ABOUT DAP

The Data Art Project (DAP) explores the data embedded in three spiritual texts: Farid ud-Din Attar’s The Canticles of the Birds, Saint Teresa of Ávila’s The Interior Castle, and Yamada Mumon’s Lectures on the Ten Oxherding Pictures.

The project started as a way of exploring the structure of the three journeys, the seven valleys, the seven interior dwelling places, and the ten stages of the Oxherding Pictures, and at the symbols and ideas that appear along the way. It was also an effort to translate the journeys into visual artworks, making them more accessible to people who connect with visual language more naturally. But it was also personal. These texts crossed my paths as different moments in my life.

Over ten years, the project has changed quite a lot, especially in the last nine months. It is still holds its visual language and examining the parallelism of these spiritual ascensions, but it has also become a space for reflection. I find myself wondering why similar kinds of journeys emerged in such different parts of the world and within such different spiritual traditions. I argue they share the same spiritual blueprint and through my visual translation, I would like to learn what that the blueprint is like and why I am summoned to its planes. 

I have also started to wonder whether all three are trying, in their own way, to understand suffering or how we move beyond it. This brought me to Nibbāna, the Buddhist idea of the end of suffering, and made me think that perhaps the project has also become an exploration of suffering through these three traditions. 

As part of the Cultural Literacy Research Network (CLRN), I created a Special Interest Group (SIG) as a space to share my project and explore these questions in conversation with others. https://culturalliteracy.net/special-interest-groups/

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

My name is Zeina Dghaim. I am a Canadian museum and cultural heritage practitioner and founder of Nibana. I currently live in the United Arab Emirates, in the beautiful city of Abu Dhabi.

I specialize in cultural heritage interpretation, data art translation, and online exhibition curation, identifying and interpreting overlooked narratives embedded within artefacts, collections, mnuscripts, and historic sites. For more than 18 years, I have worked across museums, cultural and educational institutions, contributing to projects with organizations such as the Aga Khan Museum, the New-York Historical Society, the Neustadt Gallery, Qatar Museums Authority, Opera Atelier, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, and Zayed National Museum.

I hold a PhD in Hispanic Studies and Digital Humanities from Western University, where I developed a methodology for the digital activation and preservation of museum collections and heritage sites. I also hold a Master’s degree in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations from the University of Toronto and an Honours BA in Spanish Language, Culture, and Literature from Western University.

My professional journey began in art education and community development, where I designed and delivered art and education programmes within government institutions, prisons, distress centres, and not-for-profit organizations, using art and culture as tools for rehabilitation and human development. Over time, my work evolved into the cultural sector, where I began developing art and cultural programmes, online exhibitions, and learning and training strategies for museums and heritage organizations.

Alongside my professional practice, I love writing, travelling, cooking, sketching, painting, and photographing things that captivate my heart. I am also a lifelong student of the humanities. My research and travels have shown me how every culture contains wisdom, perceptions, and stories that can deepen our understanding of ourselves, the world, and others. At the heart of this is the capacity to appreciate humanity and engage with it through respect, humility, and care.