Event 1: Collective Bread Diaries

For my first event, I attended Collective Bread Diaries: A Taste of Protest. This was a presentation held on campus by Haytham Nawar, a professor at The American University in Cairo. Over the span of a few years, Nawar collected drawings of bread from all over the world. He would accept drawings from anyone willing to send them as long as they followed a few guidelines: they must only use structural lines, no shading was allowed, and they must be black and white. He later put all of these drawings into a book detailing where the drawings were from and what kind of bread each drawing represented. His overarching vision was that bread unites people in times of strife and has frequently been used as a symbol of revolution. He wanted to capture that desire for independence and freedom from all over the world.

Unfortunately this was the only photo I
took with Hatham Nawar

What I found most interesting about his project was the way Nawar collected the drawings. He used an online contracting service and offered a small compensation for those who wanted to draw for him. The money offered was not enough to be enticing so using the contracting service was really just a way for Nawar to reach out to a large audience of potential volunteers. The internet has given us the capability to spread ideas faster and start projects with people from all around the world without using an abundance of resources and time. It is inspiring the way we can connect and create with those from far away places.