PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Samia Henni’s book on the desert is a passionate manifesto that deserts are not empty.

Colonial and imperial powers have often portrayed arid lands as “empty” spaces ready to be occupied, exploited, extracted, and polluted. Despite the undeniable presence of human and nonhuman lives and forces in desert territories, the “regime of emptiness” persists. “Deserts Are Not Empty” challenges the colonial tendency to imagine deserts as empty, vacant lands.

“Non-empty emptiness”—something which seems empty but isn’t—is a key idea explored through the book’s graphic design language. The book content is woven with a mirror image of itself that is blurred and disintegrated into a fine dotted texture. Seemingly empty, this texture is the same information as the book itself.

The book has a foredge with an inscription that reads DESERTS ARE NOT EMPTY, created by building up layers of black and white line patterns in the book’s left and right outer margins. Taken alone, these margins seem decorative without meaning, but taken together, they yield a 384-page reiteration and echo of Henni’s insistent conviction that deserts are not empty.

Contributors offer poems in their native languages, and in their own handwriting. These entries give a sense of the diversity of voices present, rather than preferencing a single voice.

Chapter titles are shifted and staggered on the page—this give a sense of motion and journey as one reads through each unique desert realm.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 5.75 x 8.25

Number of Pages: 384

Binding Method: Sewn and glued signatures

Paper: Munken Print White 80gsm, Grenita 150gsm

Typefaces: Univers, Arabic Brown, Handwriting (various)

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director:

Art Director:

Book Designer: Laura Coombs

Jacket/Cover Designer: Laura Coombs

Illustrator:

Photographer: Harry Griffin

Picture Editor:

Production Director:

Production Coordinator:

Production Artist:

Other Credits: Editor: Samia Henni; Contributors: Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Menna Agha, Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, Yousef Awaad Hussein, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Danika Cooper, Brahim El Guabli, Timothy Hyde, Jill Jarvis, Bongani Kona, Dalal Musaed Alsayer, Observatoire des armements, Francisco E. Robles, Paulo Tavares, Alla Vronskaya, and XqSu; Copyeditor: Grace Sparapani; Director of Publications: Isabelle Kirkham-Lewitt; Assistant Director: Joanna Joseph

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