I am a visual artist based in Cairo, Egypt. I like to experiment with a range of mediums, including digital illustration and design. The work on this issue’s cover, The Opening (2022), was originally part of an exhibition titled tih mish marbuta, loosely translating to “untied” and referring to the Arabic letter taa marbuta, used to identify the feminine form of a word. The name alludes to a visual and symbolic change to this letter, an implied liberation of it.
The exhibition, which opened in June 2022 at Motion Gallery in Cairo, was curated by Enjy El Hakim and explored a range of visual expressions of female cultural symbols, namely, the womb, the Arabic word for which rahim has etymological links to the words for “mercy” and “compassion.” It showcased a range of paintings in various sizes exploring themes of birth, rebirth, and the restricting confinement of labels....
