By Lana M. Waheed“They say, the home is where the heart is. Today, let me show you it can be more than that.” – Abeer Seikaly
Yesterday, we published an article about Abeer Seikaly and her determination to use her skills and talent to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees. Today, in this Ted Talk, Abeer Seikaly takes a shot at the concept of “home.”
This Jordanian artist, architect, and designer’s resume boasts a career that took her around the Middle East. Her impressive career is punctuated with awards designed to recognize the most innovative of designs. More specifically, in 2012 she won The Rug Company’s Wallhanging Design Competition with her design, “The Chandelier,” as well as the Lexus Design Award for her “Weaving a Home” design. The latter was an inspiring project to create a robust fiber that expands and contracts easily to offer easy relocation, whilst also serving as a source of water collection for sanitation. This strong fiber was designed to be used as a material for tents to house displaced refugees.
In this Ted Talk, Abeer uses personal anecdotes to delve into what it means to tackle loneliness and a new environment. She uses her experiences as a new student in a brand new place to re-imagine the notion of “home.” No doubt, in an increasingly global and nomadic society, some of the lessons she lays bare are more relevant than ever before.