عن "ايمان شقاق" الفنانة السودانية

Quote: حوار قصيراجرته ريمة حسن وهي صحفية سنغالية/ لبنانية، قامت بترجمته للفرنسية ‏للعدد الأول ديسمبر2009- يناير 2010، مجلة "ميلتينق بوب"، وهي مجلة ‏ثقافية جديدة بالسنغال. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iman Shaggag* Auto portraits ----Interviewed by Rima Hassan , by Iman Shaggag on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 6:15pm Iman Shaggag*‎ Auto portraits Interviewed by Rima Hassan,‎ In your piece entitled Identity, you have used the same ‎photograph of yourself for twenty four times, representing ‎each one a woman from a different part of SUDAN.‎ As you said the main idea behind your work IDENTITY is ‎‎“how your life would be affected if you had been born in a ‎different place and time?”‎ Iman Shaggag, which would be your answer? ‎ Actually the work/question "How would you (your life) be ‎affected, if you had been born in a different place and time?" ‎does not end here, it expands to, "And how our features or ‎looks and cultures affect our lives!?"‎ As you said I used a photograph of me, printing out twenty four ‎copies of the same photo, I was able to alter my features & ‎dress, using etching ink, tempera, acrylics and graphite, to ‎achieve my idea.‎ I know it's a difficult and an easy question at the same time. ‎ One could say, of course your life would be affected depending ‎on where you came from and how you look like. Let's say that I ‎was born in Southern Sudan to southern Sudanese parents most ‎likely the war would have affected my life tremendously, ‎extending from death to living in IDP camps or refugee camps ‎in neighboring countries or any where in the world, to lack of ‎education, loss of culture and language and all traumas ‎associated with war and displacement.‎ But another might argue that where they came from and how ‎they look wouldn't matter! Anyway I would rather leave it for ‎the viewers to answer or put their own questions freely. ‎ Through this interrogation which message would you ‎transmit? How would you define identity? ‎ When I think about what's going on in Sudan and many other ‎places in the world, one can see racism, cultural bias, and ‎stereo-typing and division lines in every aspect of our lives. I ‎thought by starting from one point which is my own face, for ‎me it was as fair as an empty canvas, to try and imagine my life ‎if those were my features.‎ Simply, I think no matter how we look or where we come from ‎we share a common humanity.‎ I believe identity is how we identify ourselves. Some times I ‎see it, as a group of self described qualities that we set for ‎ourselves. Others might see it quite differently. Let me give you ‎an example of what I mean. I read before in a news report that ‎some Western journalist when visiting Darfur, commented that ‎they didn't know who is "African" and who is "Arab", the ‎journalist thought that it should be easy to distinguish between ‎the victims "Africans" and perpetrators "Arabs". ‎ You are an artist engage for peace and for improvement of ‎the woman living conditions in Sudan and in Africa. Which ‎solutions would you support? ‎ I would very much support women education and economical ‎empowerment; I believe when women are well informed, and ‎have economical means to feed themselves and their families ‎they can be the power we (as women) need for change.‎ You like reading. What book are you reading presently?‎ I do like reading, I actually read multiple books at a time, right ‎now am reading a book called, The Abuse of Beauty, Aesthetics ‎and the Concept of Art, by Arthur C. Danto (A professor of ‎Philosophy at Columbia University, US); And two poetry ‎books by Sudanese poets Alsadig Elradi and Magdi Elnour. ‎ * Iman Shaggag is described “as a ‎spiritual painter with minimal lines and more muted colors “. ‎Visual artist born to Sudanese parents in England 1970. ‎Bachelor Degree in Fine Art, College of Fine & Applied Art , ‎Sudan University For Science & Technology KHARTOUM ‎‎1996.‎ Participated in few exhibitions: ‎2009, group exhibition of Women Artists from Sudan, Lessedra ‎Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria.‎ ‎2009, "Africa Now”, World Bank, Washington, DC, US.‎ ‎"Out of Bounds" at the Vital Voices of AFRICA Leadership ‎summit for Women & Girls, South Africa.‎ ‎“Colors of Africa» organized by Mbari Institute and the Arts ‎Council of Metropolitan Memorial, Washington, DC, US.‎ She founded the online gallery Sudan ARTIST Gallery. ‎ ‎ This interview was published in, Melting POP magazine; ‎Issue No: 1, Dec 2009 – Jan 2010, Dakar, Senegal -----------------