Ahmad Wehbe is a Lebanese writer, painter and philosopher. He was born as a first child on April 29, 1985 in Uppsala, Sweden. The young family relocated at least once a year until the sixth child was born. Wehbe divides his childhood into three chapters: the first few years where his family moved constantly. The second chapter where they called the small town Åsele their home. And the third chapter where the family moved, for the last time, and would call Höganäs their permanent home.
Wehbe studied automation, information technology, energy technology and computer science at the gymnasium Kullagymnasiet. After graduating at the age of 18, he found all his friends getting jobs instantly and moving on with their life, while he couldn’t even get a single interview. He would make due with minor temporary positions in various low entry jobs like cleaning, packaging, gardening, etc. Wehbe, at this time, did not believe racism existed in adult life, outside of movies or history books. It would take him another 8 years before he had enough experience to accept the reality of racism. However, despite having to struggle, even for jobs nobody wanted, Wehbe went on to further his professional life, picking up beekeeping, stone cutting and construction, mechanics, and workshop machining within the steel industry.
Although he prefers work that challenges his mind, he saw physical labor as an opportunity to accomplish two things simultaneously; one being physical and the other being mental. He saw these physical jobs as getting paid for thinking. This is what eventually inspired him to become an author. While at work, he would think about what to write – and once he got home, he would write down his ideas. This worked for a while until he had to make a choice between his job or his passion. Even though he had worked hard to get the job in the first place, he gave it up in favor of pursuing his love for writing and painting.
Wehbe published his first book “GOD The Creator: Philosophies, theories and practices to help us discover GOD”, a philosophy book, in mid 2014. The book was met with a lot of skepticism and resistance due to its bold statements. This experience made him plan for a second edition in the future where he will be including illustrations and use a much simpler language.
He released his first art collection “Art With a Purpose” in late 2016, after two and half years of experimenting with different methods and styles. The art project was inspired after the realization that emotions and feelings are a universal language, much like mathematics. After quitting his job in 2012, he found himself having a lot of free time for the first time in his adult life. Before this, as an introvert (INTJ), he never gave much thought to his own feelings, always pushing them away and focusing on the next task instead. This new found freedom led to self-discovery and reinventing himself. He wanted to see if it was possible to use art as a means of communicating complex and specific feelings. With the success of the art project, he decided to share it with the rest of the world. Art With a Purpose is a collection of 51 paintings that can be found on stretched canvas, framed prints, or on merchandise such as tote bags, pillows, and more.
Wehbe has since then been working on multiple novels and book series, and hopes to release his debut novel sometime in 2020. He has published a couple of experimental short stories during this time.
You can contact him directly by email at: mail@ahmadwehbe.com