A GEM-SET, DIAMOND AND GOLD 'FDEYTAK' BANGLE, BY NADINE KANSO FOR BIL'ARABI

Nadine Kanso was born and raised in Lebanon. She majored in Communication Arts and Advertising Design from the Lebanese American University. These two degrees were to lead the foundation for her subsequent forays into many diverse fields of artistic production, from photo-based work to jewellery with the recurrent them of the Arab identity today. She founded Bil Arabi - which literally translates to 'In Arabic' - in 2006; an unusual jewellery line which plays on Arabic words, employing them to create pieces that project a contemporary understanding of the inherent beauty, calligraphic form and lyricism of the Arabic alphabet and language.

Fdeytak is the act of sacrificing in the name of love. A grand gesture which in this piece translates into diamonds, rubies, emeralds and black diamonds - colours that reflect the UAE flag and moreover, the colours of all Middle Eastern flags. In this one-off piece, Kanso is 'sacrificing' in the name of her love for the Middle East; a region which inspires her foray into jewellery design. Nadine is more than anything else, interested in capturing the emergence of the modern Arab identity in the 21st Century. Apart from creating beautiful pieces, the notion of finding new ways to express what it means to be an Arab in today's world is something Nadine is constantly exploring, the question is always being posed, with the answer left to the individual.