About the Artists
Najla Jraissaty Khoury was born in Beirut. In the 1970s, she taught adult literacy programs and trained pre-school teachers. Her work has been influenced by her experience in education and her interest in folk tales and children’s literature. Najla Khoury founded and directed a puppet troupe and has developed several educational toys. In 1997, she helped found the NGO Assabil Libraries, which focuses on establishing public libraries throughout Lebanon.
Yasmine Al Massri is a French-Lebanese actress, contemporary artist and dancer based in L.A. She studied in Paris at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts. Al Massri’s first big break as an actress was in the award-winning Lebanese film “Caramel” written and directed by Nadine Labaki. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival it generated tremendous critical acclaim and went on to be the most successful Arab film to date. Yasmine is a multi-talented artist, with a gift for learning languages — besides speaking perfect English, French, Arabic and Spanish, she learned an entirely new language for her role in “Ayrouwen.” ‘Touareg’ is a language spoken only by the indigenous people of the Sub-Saharan Africa.