Multi-Cultural

I use  Arabic writing in my artwork as a kind of identity. I explored the word freedom, and as an Arabic woman, I look for freedom, freedom of  thinking,  freedom of acting, being yourself, strong, and  independent.

I use a dry point etching technique by printing the word freedom in black and red ink.

I also tried to make the colours fade away to create an emotional attitude. In Arab societies, women  are seen as a shadow and tend to rely on men.

This is the artwork I exhibited in FirstSite Gallery.

I decided to take photos of my classmates with scarf and without.

I tried to see how they felt wearing a scarf which is a Muslim tradition. I also asked them to hold an Arabic writing in front of them which means freedom. I then asked then to write down how they felt about it.

I was interested to know how women from different backgrounds would feel about being dressed as an Arab woman.

this is what Jenny said  Jenny,

“When I wore the hijab I felt like my freedom had been taken from me and that I was under someone else’s control.’  Jenny

“The dress made me feel like I was in my own space, like someone had drawn a circle around me, a circle the only I could inhabit, the veil made me feel closed in ,shut away from the world. I would not like having something on my head permanently. Wearing both the dress and the veil together would make me feel closed in and held back. I would not be able to be myself from me, It would be like being caged in. I feel older than my years.” Julie

“The dress was beautiful and I was honoured to be asked to wear it. I had hoped that I would look beautiful and exotic, it was easy to wear, comfortable and made me feel released in some way from other people’s judgements of my physical self, as I was covered, but not in a shy way.

However when I saw the photos I was distressed to see how old and weak I looked, shapeless and grey, not like some of the glamorous  women who wear the hijab. 
Rabab always looks lovely in her colourful scarves, but maybe she knows how to wear them so they look good.
I am used to wearing jeans and a jumper, I feel free to move strongly, being covered all over took some of my power away from me.” Glenda

I decided to make a piece of a cardboard. I peeled the first layer of the cardboard to make image of Egypt. I tried to symbolise Egypt as sunny country, warm , full of different believes.

I added some of the bright threads (orange and yellow) to make the artwork stand out more.

Womb is a representation of a room which contains the female and the male. Both genders are equal as they grow within the womb. The mother in the Middle East is more important as the life carrier.