Nazl El Finiq

Abstract

The birds of Lebanon bear imposed narratives of seductive animals living in flow with nature. This thesis started as an escape from reality through drawing these birds, only to touch their social realities again: the birds of Lebanon are social artifacts which, in the political meaning they encode and their location, lead to specific social issues inherent to Lebanese society.

The project follows the Phoenix, a legendary bird that appears in eastern mythology. In its journey for rebirth in Egypt, the bird collects fresh aromatic herbs in the Lebanese mountains that would catch fire as rays of sunlight set the bird’s body alight. Located in the vicinity of Beirut’s port, Nazl el Finiq - the Phoenix’s motel - accommodates for both birds and humans while pushing the irony of an area in which workers have been abused by their employers for years.