From Tenderness to Defiance: The Stories Arabic Letters Carry
With Bil Arabi, Nadine Kanso transformed Arabic letters into luminous declarations — jewels that carry memory, identity, and defiance. In this exclusive conversation with Author Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Oona Chanel explores the hidden corners of Kanso’s design process, the mystic weight of language, and the uncharted future of Arabic design.
Some artists design objects; Nadine Kanso designs belonging. With Bil Arabi, she turned Arabic letters into forms that speak — rings that spell tenderness, pendants that hold defiance, earrings that shimmer with memory. For nearly two decades, her work has been less about ornament and more about identity: a way of making the unseen visible and the unspoken unforgettable.
From Beirut’s charged streets to Dubai’s restless skyline, Kanso has always moved between memory and reinvention, building a language of design that is both fiercely regional and undeniably global. Her pieces are not accessories; they are declarations. They remind the wearer that Arabic is not only a script but a living pulse — one that continues to define, question, and evolve with every generation.
Design as Memory & Language
Oona: When you sculpt Arabic letters into gold, do you ever feel you are giving voice to something unsaid — a silence from your own life that finds form in metal?
Nadine: When I started Bil Arabi in 2006, it was to create something from our language for people to carry meaning and emotion with them. The letters are more than symbols; they are memory and voice all at once. Turning them into jewelry is my way of making the unsaid visible and preserving meaning in a form that lasts.
“The letters are more than symbols; they are memory and voice all at once.”
Oona: Which Arabic letter has never appeared in your work yet but quietly calls to you, waiting for the right moment?
Nadine: The letter ث, which is uncommon in names, has always called me. There is a delicate elegance in it that I look forward to exploring when the moment feels right.
Oona: How do you know when a design is finished? Do you stop because it is perfect, or because it still carries the mystery of what remains unsaid?
Nadine: Design is always evolving. As an artist and designer, I never feel something is completely finished. Each creation carries a sense of mystery, leaving space for the wearer to complete the story themselves.
Culture, Identity & the Region
Oona: In today’s Gulf and Levant, where culture is moving so fast, what do you feel is being preserved, and what is being lost, in the visual language of the region?
Nadine: What remains is our pride in language and our instinct for beauty. What risks being lost is the time we once gave to craft and storytelling. Bil Arabi was born to protect that essence and to show that calligraphy and design can be both timeless and modern.
““Bil Arabi was born to protect the essence of language, showing that calligraphy can be both timeless and modern.”
Oona: Do you believe that Arabic design is still seen by the world as “heritage,” or has it finally become “contemporary”?
Nadine: When I launched the brand, Arabic design was often seen as heritage, something to be admired in the past. Bil Arabi has always aimed to shift that perception, showing the world that our letters and identity belong fully to the present. I believe the world is beginning to see it as contemporary, though there is still more work to do.
Oona: If someone from outside the region wears Bil Arabi, what do you hope they carry with them beyond beauty?
Nadine: I hope they carry meaning. Every piece of Bil Arabi is not just jewelry, it is a message. Even if they don’t speak Arabic, they wear identity, culture, and artistry. They carry something that is alive with history yet modern in form.
Personal Reflections & Creative Rituals
Oona: What does your creative ritual look like on a day when inspiration feels absent? Do you wait, force, or surrender?
Nadine: Creativity cannot be forced. On those days, I surrender to the quiet. The beauty of Bil Arabi is that the alphabet always has more to give and can guide me back to inspiration.
Oona: What is the most personal piece you have ever created, not for the market but for yourself?
Nadine: My engagement ring. It reads “Enta wa Ana” — “you and I” — in gold and diamonds. It is a piece that will forever preserve love and memory.
“My engagement ring reads ‘Enta wa Ana.’ It will forever preserve love and memory.”
Oona: When you look back at your first collections, do you feel pride, distance, or a kind of tenderness toward that younger version of yourself?
Nadine: I feel pride. Bil Arabi was the first brand in the region to create Arabic letters as art pieces. Looking back, I admire that courage and vision.
The Hidden Mystique of Design
Oona: Is there a material, a stone, or a symbol you’ve long wanted to work with but haven’t dared to yet, and why?
Nadine: I have always been fascinated by raw wood combined with gold. Jewelry is about permanence, while wood carries fragility. That tension is intriguing, and one day I hope to explore it.
Oona: Do you believe that jewelry can carry protection, like an amulet, even if it’s born out of design rather than ritual?
Nadine: Yes, absolutely. Jewelry carries intention. At Bil Arabi, the letters themselves are powerful and hold energy. When someone wears them, they carry that protection. For example, our Ya Ein collection is designed to protect the wearer from negative energy.
“Jewelry carries intention. The letters themselves are powerful and hold energy.”
Oona: When someone buys a piece, do you feel they are buying an object, or are they stepping into a hidden story you wrote for them
Nadine: They are stepping into a story. Jewelry is not only about design, it is about expression, about voice — and every wearer completes that story.
Time, Change & Evolution
Oona: Has your idea of beauty changed with time?
Nadine: My idea of beauty has remained rooted in authenticity. What I find most beautiful now is honesty in design and materials, pieces that feel alive and purposeful.
Oona: How has motherhood shaped the way you design? Do you find yourself leaving letters and messages for your children in your work?
Nadine: Bil Arabi has always been about identity and voice, and my children are part of that language.
Oona: If you imagine Bil Arabi fifty years from now, what story should it still be telling about the Arab world?
Nadine: Fifty years from now, I want Bil Arabi to still tell the story of Arab identity as dynamic, unapologetic, and alive. The brand should continue to reinvent itself while holding true to its core: our words matter and deserve to be seen.
Home, Place & Belonging
Oona: Between Beirut and Dubai, where do you feel your creativity belongs — in the chaos of memory, or in the calm of reinvention?
Nadine: Both. Beirut is memory, scars, and chaos; it fuels my soul. Dubai is reinvention, growth, and limitless horizons; it pushes me forward. Bil Arabi is born of both.
“Beirut fuels my soul; Dubai pushes me forward. Bil Arabi is born of both.”
Oona: What detail in your home says more about you as a designer than any of your collections ever could?
Nadine: The art pieces around my home. Each one carries a story and a source of inspiration, reflecting how I see design and creativity.
Oona: When you design, do you feel more like you are building a home for language, or setting language free to wander the world?
Nadine: Both. Bil Arabi gives letters a home in gold and diamonds, but once worn, they are free. They wander with whoever carries them.
The Unexplored & the Future
Oona: Is there a part of yourself that you feel you have not yet allowed into your work — something hidden, waiting, that you might one day reveal?
Nadine: Jewelry evolves with life, and I am still evolving. Each collection unveils something new, exploring sides of creativity that were once hidden.
Oona: If Bil Arabi were not jewelry but another art form, what unexplored shape would it take?
Nadine: As a photographer, I best express myself through images. Bil Arabi would likely take the form of a body of photographic work, capturing the stories, energy, and messages that the jewelry carries in a new medium.
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Interview by Oona Chanel
