The Wedding of Zein explores the importance of education in creating an identity for oneself. For example, in the novel, the Imam’s education is the backbone for his authority and power. Knowing about the world around you and being a worldly person significantly enhances the perspective others have of you.

In order to reflect this idea, I drew an image on a mirror to show how education is the center of life. In the center of the mirror, education is scripted in Arabic. This is to symbolize how with education and knowledge, all things are possible. With a world absorbed in conforming to ignorance and closed-mindedness, it is difficult to remember that there is more out there than we think. So many of the horrors and atrocities around the world are attributed to miscommunications, misconceptions, and ignorance. Like His Highness the Aga Khan says, it is not a clash of civilizations, but a “clash of ignorance” that plagues our world today. Above the word education, it says, “to know.” This emphasizes the importance of not just being open-minded and opening your eyes to your surroundings, but also knowing and understanding the goods and bads in the world.

Surrounding the words education and knowledge is a flurry of embellishments, ranging from short disconnected lines to more floral patterns. The diversity of patterns and colors show how a diverse breadth of personalities and thoughts come together to form society and how even though we are all different, together we are beautiful. The surface of the artwork is a mirror, this symbolizes how as our education changes, we change. Our knowledge is the best reflection of who we really are.