Reviving the Nubian Script, Part II: Restarting Nubian Type Design
Session 5
Saturday, 2 October 2021
12:30 PM CST – 1:00 PM CST
Talk
History
- Arabic
- English
A presentation on designing type for the Nubian script. The script rose and fall with the Three Kingdoms Era of Nubia and was revived by Nubian activists in the 90s; however, the new, typed Nubian was based on Coptic rather than the ancient manuscripts that inspired the revival. This presentation breaks down how Nubian type history can be rebooted, reviving the unique qualities of the Nubian script which were erased by the Coptic fonts which have represented the entirety of Nubian's typed history, contributing to the discussion on designing for endangered scripts and providing a resource for future Nubian type designers.
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Arbaab Eujayl
The United States of America
Hatim Eujayl, nicknamed Arbaab, is a Sudanese-American college student and linguistics nerd since high school. Increased interest in his heritage, both as a Sudanese person and as a Mahasi, led to him beginning projects like The Sounds of Sudan, the Princess Winji drawings, and eventually, Sawarda Nubian, a Nubian typeface meant to accurately replicate Nubian as it was written by Nubian scribes during the Three Kingdoms period of Nubia. Arbaab is passionate about advocating for Sudanese indigenous languages, particularly the Nubian languages, and elevating their status.
