Who Is She

Personal information

Founder and Executive Chair, Lecturer, Sculptor, Writer
Nadine Abou Zaki

Contact information / Work

Red Oak
Postbox: 
113-6194
Madame Curie Str., Minkara Bldg.
Hamra - Beirut, 1103 2100
Phone: 
200 780 1 961
Fax: 
202 780 961
Mobile: 
245 220 3 961

Education

Education: 
  • Doctorate degree, Philosophy, 2005, La Sorbonne- Paris IV, France.
  • Master's degree, Philosophy, 2000, Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon.
  • Bachelor degree, Political Sciences, 1999, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
  • Trainning, Sculpture, Sculpting studios of the artists Aref Rayess, Mona Saoudi and Sami Rifai.

Areas of expertise

Expertise: 
  • Editing a Women's Journal
  • Philosophy
  • Sculpting
  • Writing
Languages: 
  • Arabic
  • French
  • English

Work history

Jobs: 
  • Founder and President, 2017 – present, Red Oak Association.
  • Lecturer in Philosophy, 2013 - present, American University of Beirut.
  • Founder and Executive Chair, 2007 - present, The New Arab Woman Forum (NAWF).
  • Editor-in-Chief, 2003 -2017, Al Hasnaa Magazine.
  • Sculptor, 1999 - present.

Honorary office and memberships

  • Selected by the Lebanese Ministry of Culture as the sculptor ambassador for Beirut World Book Capital, 2009.
  • Represented Lebanon in sculptures at the 6th Francophone Games, 2009.
  • Represented Lebanon in sculptures at the 5th Francophone Games, 2005.

Productions

Publications highlights: 
  • Abou Zaki, N. (2018). Le journal d’un mȗrier (édition bilingue français-arabe), Paris : L’Harmattan Edition.
  • Abou Zaki, N. (2006). Introduction aux épîtres de la sagesse: L’ésotérisme druze à la lumière de la doctrine de Çankara [Introduction to the epistles of wisdom: Druze esoterism in light of the Çankara doctrine]. Paris: L’Harmattan Edition.
  • Abou Zaki, N. (2012). De femme à homme, Sur l’actuel féminin, Récits et correspondances avec Pierre-Marie Hasse, Paris : L’Harmattan Edition, Second Edition, Rabat : Marsam, 2013 [Arabic translation Min imra’a ila rajol, Beirut: Dar al-Farabi, 2017].
  • Abou Zaki, N. (2010). Le lieu et le corps / Al Makan wal Jasad [The Place and the Body]. Paris: L’Harmattan Edition.
  • Abou Zaki, N. (2015). L’homme terrible de la ville, Nazih Khater: témoin, acteur et inspirateur de la vie culturelle de Beyrouth de 1960 à 2014, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2015. [Arabic translation Nazih Khater: joumhouriyyat al ‘a’daa, Beirut,: Dar An-Nahar]
Exhibitions, lectures & performances: 
  • Exhibitions:

- The Diary of a Mulberry Tree, A dance and theater performance written and directed by Nadine Abou Zaki, Hammana Artist House, Lebanon 2018 and Al Madina Theater, Beirut 2017.

- Please don't touch the Trash, An Interactive Art Performance, BIPOD- Beirut International Platform of Dance, Al Madina theatre, Beirut, 2016.

- Please don't touch, An Interactive Art Performance, Beirut Art Fair 2015, Station/Agial gallery 2014.

- Five benches in stone installed in front of the French Cultural Center (title: Le jardin du dialogue [The Garden of Dialogue]- Damascus Street- Beirut, 2010.
- Monumental sculpture installed in front of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry- Beirut, 2009.
- Participation in Emaar International Art Symposium- Dubai, 2008.
- Individual sculpture exhibition Et je m’envole (And I fly off), 2008.
- Individual sculpture exhibition L’un regarde, l’autre agit (One contemplates, the other acts), 2004.
- Participation in Mechref Art Symposium- Lebanon, 2003.
- Individual sculpture exhibition “Tours du silence” (Tours of silence), 2002.
- Monumental sculpture conceived and made for the Ministry of Tourism- Hamra- Beirut, 2002.
- Participation in Aley International Art Symposium- Lebanon, 1999-2001.

  • Lectures & Conferences:

- A talk about Nature, Freedom and Truth in Thoreau's Journal, St Jospeh University, Beirut, Lebanon, 2016.

- A talk about Creation and Tawhid, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2016.

- A talk about Nazih Khater: The terrible Man in Town, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2015.

- Speaker at the opening sessions of the annual New Arab Woman (NAWF) Forum, since 2008.
- Speaker, "A Women's Uprising: Emancipation in the Arab World", discussion at the Korber Forum, moderated by TV presenter Minou Amir-Sehhi, Hamburg, Germany, 2013.
- Speaker, "The new Arab woman forum: The transforming role of Arab women and its future impact on society", paper presented at the German-Arab Friendship Association (DAFG), Berlin, Germany, 2013.
- Speaker, “Socrates and Women”, paper presented during the “Philosophical Symposium on Socrates-True Wisdom”, Hellenic Cultural Center, Lebanon, 2013.
- Speaker, discussion session over the book De femme à homme (From woman to man), moderated by François Zabbal at the Arab World Institute, Paris, 2012.
- Speaker, opening speech at Qatar International Business Women Forum, Qatar, 2009.
- Speaker, “Voices of Karama: a panel discussion with women’s activists from the Middle-East”, New Orleans, USA, 2008.
- Speaker, “Transmission des cultures et du dialogue interculturel à travers le rôle de la femme” [The role of women in the transmission of cultures and intercultural dialogue], UNESCO, Paris, 2008.
- Speaker, “Love in Digital Islam”, hosted by the feminist writer Fatme Mernissi at the Cultural Center of Asturias, Spain, 2008.
- Speaker, “V-Day to the Tenth” - New Orleans, 2008.
- Speaker, “V-Day Festival- Women in Conflict Zones”, New York, 2006.
- Speaker, "New Media for a New Arab Woman", paper presented during the conference entitled “Women, Dissidence and Creativity” organized by Nawal El-Saadawi, Cairo, 2005.

 

Awards and Distinctions

Awards: 
  • Order of the French Academic Palms (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes académiques,) Ministry of the French National Education, 2016.
  • International Award for Secularism from the Republican Committee on Secularism (France), 2009.
  • The first international poetry prize on the occasion of the United Cities of the World at Issy-les- Moulineaux (France), 1999.