FiftyFifty, the travelling lettering exhibition that aims to collect and showcase the work of college students worldwide, will be at the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture in Metaxata, Greece, on 27 July.
Supported by the University of Sharjah and endorsed by the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypl), the project is an initiative of Nada Abdallah, assistant professor at the University of Sharjah’s College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD), who is also ATypl board vice president. FiftyFifty uses typography and calligraphy to unite student work across different cultures and languages. Founded in 1957, ATypl is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to typography and typeface design.
“Humanity, love, care, understanding, and tolerance are not just desirable but essential qualities in our challenging times. Words are powerful,” explains Abdallah. “Our goal is to encourage students from different backgrounds to create uplifting reflective designs. At FiftyFifty we will combine the work into a multi-language mosaic of positivity, inspiring individuals to work towards a better world.”
FiftyFifty put out a global call for typographic artworks consisting of one word in their respective languages that encapsulated the theme ‘Positive Synonyms’. A total of 150 works were selected by the jury from an incredible 1,500 submissions by students representing 34 universities from 32 countries in 20 different languages. The collection of hand drawn and digital calligraphy, typography, and lettering designs is now a travelling exhibition, featured as 50×50 cm black-and-white posters. The 150 works in the exhibition were animated in collaboration with Mahmoud Kanso, creative art director at nybl, the Dubai-headquartered machine learning platform.
FiftyFifty will open at the CFAD in September 2024. The global showcase will continue in 2025 under a new theme.
