the oleander tree
The Oleander Tree is a Lebanese Arabic novel by the late author and feminist, Emily Nasrallah. The aim of this project was to visually narrate the story through typography, texture and material experimentations. The core concept was mainly focused on illustrating the incidents and emotions through the use of different materials from expressive hand lettering and calligraphy all the way to experimenting with mediums like paper, ink, Oleander leaves, watercolor, clay, metal mesh, and most importantly handmade paper.
The book aims to convey the notions of entrapment and decay, which represent the main character's flesh and soul. As fragile as it is, the papers were sewed and made into an accordion using just one single thread from beginning to end: the thread of life.
To the brave and joyful Emily Nasrallah who signed this very book with words of love...