Mothanna Hussein: The art of defiance

Co-founder of graphic design studios Turbo and Warsheh, as well as legendary Palestinian radio station Radio Alhara, Mothanna Hussein is the name behind some of the SWANA scene’s most iconic graphics. Mothanna specialises in crafting visual identities for the steadily proliferating creative realms in Jordan and Palestine. 

Originally from Bethlehem and based in Amman, Mothanna is bridging hearts and minds with his art, forging visual personas for the most pertinent creative collectives striving for Palestinian liberation. Mothanna is a principal figure behind the “Free Palestine Project” (FPP), an international collection of politically charged artwork. The project exhibits the breadth of solidarity and artistic expression for those in the liberation movement, consisting of acerbic cartoons, paintings by the likes of Omar Sha3, calligraphic marvels, and vivid, abstract pieces. A historical record and visual anthem for freedom, FPP is a reminder of art’s power to channel and radiate strength, solidarity, and humanity. It’s an extension of Mothanna’s larger art collective, Warsheh (workshop in Arabic), which began producing similar works, albeit broader, over a decade before FPP. “Generally, everything we do for Palestine and to challenge America is rewarding, and as a workshop, we became known for these posters,” he explains. 

Mothanna co-founded Warsheh in 2010, a graphic design studio that became known for its daring political posters. With a focus on unencumbered creative resistance, Warsheh is renowned for its visually dissenting works. As Mothanna’s first self-standing endeavour, it was a turning point for his artistic practice: “It was the first time I established something independent, away from other companies,” Mothanna tells Dazed MENA. “We became known around the time of the Arab Spring, so we felt unconstrained to be daring and creative with our political posters.” The company has since grown to create graphic work for dozens of brands, bolstering the visual stories of local creatives with its avant-garde, futuristic work. Mothanna went on to launch Turbo, a graphic design studio and space in Amman, along with Saeed Abu Jaber.  

Mothanna’s influences surpass the region and even the realm of art entirely. “Inspiration isn’t one of my favourite words,” he admits before explaining that he draws it from unexpected sources: Baligh Hamdi’s Egyptian compositions, Abu Bakr Salem’s soulful Yemeni songs, light as an element and a concept, and most recently, Iranian films. “Hollywood is familiar, but there’s a world of film beyond that,” he notes, lamenting the absence of similar cinematic exploration of the Arab world. “I envy what Iran and Japan have created in their cinema. One day, perhaps we’ll have our own.”

One of Mothanna’s most culturally impactful ventures is Radio Alhara, the virtual Palestinian radio station he helped establish during the onset of the pandemic. Initially conceived as a means for artists in the SWANA region to creatively commune during quarantine, it immediately found its footing as a pivotal global platform for solidarity and activism. The station offers an eclectic mix of music and spoken word worldwide, bringing together listeners who contributed their own sets and soundscapes. “Radio Alhara began at the beginning of COVID; everyone was in their homes, and the team who began it were made up of six people,” Mothanna shares with Dazed MENA. “There was a period where each of us in the group wanted to do different things, like put out a mix or do a set.”

Radio Alhara was incredibly well-received by English, Arabic, and French listeners alike, engendering a digital community for music fiends. Beyond its singular locale in Palestine, it’s the collaborative nature of the radio that distinguishes it, with a public Dropbox folder inviting its listeners to upload a show or queue it up for broadcasting. “People were able to interact and upload playlists for us, so there was a sense of community,” Mothanna reflects. 

Mothanna and his co-founders harnessed this sense of community to orchestrate acts of collective resistance. In 2020, the station put together a three-day campaign in protest of Israel’s illegal annexation of the West Bank titled ‘FilMishMish’, an Arabic term meaning ‘when the Apricots bloom’ (a poetically euphemistic alternative to the English ‘When Pigs Fly’). The campaign gathered producers from all over the world—including regional heavy-weights like Julmud, Nicolas Jaar, and Habibi Funk—uniting against the occupation. A year later, when the Israeli regime began the annexation of Sheikh Jarrah, the radio went utterly silent in protest. Regular listeners tuned in to hear nothing but static for 24 hours before Radio Alhara announced they were opening their airwaves to anyone wanting to express solidarity or reflect on global injustices. The result was 40 days of diverse, continuous content, from DJ lineups to poetry readings, sparking discussions and global solidarity from thousands of listeners. 

In addition to his larger collaborative efforts, Mothanna’s recent work is intensely personal and experimental. His new project, “Allah1.net”, showcases his fascination with exploring the singular beauty of the word ‘Allah’ in various graphic iterations. “There’s no better word than ‘Allah’ to depict,” Mothanna states with finality. “Regardless of the religious aspect, it’s the most beautiful word.” Mothanna has found that Arabic calligraphy has a transformative potential when combined with light, texture and diverse materials, approaching domains of sculpture and jewellery to test boundaries of expression. 

With many projects and platforms blossoming across the region, Mothanna points to a crucial gap in the infrastructure needed to sustain this creative momentum. “There’s a creative world full of talented individuals emerging, but there’s still an absence of companies supporting them,” he observes. Mothanna sees this as a limitation and an opportunity alike, a call for more dedicated spaces like Turbo to empower local talent. “I’d like for there to be more of a creative competition—a healthy competition—in the field so that artists can challenge each other into more innovative work.” With Mothanna Hussein on the scene, as resistance permeates his entire body of work, there will be no shortage of inspiration for up-and-coming artists rising to meet this challenge.