design histories in swana
The (Arab) Queering of Design Practice
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It has taken many years for queer subjects from the SWANA region to be represented in design practice. It has taken even longer for queer voices from the design community to emerge. Marwan Kaabour and Wael Morcos both operate within this realm.
Wael is the co-founder of Morcos Key, a Brooklyn-based design studio collaborating with arts & cultural institutions, non-profits, and commercial enterprises in North America and the Middle East. Marwan runs his own design practice, which operates in the fields of art and culture, as well as launching Takweer in 2019, a platform that aims to explore queer narratives in Arab history and popular culture.
Both practitioners explore the ways their design practice as a tool that gives visual form and space to tell queer stories. Beyond the subject of their work itself, they also use their own voice and gaze to queer the design process itself.
Speaker
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Wael Morcos
Wael Morcos is a graphic designer and type designer from Beirut, Lebanon, and a partner at the New York based design studio Morcos Key. Upon receiving his BA in Graphic Design from Notre Dame University (Lebanon), he spent three years developing identities and Arabic-Latin bilingual typefaces, in ad...Read More -
Marwan Kaabour
Marwan Kaabour is a graphic designer and artist. He works with institutions, brands and individuals in the art and cultural sector. He is also the founder of Takweer. Marwan moved from his hometown Beirut to London in 2011 to pursue a master's degree, before joining Barnbrook – one of the UK’s m...Read More