Jana Traboulsi is an artist and graphic designer from Lebanon, shortlisted for the V&A's Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics in 2021. Her book, Kitab al-Hawamish (Book of Margins), investigates the role of margins and marginalia in Arabic book production.

Just as historical Arabic manuscripts frequently carry a central text and its interpretation side-by-side, the chapters of the Kitab al-Hawamish are intertwined throughout the book. Chapter 1 examines Arabic writing and recitation: the scale and shape of letters, dots and accents, and the ways language is related to the body. Chapters 2 and 3 respectively address the practices of the scribe, and the material properties of parchment and paper.

For Jana, 'the marginal' refers not only to the literal perimeter of the page, but to the many subtle and rich details of Arabic book design that have been marginalised or forgotten. Her work restores to prominence a design history that she was never taught.

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