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GENDER EQUALITY

Despite advances in recent years, women’s equality still faces significant challenges across regions. In conflict and post-conflict situations, women’s roles as peacemakers, mediators, and combatants are often overlooked, hampering adequate approaches to protection, demobilization, and post-conflict reconciliation. Historically, women have been sidelined from political negotiations and power-sharing agreements, despite playing crucial roles in movements, mobilizations, and civic engagements. While gender-sensitive provisions have been incorporated in political processes, justice mechanisms remain inconsistent. In the labor market, women’s contributions in informal economies are often not adequately recognized, resulting in their exclusion from social, political, and legal protections. The debate on gender equality is frequently shaped by Western-centric critiques that disregard the agency and choices of women on whose behalf they claim to speak. Fiker Institute’s Gender Equality Program aims to study how gender roles are understood in different regional contexts and how they are shaped by intersectional factors, including race, class, and geographic status. It works to analyze the rights, challenges, and agencies of women in evolving labor markets, conflict settings, and political transitions.
On Afaf Zurayk: The Supremacy of Light & Silence
Essays

On Afaf Zurayk: The Supremacy of Light & Silence

Afaf Zurayk is one of the last figures of a generation of prominent Lebanese women artists who emerged in the 1960s–70s, when Beirut was an epicenter of art and creativity. Zurayk’s work and the artist’s life is a testament to resilience and the power of art in the face of adversity.

Nicole Hamouche
Writing War, Writing Life: Examining Arab Women’s Autobiographical Narratives
Essays

Writing War, Writing Life: Examining Arab Women’s Autobiographical Narratives

Since the second half of the 20th century, the Arab region has witnessed pivotal and transformative political events that have shaped its modern history. Arab(ic) autobiographical literature has flourished in these contexts. A plethora of these texts have been written by women. This Essay aims to present a brief history of Arab women writing about their experiences of war and political upheavals in autobiographical texts.

Dr. Hiyem Cheurfa
On Leila Nseir: Beyond Social & Artistic Conventions
Essays

On Leila Nseir: Beyond Social & Artistic Conventions

Any attempt to sketch an overview of feminist thought in Syrian art today is indebted to Leila Nseir’s thinking and her revolutionary strength. Nseir devoted her life to art, sacrificing her health in the process. Yet, she was never given the credit she deserved within Syria as one of the founding figures of contemporary Syrian art and her work was never properly documented.

Nour Asalia
On Nadia Saikali: Between Aesthetics, Science, & Spirituality
Essays

On Nadia Saikali: Between Aesthetics, Science, & Spirituality

Nadia Saikali’s distinct style is a testament to the innate talent of a true creator. Pioneering the field of kinetics in the Arab World, her artistic gestures fused spirituality, aesthetics, and science, driven by an unsatiating impulse to examine truth through art, and art through truth. She introduced the concept of collaborative art in Lebanon’s art consciousness.

Juliana Khalaf Salhab
On Samia Osseiran Junblat: A Modern Artist in Retrospect
Essays

On Samia Osseiran Junblat: A Modern Artist in Retrospect

Samia Osseiran, Lebanese artist and poet, works from intuition, intellect, and an almost existential pursuit of meaning. One of the great female artists of her generation, her oeuvre encompasses a large body of work that is vibrant and diverse; a testimony of perseverance in times of personal as well as regional crises.

Maie El-Hage
On Helen Khal: The Transformative Power of Art
Essays

On Helen Khal: The Transformative Power of Art

Helen Khal’s influence on the art world extended beyond her artistic endeavors. Her extensive research documented the overlooked contributions of female artists in Lebanon, paving the way for their participation in the burgeoning art scene in Beirut. Her contributions carry substantial weight, and her legacy continues to inspire artists today.

Lara Arafeh