ByAmina
Zaineldine
Imagine a Cairo Egypt
“Visibly
Muslim Women”
Shubeik
Lubeik is the most recent step in the colourful route that is Mohamed’s
artistic career. Her breakthrough began with her webcomic Qahera, a web-based
cartoon commenting on social issues such as Islamophobia and misogyny. The
protagonist of this project — which Mohamed started as a joke on Tumblr — is a
visibly Muslim female superhero named after Cairo’s Arabic name.“I don’t
really consider Qahera a ‘superhero’ character so much as it [the comic] is an
editorial strip – so it’s a satirical cartoon that uses the tropes of
superheroism to make a point, rather than a superhero comic that addresses
political issues,” Mohamed told Egyptian Streets in elaboration on the
character she created.
Egyptian
Streets asked Mohamed whether, as some would believe may occur, she faced
criticism or discouragement for putting visibly Muslim women and struggles
unique to Egyptians in the foreground of her work — instead of walking the
narrow yet safe path of easily marketed archetypes and less controversial
issues. Her response suggested that the wrong question was being asked. She may
not have met any resistance, but for reasons not always to her taste.
“It’s kind
of a myth that people won’t support ‘diverse’ work. What actually happens is
the opposite – people want you to write about ‘the issues’ (for Westerners,
Islam and feminism, for Egyptians, feminism) but they want you to write about
it in a very specific way,” she told Egyptian Streets.“They want
really superficial, easily-quoted takes,” she elaborates. “They love women
empowerment, if women empowerment means sharing [online] a hijabi superhero
comic without ever reading the messages behind it. […] At some point you start
to feel very patronised.”
She goes as
far as wondering whether the acknowledgement she is receiving is simply a means
for those publishing or sharing to appear in a better light themselves.
“Am I
included because I’m good at what I do? Or am I included because people wanted
themselves to look good? Is anyone actually listening? Does anyone actually
feel empowered by this?” she asks.
These
concerns do not hinder Mohamed from imbuing her work with political messages.
In fact, she uses her platform to lace her visual stories with political
statements at varying degrees of subtlety. Shubeik Lubeik, for instance, makes
a point of placing class separation in Egypt
Art,
Authenticity, and Values
However, at
times, what is seen as a political statement is merely Mohamed’s insistence on
accurately representing the people and the settings that feature in her story.
“I like to
create things that feel both needed and natural,” Mohamed told Egyptian
Streets. “A lot of people find it strange that I represent visibly Muslim women
when I’m not [i.e. not hijabi], but I’m creating stories set in Egypt, and this
is how the majority of Egyptian women look, and yet it is not how most women
are represented, so to me its just part of telling stories based on where I am
that I am familiar with, and would like to see.”
Mohamed,
who was featured along with four other women in a Washington Post article
headlined “5 Women Changing Their World For the Better”, explains that her
choice of themes is the coming together of a number of factors: her own
experience, her artistic preferences, her interests, the statements she wants
to make, and the art and stories from which she draws inspiration.
“I don’t
think I could change it if I tried, and I shouldn’t if it is sincere and it is
doing what it’s supposed to do,” she says.
Mohamed
believes that the occasional introduction of Western themes does not make
stories written by Egyptians any less authentic. Just as Westerner have written
about other nationalities, Egyptians can write about places they have not
experienced themselves. Nevertheless, she feels that there is a lack of
appreciation for art “made by Egyptians, for Egyptians”.
“I think we
need to make a market for it and we need to encourage it. Even if that art is
“Westernised” because Egyptians have to learn from Youtube tutorials created by
Indian people about American programs, what does that matter? Is it good or
not? That’s the question,” she argues.
Sincerity
and originality are among the criteria that constitute what Mohamed considers
“good” work, however they are not the only ones on her list. The moral value
and message in art can also have a bearing on its quality in her view.
“There’s a
lot of Egyptian art I really hate because even if it’s incredibly original
since no one else has done it before, guess what? It is still classist and
racist. So, like, at the end of the day – is it interesting? Is it good? That’s
what matters.”
Graphic
Novels in Translation
Qahera was
first started in English given the lack of activity of Arabic users on Tumblr,
the platform where Mohamed first began to share it. But as Mohamed became more
immersed in the Egyptian comic scene, she was inspired to create stories that
needed to be told in Arabic. This led her to writing Shubeik Lubeik in Arabic
from the off.
“I’ve
always had an interest in koshks in Cairo
However,
given the roaring success of the trilogy’s first two installments, Mohamed is
now translating the graphic novels into English herself, and they are due to
hit bookshelves in 2021. How, then, will these deeply local themes be
translated into English?
“I fully
believe it will never be as good as the Arabic,” Mohamed said of the
translation. “Hopefully the English speakers will never need to know what
they’re missing out on!”
Nevertheless,
sacrificing this bit of authenticity does not seem to faze her.
“It’s about
time, because we’ve always been reading work that’s been translated or
subtitled or adapted from other languages and countries, and I love that the
process is reversed,” she continued.
Its Own
Reward
Mohamed’s
successes are ongoing and topical. Her books are currently among the books
being sold at the Cairo International Book Fair, where she has in previous
years signed copies of Shubeik Lubeik.
She was
also the artist behind the Google Doodle of January 20, which celebrated the
106th birthday of Mufidah Abdul Rahman, one of the first Egyptian women to work
as a lawyer, and the co-founder of the National Feminist Party.
But to
Mohamed, one of the greatest joys of the work she does is the feedback she
receives from readers with whom her stories resonated.
“Drawing
and writing a graphic novel alone is really lonely work, so more than
achievements and recognition, I just really love interacting with people about
it afterwards. In fact, the only reason I like awards is because it hopefully
means more people will read it and then I’ll get to know what they thought about
it,” she concluded.
(Courtesy:
Egyptian Streets)