The short film Studio Visit with Liron Lavi Turknich is available to watch at the top of the page.
Typeface designer and researcher, Liron Lavi Turknich, uses her expertise in Semitic languages to foster unity in Israel’s multicultural society. Her groundbreaking project, Aravrit, is a hybrid writing system, born out of her fascination with the findings of 19th-century French ophthalmologist, Louis Émile Javal. Javal’s work suggested that people can recognize Latin words by viewing only their upper halves. Liron’s curiosity led her to explore this theory further within the context of Hebrew and Arabic, revealing that Hebrew words could be recognized from their lower half and Arabic from their upper.
Situated in the heart of the Middle East, Israel is a diverse and multicultural society. Home to Jewish and Arab communities, each with their unique languages, the country often experiences cultural divides that are, in part, linguistic. Through her creation of Aravrit, Liron has carved a space where both Hebrew and Arabic can coexist within the same written word, reflecting the inherent multiculturalism of Israeli society. In Aravrit, each word is a blend of both languages, with the upper half of Arabic letters and the lower half of Hebrew ones coalescing into a single, unified form.
Her inspiring message of linguistic harmony has manifested in various mediums. She has printed messages in Aravrit on shirts, mugs, bags, and even jewelry. In 2021, Aravrit‘s reach extended globally, with a massive thirteen-meter-long sculpture displaying the words ‘Towards Tomorrow’ featured at the Dubai Expo.
The accompanying video provides further insight into why Liron believes in the importance of merging these two languages into a single word, symbolizing an optimistic message of coexistence within Israel.
The featured video Studio Visit with Liron Lavi Turknich is part of the web series Yotsrim by Shachaf Dekel. Yotsrim includes five seasons and 73 episodes. The series won the Best Documentary award at the NYC Web Fest in 2019.
