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Nothing like #mint #greentea to wake me up for work in the...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:25:26 -0700

Nothing like #mint #greentea to wake me up for work in the morning. (at Trefethen Aquatic Center at Mills College)

<3 #pandaz

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:26:36 -0700

<3 #pandaz

thefashiondontlivewithoutvogue: “Naturals for Your Beauty...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:30:56 -0700

thefashiondontlivewithoutvogue:

“Naturals for Your Beauty Life”: Marie Helvin by Barry Lategan for Vogue UK August 1971

#ethiopianhoneywine #wine #honeywine #lakeshore #oakland...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:00:13 -0700

#ethiopianhoneywine #wine #honeywine #lakeshore #oakland #bayarea #drinks #happyhour #caferomanat #happiness (at Cafe Romanat)

#ethiopianfood at #caferomanat with @katiehom (at Cafe Romanat)

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:29:39 -0700

#ethiopianfood at #caferomanat with @katiehom (at Cafe Romanat)

The week has only begun yet, somehow my priorities are skewed and I’m taking periodic breaks...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:24:09 -0700

The week has only begun yet, somehow my priorities are skewed and I’m taking periodic breaks (that I don’t even have time for) by reading Liar’s Poker and The Richest Man in Babylon.

At least I’m getting around to reading the modern “classics” that most business people talk about (albiet at the worst time).

artdetails: Detail of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:17:22 -0700

artdetails:

Detail of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss

sweetlysurreal: http://imgfave.com/

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:02:07 -0700

sweetlysurreal:

http://imgfave.com/

sweetlysurreal: Thousands of lights by ~G-Moel

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:01:15 -0700

sweetlysurreal:

Thousands of lights by ~G-Moel

Photo

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:58:52 -0700

Photo

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:57:26 -0700

thepeoplesrecord: Women in Graffiti: A tribute to the women of...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:55:39 -0700

thepeoplesrecord:

Women in Graffiti: A tribute to the women of Egypt
February 17, 2013

It’s a battle, being a woman in an Arab country, but perhaps the dire conditions makes us fighters. Since January 25, so many foreign reporters have waxed on about the awakening of Arab women in the Arab Spring; and how the revolutions liberated us/made us wake up and smell the coffee/made us throw off our headscarves and run happily through the meadows.

This, in my opinion, is crap. When you look at the videos and photos of the eighteen days of Tahrir, you’ll see Egyptian women side by side with men in the thick of battles, some even at the front lines, braving tear gas and live bullets. We participated as Egyptians first, not as women, in January 25. And it’s incredibly patronizing to assume we ‘became’ liberated; 1. as if it was a revolution led by men that awakened and inspired us women 2. as if women were living in caves and making mud paintings before the revolution.

The Arab women I’ve met are some of the fiercest women in the world with sincere dedication to their work, cause and sense of identity. We didn’t experience an ‘awakening’ since the revolution; but we’ve definitely had to fight harder.

The last two years’ stories of horrific sexual and physical violence against women in Tahrir and many other depressing news could very easily break your will, change your mind about a woman’s place in protests and in Egypt as a citizen with equal rights. But then I think of these remarkable women and I am reminded of their strength, creativity and perseverance.

There are many powerful, brilliant Arab women, including several in the graffiti scene. Graffiti is a dangerous cause as it is, and with perpetual violence against women in Egypt, you’d think female graffiti artists would be too intimidated to work on the city streets. But they’re not; they’re young, tough, talented and just as worthy of recognition as their male counterparts.

Photo 1: Pharaonic women in battle by Alaa Awad

Photo 2: Alexandrian painter and street artist Aya Tarek is considered by many of her peers to be one of the pioneers of graffiti in Egypt. She holds her ground against her male contemporaries, and has exhibited recently in Germany as well as Beirut. Aya appeared in Microphone, Ahmed Abdalla’s brilliant 2010 film about the underground art scene in Alexandria. She is the first graffiti artist in Egypt to appear in a feature film not only playing herself but also correctly representing the graffiti scene in Egypt.

Photo 3: “Don’t touch or castration awaits you” - Hend Kheera is the first Egyptian graffiti artist to be profiled by Rolling Stone. Her work has a tough, extreme and honest quality to it, and there’s nothing stereotypically feminine about her aesthetics. Hend made stencils in Mogamaa and around Tahrir during sit-ins in 2011. She participated in an anti-sexual harassment campaign by spraying the stencil ‘Warning! Don’t touch or castration awaits you!’. The stencil was shocking and provocative, compelling some bystanders to even berate Hend for making it, a surefire sign that her message was powerful and effective.

Photo 4: Hanaa El Degham’s mixed art mural on the Lycee wall is to this date one of the most astounding street artworks I have seen in Egypt. She worked several layers over many days, combining barely finished paintings with stencils and newspaper collages. If you looked closely at the newspaper clippings, you’d find them completely spot-on and appropriate for the beautiful social commentary she was making by portraying the poorest of Egyptians carrying gas cylinders on their heads. A women fully clad in black niqab carries a gas cylinder with ‘Change’ sprayed on it. That visual in itself has so much to say.

Hanaa also worked for days with Ammar Abo Bakr and other painters on the Mohamed Mahmoud martyrs’ mural, adding frames and lotus flowers to several of the martyrs’ portraits.

Photo 5: I’d seen Bahia Shehab’s stencils around Zamalek and Tahrir for months, but it was only until I watched her inspiring Tedx talk on YouTube when I made the connection. Bahia spoke beautifully and powerfully of fighting for social and political justice through art. Her stencil below is one of my favourite pieces, a stencil I spotted on the bleak concrete wall of Mansour Street. When you see such an inspiring and pretty quote on a grotesque concrete military construction, you regain hope; at least in the power and potential of art.

Photo 6: “No to sexual harrassment” by Mira Shihadeh - There’s also Laila Magued, who works tirelessly day and night alongside Mohamed El Moshir and Ammar Abo Bakr in completing murals like this fantastic one on Sheikh Rihan Street, and there’s Mira Shihadeh who paints messages against sexual harassment, and draws crying faces on the streets of Cairo, with the simple message ‘Why’. I’m sure there are many other women to follow suit soon.

I am privileged to have met most of these women and watch them work. It takes a certain fierceness to persevere in creating unique, inspiring street art under the volatile and unpredictable conditions of the Egyptian streets.

Graffiti has also paid tribute to the women of Egypt, whether by honoring them like Alaa Awad’s pharaonic mural or by paying tribute to their bravery in battle like Zeft’s poster, or defending their rights to equality.

Photo 7: ”Don’t label me” - Nooneswa (Noon El Neswa) is a collective of activists that uses graffiti to raise awareness about women’s rights and to lobby for gender equality. Noon El Neswa organised street campaigns where stencils featured Laila Mourad, Soaad Hosny and other iconic women of the Egyptian cinema, and slogans included film quotes or simple demands for equality. Nooneswa is the first collective of its kind to focus solely on women’s issues and use graffiti to raise awareness on the streets of Cairo. Their ‘Don’t Label Me’ design has since appeared in Tunisia, replicated by feminist activists there.

Photo 8: This graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street paid tribute to the Uprising of Women in the Arab World, an online platform with over 80k followers that promotes Arab women’s rights using provocative and personal messages/photos of women.

Source (Click for more Egyptian graffiti art created by women)

Point Sur as seen from the north on Highway 1 between the towns...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:53:28 -0700

Point Sur as seen from the north on Highway 1 between the towns of Carmel and Big Sur, CA, USA.

(via Wiki)

McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. (Via Wiki)

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:49:00 -0700

McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

(Via Wiki)

Political zombies eating a woman’s corpse, including SCAF and an...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:45:51 -0700

Political zombies eating a woman’s corpse, including SCAF and an Ikhwan politician

(Via SuzeeInTheCity)

Justice has been made into a belly dancer, wearing a military...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:43:13 -0700

Justice has been made into a belly dancer, wearing a military beret and a mustache.

Last night, I went to a panel on addressing violence against women and girls of South Asian, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Pacific Islander descent by using transformative justice. There were 3 panelist and all have them have worked extensively with nonprofit organizations, collectives, and student organizations ,not only across the bay, but across the nation as well. I can tell that by all of those who attended and spoke that this was an issue very much close to their hearts, as well as my own. I have so many thoughts about how our communities can go about healing ourselves when the state fails to address our concerns and problems. Though the state isn’t perfect as historical memory has shown through its’ response or sanction of violence both here and abroad; structural inequalities are amplified when refugees or an individuals’ status has transformed from specific events beyond their control. However, last night’s panelists have accumulated accessible resources for individuals and from marginalized communities.

One of the panelist used a series of graffiti artwork as the backdrop for her presentation. Since Egypt was one of the first of many Arab countries to call for their western backed leader to step down. The Egypt revolution called forth people from all stations in Egyptian society to participate —and many did, including women. However, because many women choose to be present themselves in public spaces —whether they were for or against the 2012 president elections, there were an incredible amount of human rights violations that occurred in Tahir Square. It was in this instance that the state was sanction violence against the opposition and unfortunately, the violent transgressions were performed upon women’s bodies as has been repeatedly reported in the international media for a little over 1.5 years.

I wish I could explain more as to what the panelist’s POV’s were, but there was so much information in that small amount of time, I didn’t have the time to grab a notepad!

asean2015: ASEAN CommunityBalagtasan, Philippines Balagtasan is...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:56:31 -0700

asean2015:

ASEAN Community
Balagtasan, Philippines

Balagtasan is a form of debate through poetry. It was invented in the Philippines during the time of American era based on the old tradition of poetic debate like karagatan, huwego de prenda and duplo. The name is derived from the famous poet Francisco Balagtas because this was done during the anniversary of his birth.

Balagtasan should composed of three persons: the affirmative one, the negative one and the mediator.

Desert (at Mango Medley)

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:53:52 -0700

Desert (at Mango Medley)

Look at all that #food @soosweetsoo! #tofuhouse #oakland...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:34:27 -0700

Look at all that #food @soosweetsoo! #tofuhouse #oakland #bayarea #pyeongchangtofuhouse #koreanfood #bibimbob (at Pyeong Chang Tofu House)

asean2015: ASEAN CommunityA lady from East Java,...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:06:52 -0700

asean2015:

ASEAN Community
A lady from East Java, Indonesia

yanorayanora:

Woman of East Java by volcanoJohn