrays the obstacles that four female characters face in their eternal pursuit for freedom. Clockwise from top le

This project shows the obstacles faced by four women in their pursuit of freedom. Clockwise from top left: "The Vow of the Virgin," "A Story," boat symbolizing freedom, "A Gypsy Without a Harbor" and Salwa Bakar

Story Illustration

Sarah Tranquilli illustrates and contrasts the main characters, Tuta and Lilith, from two feminist pieces

drawing of two people next to a tree below Arabic writing

This project interweaves the main characters from two feminist pieces: Tuta from Maysaloon Hadi's story "The Elephant and the Ant" and Lilith from Joumana Haddad's story.

Drawing of people on a bus in a city, with Arabic script above

In "The Elephant and the Ant," Tuta follows the path of the ant, allowing her voice to be silenced and others to control her beliefs and behaviors.

Drawing of a man outside the window while a woman talks to him through the curtains, with Arabic script above

Despite the seemingly anti-feminist nature of Maysaloon Hadi's story, I realized it promotes a different version of feminism: one that involves playing into the patriarchy as a means of fighting it from within.

Drawing of two women talking with a small child nearby and a man lying in the grass outside, with Arabic script above

This is the opposite of Joumana Haddad's "tear-down-the-house" style of feminism portrayed by her Lilith.

Drawing of a woman entering a room where a man lies in a hospital bed, with Arabic script above

I wanted to show how these two versions of feminism can exist side-by-side and build off of one another.

Drawing of a woman smiling and standing on top of the world, with Arabic script above

I created this project to depict how Maysaloon Hadi's story would change if Tuta followed Lilith rather than the ant.

Multimedia

This illustrated visualization of Mahmoud Darwish's poem is accompanied with line-by-line translation in both Arabic and English. Download the full presentation (PDF).