ACT Magazine's Second Issue

See The ACT creative studios present ACT magazine Issue 2 : “Warda Al Hani” – July 2020

“This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it” Nina Simone.

We live in a world that we have created over the years, we didn’t create it the way it is now, but we are part of the present in aim to create a better future.
We, now, are taking action towards change we want to see. 2020 didn’t come to play any games. It came to change everything. A new decade. It came as an intro of a full act. So hard to resist everything that is happening, you go throw ups and downs, but you have to know when to fight it back. When to resist your dark thoughts and when to stop watching the news, when to take action so you can proceed.

We went through quarantine. I personally put myself in full isolation for a full three months. March 10 was the first day in isolation. Didn’t know what to expect. Didn’t know what I am putting myself into. Not that it was my choice in any kind of way, but I did it. The first two weeks were still new, trying to adapt to the fact that I cannot leave the house. I cannot see my parents or my friends. I cannot have a contact with any human being whatsoever. And it was hard. It is hard to resist old habits. It’s hard to be forced to stay at home. I don’t like to go out much or party, but my artistic process is linked to the observation I do on a daily basis. People around me inspire me, the weather, the fashion, the places, the chaos. Everything inspires me in a way and helps me create. Unfortunately, I was deprived even from my artistry. I am not the kind of artists who pretend to be fine, who pretend to create just to be relevant at the moment and I do not seek conventional manners. So, I went through real, very serious depression for two months and a half. Before the lows, during the first two weeks of quarantine I started to prepare and work on our next issue. Before Corona started, we had few meetings with our contributors. Some of them. We talked about visuals and our schedules. Little did we know. First, I didn’t want to stop working on the next upcoming issue because the subject is very interesting to me, and I was going throw my research of a better understanding.

I believe the best way to get a better understanding on any topic, is to research up close. to ask questions, to get answers.
Feminism and women empowerment have always been a case I study, my life research in a way. I have been surrounded my whole life with different types of women. And wanted to embrace my research, to take it forward, to put it into perspective and to make it the topic of this issue.

The title of this issue is WARDA AL HANI (Madame Rose Hani – Part Two ) which is one of Gibran Khalil Gibran’s novels where he tells the story of a young woman who is married to a rich man, but she feels imprisoned. One day she finds the light inside the darkness in a young man and decides to leave her husband to witness love and modesty with this young person. Society judged her. Her powerful ex-husband made use of his power to put her reputation to question. but she didn’t really care because she knows everyone’s story and decided to have her own. She decides to live for love.

How many Wardas have you seen? Being judged for their life choices and their decisions. How many men used their powerful voice and social positions to put the reputation of the women that they love (who didn’t share the same interest) in question. How many persons are like Gibran, take the time to actually seek the truth and decide what is the right thing to do? We chose this novel by Gibran as the title of our second issue because it best describes how society objectifies woman for their actions. A hint of what to come in this issue; So many women sharing the same and different point of views, stories about experiences they face as women, stories about daily battles and a society that keeps on reminding them that they need to do more. Not one day do they feel any kind of freedom to just be, and when they do, they are put to question again. Stories of women. A society that objectifies women.

MOST OF THE CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE ARE FROM BEIRUT, LEBANON. OUR PRAYERS GO OUT TO THEM AND OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY OF BEIRUT WHICH SUFFERED A TRAGIC EXPLOSION THAT ROCKED OUR SPIRITS. STAY STRONG AND CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD. LOVE ACT