We are back
It might be odd for a type foundry to choose to stop publishing typefaces for a couple of years, but the truth is it did not really seem like a choice. When the world order consistently and mercilessly pushes us to do more, produce more, promote more, make more money, faster and faster, slowing down seems like a wrong and highly risky thing to do.
Needless to say, the whole world has been in a turmoil in the last few years, seemingly more than ever before. People from all over the planet are struggling to make sense of all the events that have been unfolding since Covid times and that we are collectively exposed to on a daily basis. This is definitely more evident in some specific regions rather than others.
TPTQ Arabic is one half Lebanese. In the last few years alone, Lebanon has been through one of the most devastating economic collapses of the century, a cataclysmic explosion (one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history), a series of violent events executed by a corrupt state and sponsored by foreign interference, and most recently, a disproportionate assault on its lands and people which resulted in large human and infrastructure losses. An assault that was preceded by more than a year of genocide that was taking place in Gaza under the passive watchful eyes of a system that has no regard for human lives, especially when they belong to certain regions, ethnicities and religions.
In a climate where your traumatized family, friends and neighbours were in survival mode, publishing and promoting typefaces did not feel important.
This is not to undermine the cultural importance and relevance of the type design field. We are passionate about type and design and we are thankful to be able to do this work and contribute to the Arabic type library. Sometimes, however, other priorities take over and dissociating is not an option. Being from Lebanon and living in The Netherlands made for three main paradoxical feelings: Gratitude for being in a safe place and getting to continue living a seemingly normal life (at least on the outside), Guilt for the privilege that many of the Lebanese and Palestinian people did not have and Anger towards that same safe place that you have called home for more than fifteen years and whose government is contributing to the detriment of your home country and its people. The ensuing dissonance was paralyzing at times.
Some say that to keep going is a form of resistance. While this is certainly valid for some people in some situations, in this specific case, and because our work is focused on the Arabic script, it was more sensical to stop for a while in solidarity with all the people of this region whose lives and dreams were forcibly halted. Admittedly, this decision also comes from a place of privilege, one that we decided to use to be more aligned with our principles. Was it a risky thing to do? Time will tell.
While we halted the publishing part of our work, we certainly continued developing exciting projects and collaborating with talented and engaged designers. Now that the region has a form of cautious breather in the form of ceasefire deals both in Lebanon and in Gaza, it seems like a good moment to share with you what we have been up to. In the hope of a brighter future for Lebanon, Palestine and Syria among others.
A heartfelt thank you to all our customers, collaborators and followers for the patience and continued support. We are resuming the publishing part and we have several typefaces coming up, starting with a new release this week. Stay tuned!
