अ + ज़े
a broad-nibbed pen is traditionally held at a different angles for different scripts. tools held by christian scribes writing latin scripts marked the paper at about 45º to the horizontal (like so: / ). when writing in devanagari — a prominent script for writing in regions where hinduism is widespread today —, the tool marks the paper at about 135º to the horizontal (like so: \ ).
to mark adeel & zeba’s marriage, i drew a monogram using the first letters of their names. they’re both muslim, and so the style of lettering alluded to islamic scripts; the letters themselves were written in devanagari script (अ, ज़े); and i held the pen in the same way that christian scribes do while writing. i drew the monogram on a postcard and sent it from india to adeel in the united states of america — two countries whose present regimes discriminate people on the basis of religion rather openly and shamelessly. in this way, i conveyed a union of religions, peoples and geographies through a monogram on a postcard.