Diaspora

Diaspora represents the Nubians societies '' who are the indigenous people of Northern Sudan and southern Egypt''; Nubians has been displaced and shattered after the completion of Aswan’s High Dam in the 1960s, which resulted in tragic floods that destroyed the houses of their homeland and the loss of many Archeological sites that belongs to our great Nubian civilization. In addition to that the thirty years, the totalitarian government In Sudan which has violated Human Rights and Women's Rights specifically. Therefore, Nubian people migrated around the world seeking a better place and living with dignity and respect. Basically, as an originally Nubian person who was born in the UK, my concept undertakes the complexity of a Nubian person who was born in the west, but somehow you are expected to carry on your traditions by your community. as an eastern person which most of the time it is a burden on yourself. Diaspora is a dichotomy between my feelings of Belongingness vs Loneliness, and my healing process by cutting when I encounter the negative feeling of loneliness. First, Belongingness relates to my country of origin and DNA. The River Nile, the beauty of the Nubian desert, Pyramids, the land of Gold, and the Nubian Queens. The Nubian queens who were leading the country at the time of the great Nubian civilization show their strength and power. Which is fascinating. Secondly, Loneliness express that feelings and incidents that made me feel lonely and not being a part of the community, since I consider myself as a combination of the east and west, sometimes I have encountered those feeling in Sudan as well, specifically in terms of women rights, for example, women's vulnerability they don't have the right to decide in their marriage, society expects them to be only housewife's not beyond that, in which made me become a women rights activist when I moved to Sudan, which threw me into troubles many times. Finally, through my collection, I would like to empower women in Sudan and the middle east, who aren't free enough to express themselves and dress as they want.

This is illustration is an abstract water color drawing, reflecting a group women in movement against the status quo.

Photoshoot

Photoshoot of my final garments.