Aala Sharfi Interview

Aala Sharfi

On choosing the York MDes program

I completed an undergrad degree in architecture and then wanted to transition into graphic design, but I was looking for a program that would give me the freedom to explore work or do research that I was interested in. I was interested in a program that would give me the room to be a bit more interdisciplinary. So that’s why I chose this program.

I looked at OCAD University but I felt that their masters program wanted a very specific outcome. I looked at some schools in the US. And in the end it was between York University and the design studies program at Parsons but Parsons didn’t have a studio component, it was just research. Because I wanted to do creative work, this program was the better option.

On research

My research has transformed since I started. I was interested in questions of identity from the beginning, and at first I was trying to figure out a way to think about issues of representation in terms of space. I was doing some mapping work, but now it’s come down to my performance of identity and specifically my Sudanese identity. I’m using design to interpret Sudanese identity and look at how it changes. It’s a challenge because identities are not fixed entities.

On the program experience

I think my experience has been rewarding. A lot of my struggle in the beginning related to my difficulty trying to explain a thing that’s very natural to me. I didn’t really think about my Sudanese identity as much before. But my thesis has made me try to zoom in and zoom out, to think of the little things that make me Sudanese or the large things that encompass Sudanese identity. And now there’s an uprising happening in Sudan. It’s kind of crazy that I’m doing my project while that’s happening. I feel that this theoretical idea of identity as a performative concept is now happening in real time and I can respond to that.

On developing over time

At the beginning I was looking at language. I was looking at bilingualism using Arabic script and English script and the juxtaposition of the two communication systems. I then turned to different mapping systems. What I was trying to do was find a way to visualize and explore an idea of cultural identity. I went through different ways of looking at it but ultimately I was able to narrow my focus to a way that communicated to a broader audience.

On the design process

I started a lot of design studio projects just looking at language and the forms language takes. For example, is it possible to visualize how things sound through typography? Or, how can I visually manifest the difficulty or moment of pause that occurs when I have to flip between English and Arabic in my head?

On her background

I move a lot. My parents live in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. I grew up between Canada and Sudan. I went to university in England. The globe feels like a very connected thing to me. I was trying to show that connected nature when I looked at mapping for a time, but my mapping exercises always pointed back to a kind of “identity flipping,” between something and coming back to something else. I then began to look at how the notion of identity is quite political. I started looking at histories of political dissent or political uprising and now that a revolution is taking place in Sudan as we speak, that’s what I’ve stayed with.

On influences

I found a lot of cultural theory I read to be very influential. I also completed an elective in anthropology and while I was the only designer there, that course has turned out to be quite helpful for how I am now looking at my thesis. The elective gave me the tools to shift my thinking from an anthropological lens to one of political science, to explore an idea of identity. It also gave me a look at the field. It made me realize that I’m not the only person thinking these things, that there are people who have completed bodies of work on similar topics.

I have a background in architecture, so it’s been good to be exposed to people that are doing different things because I’m quite new to this. Our trip to Cranbrook Academy was great because I got to see other approaches to graphic design, including their thesis books. And I did a course at ArtEz University in the Netherlands over the summer which was rewarding. Just being there and looking at everything helped me to find my own place for how I want to pursue my thesis here.

On what’s next

I have no idea what happens next. I think the program has been quite helpful by just being surrounded by people that are doing what I like to do. I’m also teaching now and maybe that’s a route that I would want to consider in the future. But more than anything I’d like to practice. My thesis has fostered an interest in cultural challenges so maybe I’d like to work with cultural institutions or something similar.

On her favorite aspect

I think what I like most is how people in this program are from different backgrounds. I was really afraid of applying to graduate school because I thought everyone would be a graphic designer and I thought I would be the only person that wasn’t. I like that there’s a lot of people here that are from different backgrounds. There’s a lot of feedback and cross-fertilization that happens here between people because they have different backgrounds and different ideas.