The Fig & The Olive

By Laila Alnaqbi and Aydan Nix

The Fig & Olive project is a curated collection of art submissions centered around themes of Palestinian culture, heritage, and identity. It aims to celebrate the richness of Palestinian traditions through visual storytelling. The book showcases a diverse range of artistic expressions from poetry, painting photography and more. By bringing together artists who explore history, resilience, and cultural pride, the project created a space for dialogue and appreciation. The ultimate goal was to celebrate the deep-rooted narratives that define Palestinian identity in contemporary and traditional contexts.

Gallery:

Graphic design, curation, social impact, teamwork and branding

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Client/Audience:

This project was created for everyone, but it holds particular significance for Middle Eastern artists. It is a space to share, celebrate, and preserve their stories through art.

My Experience:

Reaching out to over 30 artists was both exciting and overwhelming—each submission came with a story. Conversations with the artists who took part turned into exchanges about culture, identity, and the power of art. As each submission came in we felt responsible to honor each one by including it in the book and curating it thoughtfully. We created our own collages to include throughout that complimented the submissions unifying the pieces of work. Designing and directing the book had many moving parts to it beyond just collecting the submissions; balancing layout, pacing, graphic design and binding. Every decision, from placement to typography, felt personal. The most important part of the experience was that it came from a place of love and gave me purpose as a creative

Behind The Scenes

Outcome:

We had the book perfect bound and ended up with six copies. Each copy securely holding the collective effort and passion of the artists involved. Seeing it displayed at our end-of-year exhibition was beautiful, seeing people engage with the work, flip through the pages, and connect with the stories was very fulfilling. Beyond the physical book, this project built a community, uniting artists through shared culture, creativity, and conversation.

Collaborators:

Laila Alnaqbi - lailaalnaqbix@gmail.com

Aydan Nix - aydannix@gmail.com

  • Collage Process

  • Back Cover Photo

  • Flyers for submissions

  • Behind the scenes