You can crush the flowers, but you can’t delay spring.

Art historian Bahia Shehab has long been fascinated with the Arabic script for ‘no.’ When revolution swept through Egypt in 2011, she began spraying the image in the streets saying no to dictators, no to military rule and no to violence.

TED Fellow Bahia Shehab sends an important message through her street art in Cairo: “You can crush the flowers, but you can’t delay spring."

A Lebanese-Egyptian artist, designer and art historian, Bahia Shehab studies ancient Arabic script and applies it to modern-day issues. She is the Creative Director with MI7-Cairo, working on projects relevant to cultural heritage. Shehab is also an associate professor at the American University in Cairo, where she has developed a four-year Graphic Design program focusing on the discipline in the Arab world. In addition, Shehab is a TED Fellow and a PhD candidate at Leiden University in Holland.

Shehab notably created a De Beers campaign, which won an International Advertising Association gold award. Her installation A Thousand Times No was displayed at the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany, and was published as a book by The Khatt Foundation.

But most recently, Shehab has taken her art to the streets of Cairo, stenciling images in support of her country’s revolution.

You can also follow her talk on TED in less than 6 minutes here:

 http://www.ted.com/talks/bahia_shehab_a_thousand_times_no.html

Bahia Shehab. A Thousand Times No

When you want to deny all of the stereotypes that are imposed on you and that try to define your role in the world.When you want to reject almost every aspect of your reality. When you want to decline every political reality you live under. When you want to dismiss all of the options available to you. When you want to negate all the accusations that go hand in hand with your identity. When you want to refuse to be an imitator or follower of the West, yet you also refuse the regressive interpretation of your heritage. ‘A thousand Nos’ are not enough."

Plexiglass curtain. 2.5 m x 6 m, and 1016 page book documenting the research.

This work is a research-based tribute to the wealth, diversity and
freedom of expression in Islamic art.
It is a rejection of conformity and repression that often plagues
the Arab and Islamic cultures. It traces the history of one letterform
the Lam-alif (which means NO in Arabic), and repeats it a thousand
different times to illustrate the common Arabic expression: “No, and a
thousand times no!”. The book by the same title and also designed for
the installation, is a visual documentation of the different lam-alifs,
their origin, placement and medium chronologically, published by
Khatt Books in Amsterdam, 2010.

from the Lahd gallery's blog of Wednesday, 3 October 2012

We are delighted to announce that Lahd Gallery is participating in View 2012, a charity event dedicated to raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.  View 2012 will consist of two auctions including artwork generously donated by artists to aid Marie Curie.

This event is taking place at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery, London, that houses works by some of the biggest names in contemporary art. The Saatchi Gallery has kindly been working with Marie Curie to raise awareness of an incredibly important and beneficial charity.

Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the foremost charities in aiding cancer sufferers, and the support of this charity is vital in providing quality care for those affected by the disease, and to fund research into treatments and ways to help prevent cancer from afflicting future generations. View 2012 in particular is also providing funding for Marie Curie's art strategy that aims to use art as a means of improving it's hospices.

At the event there will be a silent auction of contemporary art and a live auction of "money-can't-buy experiences." Lahd Gallery is very proud to be a member of the Marie Curie Art Event Committee, and several of our artists' work are being featured in the silent auction.  Our artists include Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin, Turkish sculptor Ugur Caki, French Arabic Calligrapher Julien Breton and Greek/Arabic mystical artist Irini Gonou.

Marie Curie Cancer Care View 2012 is being held at Saatchi Gallery, London at 7.30pm on Thursday 4th October 2012.

Alexander (2011) - Ugur Caki

The Sheltering Word (2010) - Irini Gonou

Aerial (2011) - Julien Breton