Leila Abdelrazaq
Leila Abdelrazaq
Artist, Author
-------------------------------------------------------------------------"When you're writing a graphic novel, especially, the wording and text can't just tell the story, the pictures and text are working together."
Leila Abdelrazaq is a detroit-based Palestinian artist and author. She graduated from DePaul university in Chicago, Illinois, with a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts and a B.A. in Arabic Studies. Abdelrazaq's comics and illustrations fuse art and activism by exploring issues related to diaspora, refugees, border, and history. Her work is informed by her experience as the daughter of a Palestinian refugee. She has been involved in local and national community organizing around the issue of Palestine since 2011.
Abdelrazaq's debut graphic novel, Baddawi, has been shortlisted for the Palestine Book Awards. In addition to that, her work has been featured in VICE Magazine, The Electronic Intifada, and in World War 3 illustrated, among others. Abdelrazaq has not stopped her work there, she is also co-founder of Maamoul Press, a multi-disciplinary collective for the creation, curation, and dessemination of art by marginalized creators whose work lies at intersections of comics, print making, and book arts.
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| Printmaking: "Resist Together" |
Leila Abdelrazaq is an artist to introduce to students because of the stories she tells through her art. As was stated above, her work is informed by her experience as the daughter of a refugee. While not all students have first hand experience with life as a refugee, it is a story for all to learn about.
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| Illustration: "Israeli Apartheid Week 2017" |
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| Comic: "The Sardine Tin" |
Through the introduction of Abderazaq's work, students will learn about printmaking, comic illustrating, and graphic novel writing. Educators can present these methods to students as a way to tell their stories/stories that are important to them, as well as a way to give voice to issues that students care about.
Suggested Reading
Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq
Baddawi is the story of a young boy named Ahmad struggling to find his place in the world. It explores the childhood of the author's father from a determinedly boy's-eye view. Ahmad was raised in a refugee camp of Baddawin in northern Lebanon, one of many thousands of children born to Palestinians who fled (or were expelled from) their homeland during the 1948 war that established the state of Israel. Ahmad's dogged pursuit of education and opportunity echoes the journey of many Palestinian people, as they make the best of their existing circumstances while remaining determined to one day return to their homeland.