My Most Precious أعز ما أملك
By Bayan Abdullateef
This work appears in Khabar Keslan Issue 1. DISORIENT
These series were inspired by a personal experience that is very relatable to many girls. At around the age of twelve, one of my teachers said to me: “A girl’s honor is like a matchstick.” In other words, once a girl had been ‘used,’ she would immediately lose her worth. Years later I realized how destructive that comment was. I began paying attention to all the times that girls were compared to consumable objects: diamonds, pearls, flowers, fruits, candy, pens, cigarettes, and so forth. I was particularly interested in deconstructing what such analogies signify in terms of how we think of women within society.
Bayan Abdullateef was born in 1993 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 2015, she graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from Dar Al Hekma University in Jeddah. Currently, she is a freelance designer and a visual artist. During my time of study I learned that graphic design and visual arts are a powerful tool that can help in shedding light and raising questions that could eventually lead to changing minds and influencing others. In my work, I almost exclusively focus on things that frustrate me, as an outlet for me and in order to participate in a wider conversation.