Touma, Nadine & El Khalil, Zena

Arts + Children's Book + Comic | Lebanon

Nadine R.L. Touma (text): "When I was five years old I wrote" The sun is a bowl of milk!" Since then, haunting images, words have inhabited walls, papers, photos, diaries, and now books. My love of life unravels in words becoming stories, stories becoming artworks, artworks becoming books for everyone to relish in their worlds." Nadine Touma.

Nadine Touma is an artist, writer, and filmmaker who lives and works in Beirut. She has created numerous installations, literary works, and artworks. Touma has participated in exhibitions in Lebanon, Egypt, and throughout Europe. She is currently working on a series of books, animations, films, and music for babies, young readers, and young adults in Arabic.

Zena El Khalil (Artwork): Zena el Khalil, born 1976 in London, has lived in Nigeria, London, New York, and Beirut. Zena is an installation artist, a painter, and writer and holds a MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her artwork centers on issues of war, love, family and religion and is a direct reflection of the time and space she lives in. el Khalil has been involved in a love/hate relationship with Beirut for the past decade- clearly evident in her work.

el-Khalil is also the co-founder and director of xanadu* xanaduart.com, an art space/collective based in Beirut with a small extension in New York city, dedicated to promoting young and/or under-represented artists.

During the July ‘06 Israeli invasion on Lebanon, el Khalil’s blog, beirutupdate.blogspot.com, received international acclaim and was highly publicized on news portals such as CNN and the BBC. Excerpts were published in papers, including The Guardian and Der Spiegel Online

Zena has exhibited her artwork internationally, working out of her studio overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut. On occasion her Jack Russell Terrier, Tampopo, has been known to accompany her to the studio. She is currently working on her first novel and her artwork can be viewed at ziggydoodle.com