Bahia Shehab

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

  • Name: Bahia Shehab
  • From: Lebanon
  • Occupation: Artist, designer, writer, activist, and historian 
  • Contribution/Impact:Bahia Shehab is a designer, artist, and historian with work focusing on cultural heritage and identity, as well as a strong influence from Islamic history. 
  • Interesting Fact: As a professor of the Practice of Design she has written books based off of her research in areas such as art history.  
  • Art Pieces: Portfolio
  • Awards:
    • TED Fellow 2012 
    • 100 Women 2014, 2013 
    • Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture 2016 
Bahia Shehab
Adel895, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bahia Shehab is a multidisciplinary artist that studied to receive her undergraduate degree in Graphic Design in Beirut, Lebanon. She then went on to get her master’s Cairo, Egypt where she still resides today. Her artistic specialty is graphic design and Islamic calligraphy used to cover social issues such as feminism and Arab politics. Her goal is to solve problems of now by peering into the pass. Her work is an example of this as she heavily researches Arab lettering to better understand it. Her dedication to her craft has put her work in many exhibitions worldwide. She has also done meaningful street art such as her “A Thousand Times NO,” graffiti art, and has gone to interviews to explain her stance on social change.  

Videos of Bahia Shehab

“A Thousand Times NO,” Ted Talk

Using art as an opportunity to make change

Shehab speaking out against injustice

Shehab speaking at Typographics 2018

I Am Handout

Handout

To download the Handout:

  1. Click on the image
  2. Right-click and select Save Image As…
  3. Print
  4. Write a description on the line and decorate.
  5. Cut out and use for a selfie to share on our social media page.
  6. Download a card and envelope template and write about an idea this leader inspires.