Though the magazine will not ship until February 2021, we’d like to invite you to pre-order your copy today. As with any independent magazine, pre-ordering helps us out a lot and ensures that you will be the first to receive it. As a thank you, pre-orders will exclusively receive a limited edition signed poster with their purchase. The posters will not be available for purchase nor distribution once the pre-order button is removed. Available until January 10, 2021
Safar is Beirut’s bilingual (Arabic-English) and biannual independent visual and design culture magazine, providing a window into cultural production in the Middle East. Born from a need for publications on contemporary design, critical investigation, thinking, and experimentation in the region, Safar invites designers, writers, thinkers and other creatives to respond to a set theme. It is the brainchild of Maya Moumne and Hatem Imam, the founders of the graphic design and art direction agency Studio Safar.
In the fifth issue, Migrations, Mekdes Yilma and Tsigereda Brihanu discuss the realities, challenges, and dangers faced by migrant domestic workers in Lebanon and their work to end an oppressive system; Miranda July shares three short stories from her collection No One Belongs Here More than You; Elia Suleiman talks about identification with the globalized Palestine and his latest film, It Must be Heaven; Mazen Kerbaj illustrates his daily attempts to learn German; Steven Heller discusses how to shift the design history discourse and his experiences with Impostor syndrome; and more.
9 Design Mags Everyone Should Read
“Entirely bilingual, Arabic and English text sits side by side, and every page sparkles with colour.”
Hear how Journal Safar is beating the odds in Beirut
“While it begins from visual culture and design, it pushes out far beyond that to tackle big, difficult stories based in politics and social justice, with a particular focus on Lebanon and the wider Arab world.”
Safar issue 5: Delivered to Stack subscribers in May 2020
“Mekdes is defiant on the English cover and Tsigereda laughs from the Arabic cover and both women speak with the assurance and composure of people who have found a way to help themselves and others.”
Le journal culturel “Safar” rend hommage aux travailleuses migrantes
“Il ne faut pas que la culpabilité vous empêche de les mettre en couverture, et rien que l’idée de rendre visible ces filles, qui sont malheureusement considérées comme des parias sociaux, nous a convaincus.”
The Daily Heller: A Magazine That Brings All of Us Together
“Having read the five issues of Safar, the Beirut, Lebanon–based indie bilingual magazine, I feel closer to a variety of cultures that I may or may not have or will ever experience firsthand.”
“We’re excited to dig into @JournalSafar Issue 5: Migrations—produced during lockdown! Covers stars are Tsigereda Brihanu + Mekdes Yilma, who run @EgnaLegnaDWU, a collective of activists advocating for migrant domestic workers’ rights in Lebanon & Ethiopia”
This Beirut-based zine uplifts Lebanon's domestic workers
“Spanning art, photography and writing from contributors as far afield as Berlin and Jeddah, spreads touch on anti-Blackness in the Arab world, the design politics of passports past and present, and gendered experiences of migration.”
“Exposure to Arabic culture that we otherwise don’t see represented in magazines– and especially visually in this rich, dynamic way.”
“Keeping alive its original promise to train a critical and thoughtful lens on experimental design and cultural production in the region.”
“A biannual and bilingual publication created to give agency to graphic design (as a field that plays an integral and important role in cultural production).”
“A platform that we could collaborate with other designers and thinkers on making to keep the conversation going.”
–Hatem Imam
