I arven efter Farao Akhenatons datter

THE LEGACY OF PHARAOH AKHENATEN'S DAUGHTER

English translation in italics:

Doaa Eladl, 25. august 2013.

Ovenstående tegning er en af Doaa Eladls seneste. Hendes hjemmebane er Egypten, men der er næppe mange kvinder verden over, som ikke genkender fornemmelsen af grotesk synlighed, der betyder udsathed og at være sat i en position, der kræver konstant vagtsomhed.

Som vi skal se, sætter Doaa Eladl fokus på problemstillinger, der rammer kvinder, men som vi også skal se, er det ikke det kvindelige element heri, som interesserer hende. Uanset emnet er hun politisk tegner og nagler vores normer, især når dobbeltmoralen får lov at trives i dem:

The above drawing is one of the latest by Doaa Eladl. She is in Egypt, but most women around the world recognize only too well the feeling of grotesque visibility, which implies vulnerability and being put in a position that requires constant vigilance.

As we shall see, Doaa Eladl focuses on issues that affect women, but as we shall also see, it is not primarily the female aspect of this that interests her. Whatever the subject, she is a political cartoonist who focuses on our norms, especially when double standards are allowed to thrive within them:

Doaa Eladl, 24. august 2013.

Det arabiske forår har alle steder været kendetegnet ved synlighed, ikke kun indbyrdes tegn, men billeder og direkte kunst. Doaa Eladl var blandt de tegnere, som delte deres tegninger ud på Tahrir Pladsen, som indtil da ikke havde kunnet trykkes. Samme sted, den 25. december 2012, skar 8 kvinder deres hår af:

The Arab Spring has everywhere been characterized by its visual presence, not only using signs that are recognized among the protesters, but imagery and even art have been integrated from the onset. Doaa Eladl was among the artists who shared their drawings, which until then could not be published with the protesters in Tahrir Square. The very same place where at December 25 2012 eight women cut off their hair:

Doaa Eladl, I arven efter Farao Akhenatons datter, 
klippede egyptiske kvinder på Tahrir Pladsen deres hår i protest mod forfatningen, 
26. december 2012.

Klipningen blev erklæret for en befrielseshandling i protest over fjernelsen af den artikel 33 i udkastet til den ny forfatning, der angik alles lighed for loven. Dermed var kvinder eksempelvis afskåret fra at blive præsident, for nu at sætte forskellen i kortform. Akhenaton-forbindelsen understregede desuden sammenhængen med præsteskabet, fordi hans datters reaktion skal have været vendt mod dem.

De Skæggede har - som vi før har set - gjort hår til kampplads for retten til at tale og dermed til magten. Kvinderne på Tahrir Pladsen satte strips over munden, som de først fjernede, da håret var skåret af: "Det er ikke håret, som kroner vi kvinder, der gør vores frihed". Bemærk, at denne tegning er fra 14 dage før kvindernes offentlige markering:

The action took place as a protest against the removal of the Article 33 of the draft of the new Constitution, which concerned everyone's equality before the law. Women were thus barred from becoming president, to put the difference in short. The Akhenaton connection furthermore emphasized the relationship with the clergy because his daughter's reaction was said to have been directed against them.

The Bearded - as we have seen before – has made ​​hair a battleground on the right to speak and thus of power. The women in Tahrir Square put strips over their mouths, which they did not remove till their hair had been cut off: "It's not the hair that crowns us women which makes us free." It is worth noting that this drawing is from a fortnight before the women's public demonstration:

Doaa Eladl, 8. december 2012.

Doaa Eladl kunne gå direkte til The New Yorker, hvis hun ellers ønskede det. Hun har den klassiske centraleuropæiske streg, som vi kender fra eksempelvis Jean-Jacques Sempé, blidt bølgende, næsten æterisk. Men hvor forgængerne går den indirekte vej og skaber effekt ved at vise det positive, sætter Doaa Eladl sit persongalleri stævne som modsætningspar. Den, som kræver, og den, som rammes af kravet.

Hendes fokus er aldrig offeret. Hendes interesse er den anden parts handlinger, så de ikke kan dække sig ind. Det gælder også kvindelig omskæring, som hun formår at fremstille uden ord. Undermåleren, der destruerer storheden i livet - livet selv - som han ikke forstår, fordi han vil forme verden, som han selv har tolket den:

Doaa Eladl could be a star cartoonist at the The New Yorker, if she so wanted. She draws in the classical tradition of central Europe, as we know it from Jean-Jacques Sempé, with a line gently undulating, almost ethereal. However, where her predecessors would be going the indirect route and show only the positive side, Doaa Eladl creates a meeting of opposites. There is the one who make demands and the other who are affected by the demand.

Her focus is not on the victim. Her interest is the other party's actions so that they can no longer hide themselves. This also applies to female circumcision, which she shows us without the use of words. A smallish person who destroys what is great in life - life itself - which he refuses to understand because he demands the world to take shape according to his own interpretation:

Doaa Eladl, 24. februar 2013.

Doaa Eladls tegninger markerer noget meget fundamentalt, som vi har tendens til at glemme, at denne type vold ikke primært er vold mod kvinder. "Vold mod..." er en formulering, der hensætter volden til et særligt forklaringshjørne. Det er vold, eller det er overgreb. Med punktum efter.

Doaa Eladl's drawings mark something very fundamental in that we tend to forget in that this type of violence is not primarily violence against women. "Violence against ..." is a wording that creates special corners in which to put such cases. But this is violence. Full stop.

27. november 2012

Selvgodheden anklagede omgående Doaa Eladl for blasfemi, som i øvrigt den første tegner i Egypten, dagen efter offentliggørelsen af nedenstående tegning. En af deres egne, nu med vinger, erklærede foran Adam og Eva, at de aldrig ville have været smidt ud fra Paradisets Have, hvis de blot havde stemt ja til udkastet til forfatningen. Samme udkast som fjernede artiklen om ligeværdighed. 

Selv fremhævede hun, at tegningen var og blev politisk, ikke religiøs. Den handler om den utrolige tro på at have ret til at definere verden for andre. Den omgående blasfemianklage mod hende beviste til fulde tingenes tilstand.

The Self-Righteous immediately accused Doaa Eladl of blasphemy, which, incidentally, she was the very first to be accused of in Egypt. Their reaction came the very day after the publication of the drawing below. One of their own, now clad in wings, declares in front of Adam and Eve that they would never have been expelled from Eden had they voted in favor of the draft of the Constitution. The very same draft, which removed the article on equality.

Doaa Eladl has emphasized that the drawing was political, not religious. It's about the astonishing fact that some take it as a right upon themselves to define the world for others. The immediate blasphemy charges laid against her proved to the full the state of affairs.

Doaa Eladl, 20. december 2012.

Anklagen mod hende bortfaldt automatisk den dag, Broderskabet blev frataget magten. Uanset den politiske situation, var hendes facebook-side derfor travl med lykønskninger. De Skæggede kunne ikke længere beslutte hvem, som måtte eller ikke måtte:

The charge laid against her automatically lapsed on the day of the removal of the Brotherhood from power. Regardless of the political situation, her Facebook-wall was busy with congratulations. The Bearded could no longer decide who was in the right and who was not: 

Doaa Eladl, 9. december 2012.

Stor tak til Doaa Eladl for tilladelse til at vise hendes kunst. Det siges, at der er en vis billedtørhed, siden militæret satte Broderskabet fra magten. Mindre grafitti, eksempelvis, fordi det er blevet sværere at udtrykke sig uden at komme til tage parti for enten militæret eller Broderskabet.

Doaa Eladls pegefinger er netop nu rettet mod Broderskabets vold, for de skal ikke have chancen for at erklære sig for offer. Hun har med andre ord travlt med at gøre et regnskab op, så der er rent bord til næste kapitel. Revolutioner er lange, seje træk, som hun selv understreger. 80 år tog det i Frankrig?

A very special thank you to Doaa Eladl for her permission to display her art. It is said that imagery has dried put since the military removed the Brotherhood from power. Less graffiti for instance in that it has become harder to express oneself without siding with either the military or the Brotherhood.

But Doaa Eladl is busy. She is currently targeting the violence of the Brotherhood, so they shall not get the chance to proclaim themselvesthe victims. She is in other words doing a clean sweep making ready for the next chapter. Revolutions take time, as she emphasizes. 80 years was it in France?