drag party

'drag party' zine . 2019

'drag party' illustrations for zine . 2019

i recently participated in a super fun zine making workshop! as mentioned in my last post, i've been in a bit of a slump and very uninspired by my surroundings, so this was definitely what i needed to feel better and get back to making stuff.
the 3 day workshop was organised by the super talented nasir nasrallah and the sharjah art foundation. the whole idea was to have an invited group of creatives come in and work on zines which will be sold at the second edition of the focal point art book fair in november. last year's focal point was so much fun and had such a great selection of books and publications. i'm super excited to be participating in the fair once again.
the workshop included a bunch of illustrators and artists, as well as some writers and poets. the energy was pretty great, and it was awesome being surrounded by cool creatives making even cooler work. i got to make some new friends, had a lot of laughs, and was slowly reminded of what a cool city sharjah can be.
so, i created a zine titled 'حفلة جر' or what's literally translated as 'drag party'. the theme in a nutshell is how a lot of arab women look like drag queens and they don't even know it! if you're walking in a mall, or watching tv, or on social media, these women look scary! with the way they wear their makeup and play with their faces, it's fascinating how oblivious they are about how they've started to look like men in drag. i collected a bunch of photos of women featured in arabic lifestlye magazines, and illustrated them as little caricatures of themselves. some might be recognisable, some might look familiar, and some might remind you of someone you unfortunately know! but that's the point, they just all look the same – like drag queens!!! the zine starts with an arabic introduction on how to 'contour' from one of the magazines i was looking at, and continues to present 25 illustrations of drag ladies! 
again, i had so much fun working on this, and i hope whoever sees this enjoys it as much as i do. thank you nasir, the saf team and everyone i met at the workshop for an awesome time, and to everyone else who was helpful in making this a zine i'm proud of. if you want a copy of 'drag party', please make sure to come to focal point in november to get yours (limited to 10 copies at the fair). i will post a focal point announcement closer to the date so stay tuned...

eid al adha 2019

eid al adha . 2019

i haven't posted for over a month, because i've been catching up on some rest after teaching multiple workshops around the uae during the month of july (see previous post). as exhausting as it was driving around the country, especially in the summer heat, it was rewarding interacting with people from different walks of life and teaching them how to express through art. i hope i've touched people's hearts along the way, and i hope my workshops were inspiring enough to let them release their inner artists more frequently.

with that being said, i've also been exhausted with the lack of organisation by some of the collaborators who set up many of these workshops. it felt like specific organisations were following a trend – let's host art summer camps because everyone else is doing it. there were a couple of encounters where spaces hosting workshops for kids were not taking it seriously – the art workshops were just an activity to keep them occupied until they're taken to a more 'serious' engagement. i won't lie, it felt disrespectful and disheartening. which is why i haven't been inspired to get any work done of late. it's can be very crushing when something you're passionate about seems like a farce to others.

i think i'm slowly coming out of this rut – typing this eid themed post is a good start. to briefly explain the illustrations above: my dear friend and artist layan attari spotted a father and his sons crossing the street with a goat on her drive back home. i was very touched by this visual of a family walking away with a goat in tow to mark the occasion of eid al adha. it felt surreal, funny, biblical, and human, and i had the urge to illustrate it. i think we've all figured out the fate of this poor goat!

ending this post with well wishes – eid mubarak to all those observing. may all your prayers be answered, and may you have hearty meals in the presence of family and loved ones! stay tuned for more frequent posts in the near future. there are a lot of exciting projects and announcements coming very soon. i can't wait to share it with you all...