Khatt Chronicles: Stories on Design from the Arab World

About Khatt Chronicles: Stories on Design from the Arab World

Khatt Chronicles, in collaboration with afikra, features remarkable designers, illustrators, and researchers from the Arab World, in engaging conversations about their practice, vision, and aspirations. A podcast series that chronicles and introduces the latest explorations in Arab visual communication and material culture.

Publisher

afikra

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Jul 2019

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

81 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Khatt Chronicles in Conversation with Zainab Fasiki

   Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Moroccan (Andalusia-Based) activist and comics author Zainab Fasiki. They start the conversation discussing her how she has been an avid reader of French comics as a teenager in Fez. Then discovered political comics from Moroccan and Arab authors, and started developing narratives, and drawing characters in her notebooks, unconsciously turning her notebooks in comics books. When she turned 16, her older brother gave her a graphic tablet as a gift, believing in her talent and this allowed her to start publishing her illustration at an early age. Trained as an engineer, and after a short professional stint in the field, she returned to her childhood passion and took on comics and illustration as a career. She was inspired by comics magazine such as Samandal in Beirut, Garage in Cairo, Skifkif in Casablanca. She attended workshops by the renowned Skifkif comics collective and trained herself further by undertaking illustration projects for social causes. The conversation started with discussing Zainab's collective Women Power in collaboration with Jawjab, a cultural space in Casablanca that brings together girls from popular neighborhoods and offer them training workshops, networking and mentoring opportunities. Zainab candidly discusses her studies as engineer and her travails to find her place in the Art world and into the illustration profession. Her interest in drawing started from her early school days and her facination with drawing the human (and female) body in particular got her into trouble with her teachers and classmates. Even in later years she faced censorship by Instagram and social media because of her drawings, thus facing censorship from both humans and computer algorithms. This led her to decide to publish her graphic novel Hshouma (Shame) and to explore and question why the female body is often censored. She followed her passion and is still surprised by her success: publishing Hshouma which got translated to 5 languages, followed by four other comics books, and traveling the world participating in workshops with some of the best people in the field. The conversation moved to the sustainability of making a living out of illustration. She worked in an engineering office next to her work as graphic artist until it became untenable with travel and commitments. Moreover, the harassment and death threats in Moroccan online media against a group of 20 feminists (artists, journalist, authors),among them Zainab, led her to move to Andalusia Spain in 2024, which reminded her of her city of origin Fez and made her feel home. She was forced to leave Morocco to continue practising her work as illustrator. Zainab discusses her first comics, Feyrouz Versus the World (2018), published by the Beirut-based comics publishers Toshfesh. This was then followed by her renown Hshouma (2019), Iraniana (2024), Madame Haram (2025), Féministes Musulmanes (2026). She states that her books are her eternal babies, and that they are a beautiful and peaceful means to fight social taboos. She talks about her characters, the symbolism behind her color palette (bright colors and unreal with blue skin inspired by hindu goddesses) that lighten-up the heavy and sad topics she tackles in her work. Zainab Fasiki is one the visual artists and graphic women featured in the book, Revealing Recording Reflecting: Graphic Women from Southwest Asia and North Africa (Amsterdam: Khatt Books, 2024). @khattfoundation @khatt_chronicles @khatt_books @zainab.fasiki www.khtt.net www.khattbooks.com Zainab Fasiki, born in Fez, Morocco, in July 1994, is a mechanical engineer by training. Comics became her escape in a society that doesn't accept women's decisions about their bodies and careers. After gaining online recognition for her courageous illustrations since 2016, she has published her comics with publishers such as her graphic essay Hshouma (Shame) in 2019, Iranienne in 2024, Madame Haram in 2025, and Feministes Musulmanes in 2026. She currently resides in southern Spain. Connect with Zainab Fasiki 👉 https://instagram.com/zainab.fasiki Hosted by Yasmine Nachabe Taan Dr. Yasmine Nachabe Taan is Associate professor of Design and Design History at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut. She holds 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 culture in the Middle East and 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. Connect with Yasmine Nachabe Taan 👉 https://www.instagram.com/yastaan/ Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206) » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB (https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB) » Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489 (https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489) THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA) ABOUT AFIKRA afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. 📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters (http://afikra.com/chapters) 🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts (http://afikra.com/podcasts) ⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership (https://www.afikra.com/membership) 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_ (https://www.instagram.com/afikra_) 🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official (https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official) 🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra (https://twitter.com/afikra) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

2. 

   4 Sept 2026

   Khatt Chronicles in Conversation with Leen Charafeddine

   Yara Khoury Nammour interviews Lebanese graphic designer and educator Leen Charafeddine. They start the conversation discussing her entry into the field of Graphic design which stemmed from her interest as a teenager in the advertising profession. Later she unrolls in the graphic design program at the Amrican University of Beirut (AUB), then goes on to receive two masters degrees from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and the School of Poetic Computing (SPC) in New York. After a short stint in advertising, Leen's work shifts to graphic design and creative coding. Leen discusses in detail her work with the Lebanese children’s publisher Dar Onboz. At Dar Onboz she is reintroduced to the Arabic language and script, and her interest in multidisciplinary and experiential education is triggered. This lead her to pursue an MA degree at RCA with a thesis project for teaching math in an alternative and visual way. This interest further launches her into creative coding and she joins the School for Poetic Computation in New York. Leen talks about a few of the publication design projects she worked on with Dar Onboz, and elaborates on how she incorporated her experiences with the children in her family in these publication projects. One of the focuses in her work became teaching the Arabic language in alternative ways, and looking into playful ways to underline connections between science, art and making. After her RCA graduation she started working on a paper engineering project with her nephews and nieces that used math and building to describe how things grow in the real world. Based on that project she was approached by the Palestinian museum to create more paper engineering works for The History of Palestine Through Everyday Objects project which consisted of a series of pop-up books and a box of activities. Further collaborations with the Palestinian Museum included the Sanasel Arabic language educational online platform developed with the accessibility for the Palestinian diaspora and building connections in mind. The conversation revolved around Leen's interest in language, mathematics, creative coding and how these can define how we see and practice design in the future. She expresses her interest in learning new skills and technologies, and using them to empower marginalised communities and amplify the voices of those that are being silenced. The conversation ends with a discussion about an Arabic coding language and the current challenges that coders face when working with Arabic typography in a dynamic way, and in real time. @khattfoundation @khatt_chronicles @khatt_books @leencharafeddine www.khtt.net www.khattbooks.com Leen Charafeddine is a graphic designer based in Beirut, Lebanon. Her practice is focused on creating alternative pedagogical tools. She graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut, and an MA in Visual Communications from the Royal College of Art, London. She is a self-taught creative coder in Processing, and attended online courses at The School for Poetic Computation in New York to learn OpenFrameworks. Connect with Leen Charafeddine 👉 https://instagram.com/leencharafeddine Hosted by Yara Khoury Nammour Yara Khoury Nammour is an award-winning graphic designer and typographer. Her research interests include Arabic typography particularly bi-linguality, type design, legibility, book design, modular systems and much more. Connect with Yara Khoury Nammour 👉 https://www.instagram.com/yarakhouryn/ Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206) » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB (https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB) » Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489 (https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489) THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA) ABOUT AFIKRA afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. 📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters (http://afikra.com/chapters) 🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts (http://afikra.com/podcasts) ⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership (https://www.afikra.com/membership) 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_ (https://www.instagram.com/afikra_) 🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official (https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official) 🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra (https://twitter.com/afikra) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

3. 

   7 Aug 2026

   Khatt Chronicles in Conversation with Nora Aly

   Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Egyptian graphic designer Nora Aly. They start the conversation discussing her entry into the field of Graphic design and her studies and masters project at the German University in Cairo (GUC). They discuss her interest in Arabic lettering and typography that engage with language and help shape collective identity. They discuss in detail her discovery of the Nubian culture in Egypt, its endangered language and script, and the revival of the Nubian script. Nora talks about her design research project for a Nubian stencil font, a henna tool kit, and a publication, and elaborates on the importance of publishing and developing creative tools that raise awareness on the topic and that contribute to the livelihood of women in the Nubian community in Egypt. The conversation moves forward to address Nora's interest in exploring the Arabic script's structure and flexibility, manipulating the letterforms to create lettering that visualize meaning. She discusses as case study the Cairo Art Book Fair, and the ideas behind its dynamic logotype and visual identity. She then talks about her recent publication, "7 Years of Rejections," which embodies her belief in the importance of embracing rejections and documenting failed ideas and concepts. Nora stresses on the importance of publishing these work with explanations; she believes that they help advance the discourse on the challenges and imperfections of the creative process. She voices her fears that in the future relying on AI might dilute the personality in the work of graphic designers. However, she hopes that this might also be a moment that will revive an appreciation for the handmade and for human labor. Nora closes the conversation with a recommendation to make "A note to ourselves to be truthful to our creative process." Nora Aly is one the visual artists and graphic women featured in the book, Revealing Recording Reflecting: Graphic Women from Southwest Asia and North Africa (Amsterdam: Khatt Books, 2024). @khattfoundation @khatt_chronicles @khatt_books @nora_aly www.khtt.net www.khattbooks.com FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206) » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB (https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB) » Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489 (https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489) THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA) ABOUT AFIKRA afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. 📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters (http://afikra.com/chapters) 🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts (http://afikra.com/podcasts) ⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership (https://www.afikra.com/membership) 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_ (https://www.instagram.com/afikra_) 🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official (https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official) 🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra (https://twitter.com/afikra) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

49

Social presence

97

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Khatt Chronicles: Stories on Design from the Arab World

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.