Keep being skeptical

Today, Intellectuals around the world are busy attending conferences /lectures/ creating awareness campaign /researchers are digging into the truth. With a highlighted title Fake news No More . and fact checking is needed .

In parallel suddenly we are all aware that we should not keep calm. and it’s so genuine and beautiful what is happening, truth is popping out like popcorn in too many diverse aspects and industries around the globe ………………..…

I am neither a journalist nor an expert, but a skeptical resident who has an eye and would love to share and reflect ……

considering the fact that we are digesting information served , customized and dedicated to us by bunch of people sitting somewhere in silicon , monitoring -creating – controlling and so on ….

And Not dismissing the fact that likes, tweets and downloads can be bought so that you can improve your business / or your voice appears to be heard way too many times and be considered a reliable source .

I would like to share this little video which is not academic at all and will serve none of those Brainy likeminded who are digging into what is Real and how should be delivered and directed …….. …..

with his pure humor and nothing but creativity, illustrates clearly (citizens digesting what is served ….. ….

Ktir Salbeh Show – 2015 Episode 1 – 30 جحش

Next time you read or hear anything .. remember the jingle. ….

Donkey Number 32- 33- 34

And for my English speaking friends here is a Brief Translation.

He is selling newspapers….. and it is a common habit down in M.East you scream out loud when you want to sell in the street .

30 donkeys are victims ….   ….. While walking in the street

A guy stops him who is curious and needs to know what happened , ( who are those donkeys , what happened to them , when and where

the price is too high to get the info , but he pays and buys the crap, the salesman continue his walk while screaming 31 donkeys are victims …….

Please note donkey is a common way of referring to an idiot , when you try to express using humor .

All right reserved – Ktir Salbeh Show – 2015 Episode 1 – 30 جحش LBCI Lebanon

Unpairing my fear

Unpairing my fear

Unpairing my fear 2

Unpairing my fear 3

Unpairing my fear 4

Unpairing my fear 5

Unpairing my fear 6

Unpairing my fear 7

Unpairing my fear 8

Unpairing my fear 9

A while ago I took part in an art talk which was followed by an interesting documentary film about “Hope” and “Fear”. In it I had to share my biggest fear and my biggest hope on a piece of paper. When I held the pen, it didn’t take me long to write down my fear; “THE FEAR OF NOT ACCOMPLISHING THE UNSTOPPABLE ART PROJECTS IN MY HEAD”. I usually draw them in my mind at night, instead of creating them and putting them into contexts.

During the same week by chance, my husband and I had to move to a new flat. You see, I live with my husband in a 80m2 flat, and it’s just the two of us “so far”.

What happened was while moving and organizing ourselves in the new flat and I discovered the huge amount of “unpaired socks” we both had gathered throughout the past 3 years . That was strange!

For the past three years , we both do a lot of washing and I don’t recall myself returning home from a yoga class wearing one pair or him from handball. Surprisingly when I wash and hang out the clothes to dry, I always end up with unpaired socks and I convince myself they might be somewhere in the bucket which will come out with the next round.

It just made lots of sense to me because it’s exactly like all the Art projects and thoughts that run in my head and that have never been shaped into context. Therefore, I promised myself to pair them even if they were incomplete. Once they find the road they will find a way for an exposure and can be re-shaped anytime.

So today this is how it looks like! Enjoy the collection of artwork below.

Any art project has the following.

The vision to create.

The drive to create it,

and then you sometimes stop, because you lack funding, and you want to be appreciated,

while someone else is making the effort to print your work, and market it instead of you .

Especially If you’re a beginner and not sponsored by any gallery or institution you end up saying to yourself, you won’t get motivated if you’re rarely appreciated.

But the reality is the opposite! The more you create the better you feel, and in creating Art perfectionism doesn’t exist the moment you drop from the chain of thoughts, but that’s when you can be more easily creative. One of the best dialogues I had with an artist was when he once shared with me the following: “You’re an artist. An artist creates every day. An artist is like a fisherman. Does the fisherman stop fishing? Fishing can be a hobby but to be a fisherman you need to go out there every day.”

So in conclusion I leave you with some of the latest One Sock Creation.

Ps. I just discovered I am not alone on this planet thinking there is a monster in my washing machine or there is a monster which resides in my laundry room but somehow some scientists even have come up with a Formula

These included the volume of laundry, number of people in a household and number of socks in a load.

(L (p x f) + C (t x s) ) – (P x A)

 

 

#MeToo

16 of October I woke up with an online hashtag all over the internet. ……….

If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote “Me too” as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.

Copy/Paste.

MeToo I felt the need to take part in copy pasting then I stopped for a second, I gave it a second thought.

If I really dig down into memory lane, “my childhood” and until this current moment, this is what comes up!

Growing up in Aleppo -Syria the only words of harassment you hear while walking around with skirts and Shorts I choose to mention these two sentences

أستغفر الله‎‎

1.Astaghfirullah (Arabic: أستغفر الله‎‎ ʾastaġfiru l-lāh) is the act of seeking forgiveness from Allah. This act is generally done by repeating the Arabic words astaghfirullah, meaning “I seek forgiveness from “Allah”.

Because if he sees legs not covered or beauty in general, he must ask for forgiveness. ……. And God sitting up somewhere will forgive him because he looked or forgive me because

I decided to wear a skirt.

بست بست با حلوة – يا حلوة

2. Pst pst beautiful you …. beautiful you ….

As if you’re a cat walking in the street and he is calling out for you …

Or there are a long of creative complimentary sentences that sometimes they used to make us laugh. … because they were way too creative ….

What I want to share is while growing up, the reality is you stop hearing those unpleasant sentences while walking around. Secondly because it became part of our nature; you seriously don’t listen and you keep walking, and you’re not affected.

And, let me be honest in this All those years nothing happened to me …. I am one of the Lucky ones! Let me admit that.

In my city or the places I used to walk , If someone tried to do something. You can scream out loud then all the macho guys will surround you and , the guy will be severely beaten up.

On the other hand with this declaration I really don’t want to generalize this as a fact . I am sharing my part of the story . I am sure there are plenty of girls out there who had their part of this experience and might not be pleasant, and I would  fight for their rights and stand next to them. I really hope that on a day like today when the internet is covered with a hashtag they reflect it loudly.

I don’t want to generalize Syria by saying it’s something that never occurs because it does and I am sure of it but I as Angelique never felt it personally on my skin.

I felt it in other mediums that are as disgusting as being harassed. It’s funny enough that we used to manage not to hear but we can’t avoid the dirty look. They used to look at you specially if you’re wearing skirts or shorts and sometimes they might not say anything but visualize you naked with their eyes and that was the disgusting part of it.

Then one time that I actually got harassed was at a later age of 33, walking to work early morning in Copenhagen , in the street of my work a drunk Man , walking towards me and suddenly had his hands on my legs I didn’t expect and I was like what the fuck and pushed him away. That’s very hard to accept I guess when you come from the Middle East and never have been touched in the street by people . ..then in a developed Happy nation land you experience such a behavior .

i leave you with 6 art works reflecting #METOO

 

Unspeakable thoughts – 2013

Inner restoration was what I needed in 2011. I needed to be alone to gather myself and had the intention for a Shala in India but didn’t manage to make it happen. The only Shala was my body, myself in a new place and that was my temple. The following pieces of artwork is a collection of reactions, messages , angels and stories which happened with me during my stay in Beirut . I lost trust, trust in everything; starting from myself to every single person new or old walking into my life or just passing by! During the period of my restoration, I was silent and generally conversed a lot in my head until finally it was time to pull all of that out. I am thankful to everyone who trusted, waited and accepted my changes in their own special way and I dedicate this work to all the people and stories that happened with me during my “silent mood” . Thank you all for your lessons and messages. I enjoyed the ride! It is said “If you are really aware, every soul is a mirror and a teacher.” However, you never know how and why certain people or objects or projects were right in front of you at a certain time. They guide you and once you are aware you need to accept and be open for the experience. You are a being, living this life, and you do it however you can. Sometimes you have a thought and you think you can illustrate that in art sometimes you can’t and you just enjoy the fact of creating what is in your head. The tapestry of your soul is woven, some stitches are bright and some are dark but there it is, your soul, which is a mirror of yourself. So, after mirroring everything I saw in the streets, besides watching myself and hearing the echo of the non-stop monologue in my head, I believe it is time to share some ART.

Urban Photo Walk – Refshaleøen July 2017

you may find an interesting Reflection of mine shared in Immigrant Art Blog

an interview the tour Guide

53 Visual Reflections or 2015 Weekly Visual Diary

I moved to Copenhagen mid-2014, where I had to adjust to the fact of living “Danishly”. Everything must be booked in advance, everything is based on an organized calendar!!

As this new phase of my life was taking shape daily, I wanted to document everything – emotions, reflections, reactions and scenery – in one frame! As Ira Glass once said “Great stories happen to those who can tell them.” This visual diary project started when I realized I needed to document my weeks in an agile and spontaneous approach, focusing on 3 elements. Namely, what I see, what I feel and how I react.

We keep repeating this age’s motto of “I don’t have time”. Yes, time is “running” while days and years are just passing by. But every single week of mine in 2015 was a valuable lesson, with all its ups and downs. Some weeks might talk to you while others may not…but for me documenting 53 weeks of inside/out feelings is what I wanted to share through this diary.

Hope you will enjoy my diary, my integration and my reflections. Yet, remember: what I see is who I am and what you see through my art is what you would like to see in yourself!

 

to check 53 art works as well as the opening pictures and the way it was presented in January 2017 feel free to click on the link below