بنت النيل، ام الدنيا
Daughter of the Nile, Mother of the World
This body of work is inspired by the individual and combined legacies of Doria Shafik, an activist and educator who pioneered one of Egypt’s earliest feminist groups and publications– and Mufidah Abdulrahman, the first female lawyer in Egypt who defended Shafik in court following her arrest after gathering thousands of women in protest. A fascinating woman who also happens to be my great grandmother. The images document the women of Egypt and our collective struggles, in an attempt to analyze this unique experience of womanhood. The work takes a critical approach with regards to notions of purity, honor, modesty, sexuality, and state violence that have become structures of the modern Egyptian society in its post-revolution climate. Each individual image does so through a confrontational and hyperbolic representation in order to remove the taboo that is associated with these conversations.
Through referencing the past, this body of work offers grounds for remembrance, while synthesizing a reality where women can reclaim the public space as a form of resistance. For Egyptian women there have always been two revolutions: one fought against the country’s oppressive regime, and another against the inherent violence and misogyny that permeates the region, disguised as culture and tradition.