• Please introduce yourself

                 
My ART name is Mona Kelah, but I’ll tell you my formal name because I’m

a manager in this project. My name is Mona Boghdady, I’m 28 years old, I graduated from pharmaceutical sciences university, and I work as a comic artist with Magdy El Shafei, now I am working as an illustrator and a graphic designer. I participated with WOW in their last project in Jordan and I drew a 7 meters long graffiti. 

 

 

• Why did you choose women empowerment as your main idea for the project?

I am basically with women rights because I am a woman and I’m an artist and all my artwork is talking about the femininity and the female’s side, and how to embrace ourselves as women especially in a very respectable traditional country we live in, in the Middle East and Egypt. And we have a long way to accept ourselves as females and to the society to accept as the way we are, we’re equal, we’re humans, it’s not about being a male or female, that’s why I am pro this idea. 

 

 

• Was it easy to establish such an event? Or did the government restrict you in any way and how?

The Greek campus was so helpful and cooperative with the idea, we talked with Mr.Tarek and he was so excited to call the people in charge of the Greek campus so we can draw outdoors and indoors. And now Carolina Darkcold, the Swedish artist, got her license to draw on a really big wall of the building, and also Mr.Tarek helped with that, so there was no problem with taking any licenses

 

 

 

• Do you think that the government would’ve allowed you such a right before the revolution?  

 

I think yes they would’ve allowed us, because even after the revolution, when people started to draw in Mohamed Mahmoud and on AUC walls, and at the Swiss embassy. The idea was already there regardless of the rise of the revolution. And because we’re in the globalization era, ART isn’t limited to galleries and educational areas only, anymore. What is unique about Street Art is that it makes a direct connection between the artist and the viewers without an intermediary. Graffiti Art would’ve evolved anyway to deliver some messages.

 

 

• Did any of the project’s artists get jailed for drawing Graffiti before? 

No one got arrested, our artists in WOW doesn’t have any political interests, most of their street artwork aren’t political, it is more about the woman cause for example. There were some in our previous projects, Mohamed Ammar, Tifa, Aya Tarek.

 

 

• Can you talk about some of the other, social, economic and cultural issues included in the project?

 
It is about a very important social issue; the restrictions we face in life, from people or society, as if it creates invisible chains around us, and maybe we create these chains to ourselves; even if these restrictions are gone, we still restrict ourselves. Throughout this project, we can express the idea of how to unchain ourselves, psychologically and physically. Each artist expresses this throughout their Art on walls.  

 

• Can you give me examples as sexual harassment and issues as such?

 

One sketch is about Feminists is related to freedom because women always think freely and wants to live freely

Another drawing has hair, and woman cutting her hair as cutting the chains off her with scissors

One is about embracing the women’s body

There are a lot more ideas, but expressed in a nude way, so it is hard for us to express on the walls.

 

 

• Is it because of the government restrictions?

Yes, of course. We told them before that we couldn’t draw such nude pictures on the walls, especially because it will be viewed on the streets. There is also a Bahranian Artist, Mariam El Hatch, she wanted to build a nude sculpture with bandages and plasters in the Greek campus, but they wouldn’t approve of this, unfortunately.  We are talking about freedom, yet we’re still restricted, but what can we do, we can’t control it.

 

 

• Which is your favorite drawing? And what is the story behind it?

 

We only have sketches now, but they’re verified. Everything was perfect, but Carolina’s drawing grabbed my attention. She came on her own, she made a sketch for the ear skeleton; it is the smallest organ in the human’s body, and if we used it well and listened to each other, many of our problems can be solved and we can reach a point of understanding, so I really liked it.

And I also liked Nada Elissa’s sketch; she drew female figures in an abstract way in a circular form, I loved her composition and how she’s viewing the female body.  

 

 

 

• As you looked out for artists for the project, were men supportive as women?

 

Not all men support us as women do, but there are men who are genuinely pro feminism and women rights, they’re pro expressing the female body freely. I have encountered men in Jordan’s project, who were more feminist than women like Mike Candarian. Also Hesham El Kelesh, the co-manager of the project; he’s really supportive of female rights and also exploring the panels of female artists. We weren’t selective, but we chose most of our artists as females, but we’re really bringing very special talented artists, each with her own unique style. I think we have Hashem and Sam, only four men who are pro feminism.  

 

 

• On what basis do you choose the campaign for each of your events?

• How do you choose the theme for your campaign? 

We chose the campaign according to the brainstorming meeting between Hashem, Mia and I. We talk about the current situation in Egypt and how can we express it in our own way and also avoiding sensitive issues not to encounter any problems. We also thought of Jordan “From here to freedom”; which was about expressing the harassment that happened in Tahrir Square and in the streets, and how to free ourselves from the boundaries of such fears, not only the external fears but also the internal, it is always around you everywhere you go

 

 

This year’s campaign has the same idea, but in a mental and psychological way; so we usually focus on the current situations while thinking of our projects.

 

 

• Do you think Graffiti Art is a fair representation of their underlying messages?

 

I believe Graffiti message is one of the most important messages, even more than words, when someone sees the artwork on walls and like it, although words can directly deliver a message, and Art delivers it in an indirect way, but it provokes the viewer to interact with the cause of the Artwork. For example, if you drew a chained woman on the wall, the viewer would interact more with the female figure more than reading about it.

 

• Especially for the uneducated people, right? 

 

Sometimes the visuals are more provoking for the human minds and this is important.

 

Our WOW event is going to be from the 3rd – 4th of April, and there is going to be an open wall and equipment on Saturday and Sunday for those who wants to draw anything.