I am Ardwan Al-Sabti (ࡀࡓࡃࡁࡀࡍ ࡀࡋࡎࡐࡕࡉࡀ), a Graphic Designer specializing in Mandaic art and typography.
Born as a Mandaean, it was difficult for my family to stay safe in the 90s in Iraq. Finally, when I was nine, my parents decided to give us a chance to live a better life than they had, so we moved to the Netherlands. The lowlands enjoy beautiful architecture, countless waterways, and colourful nature, as well as the friendly and curious Dutch people who know how to appreciate the small details in life. Since we moved, I have been in love with the Netherlands.
There was one problem, I knew many people who communicated with me in too many languages, such as Dutch, Mandaic, Arabic, and English. So I felt I needed only one language – one communication system that everybody could understand without Translation.
Thus, I signed up to study media design in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. However, this study presented many possibilities, such as communicating through video, audio, animation, and print media. Print media, in particular, caught my attention. Ultimately, I saw myself as someone who loved holding a book in his hands. Even for my graduation project, I decided to design a remarkable but ordinary book. It had no text, only surreal pictures carefully composed into one entity. They speak volumes and are full of symbolism. Even if it is difficult to understand something, one could start to suppose. The Media Design talent prize jury said it was, ''A very fascinating and remarkable book" when they chose to give me the talent award for the best-designed project in 2010.
Born as a Mandaean, it was difficult for my family to stay safe in the 90s in Iraq. Finally, when I was nine, my parents decided to give us a chance to live a better life than they had, so we moved to the Netherlands. The lowlands enjoy beautiful architecture, countless waterways, and colourful nature, as well as the friendly and curious Dutch people who know how to appreciate the small details in life. Since we moved, I have been in love with the Netherlands.
There was one problem, I knew many people who communicated with me in too many languages, such as Dutch, Mandaic, Arabic, and English. So I felt I needed only one language – one communication system that everybody could understand without Translation.
Thus, I signed up to study media design in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. However, this study presented many possibilities, such as communicating through video, audio, animation, and print media. Print media, in particular, caught my attention. Ultimately, I saw myself as someone who loved holding a book in his hands. Even for my graduation project, I decided to design a remarkable but ordinary book. It had no text, only surreal pictures carefully composed into one entity. They speak volumes and are full of symbolism. Even if it is difficult to understand something, one could start to suppose. The Media Design talent prize jury said it was, ''A very fascinating and remarkable book" when they chose to give me the talent award for the best-designed project in 2010.
With this foundation, my devotion to books continued to increase. All types of books, textbooks, art books, pop-up books, and electronic books, piqued my attention. However, the books that captured my heart were the ancient Mandaic manuscripts, written in a language few can read and furnished with geometric illustrations that nobody can understand. Unfortunately, only translations of the written text were available, but no full explanations of the drawings. Recognizing this issue, I felt challenged to decipher these illustrations and understand their hidden meaning.
I spent four years of my previous academic study at the graphic design department of the Academy of Art and Design Sint Joost (AKV | st. Joost) in Breda, the Netherlands, to dig deeper into the Mandaic illustrated style, wishing to see its construction and understand the choices that my ancestors had made. I continued comparing all these manuscripts until I started recognizing patterns, just like language. It was an illustrated language with its grammar to communicate on a different level than the script. This discovery made such a special moment that I started to prepare myself to capture and develop this style for a modern and understandable level while finding my own "Mandaic" design style.
Reaching this level made me ask more profound questions: why does the Mandaic alphabet look how it does? Why does the "A" look like an "A," and why does the "B" look like a "B"? Why does the "B" follow the "A"? The study of the illustrations made me understand that every choice was made with a reason. I believed strongly that my questions should have an answer. So, I used my interest in the alphabet to lay my last foundation by studying the Mandaic script and its form.
My progress through these two studies (Mandaic art and typography) has developed into something exceptional. I have a good feeling about this, which makes it possible for me to conclude. We live in the Mandaean diaspora these days. Still, I see the light shining over a modern golden age for Mandaeism.
I spent four years of my previous academic study at the graphic design department of the Academy of Art and Design Sint Joost (AKV | st. Joost) in Breda, the Netherlands, to dig deeper into the Mandaic illustrated style, wishing to see its construction and understand the choices that my ancestors had made. I continued comparing all these manuscripts until I started recognizing patterns, just like language. It was an illustrated language with its grammar to communicate on a different level than the script. This discovery made such a special moment that I started to prepare myself to capture and develop this style for a modern and understandable level while finding my own "Mandaic" design style.
Reaching this level made me ask more profound questions: why does the Mandaic alphabet look how it does? Why does the "A" look like an "A," and why does the "B" look like a "B"? Why does the "B" follow the "A"? The study of the illustrations made me understand that every choice was made with a reason. I believed strongly that my questions should have an answer. So, I used my interest in the alphabet to lay my last foundation by studying the Mandaic script and its form.
My progress through these two studies (Mandaic art and typography) has developed into something exceptional. I have a good feeling about this, which makes it possible for me to conclude. We live in the Mandaean diaspora these days. Still, I see the light shining over a modern golden age for Mandaeism.