Moroccan comic book artist Zainab Fasiki recently gave a talk on the interplay of feminism with the Arab region’s government censorship of speech. Fasiki has gained a following as a self described “gender democracy activist”, and gave this talk as part of a gathering of artists and graphic designers at the Arab Comics Symposium, part of the Mu’taz & Rada Sawwaf Arab Comics Initiative at the American University of Beirut. According to Fasiki’s bio at the Queens Collective, community art space in Marrakech, Morocco:
Zainab Fasiki is a comics artist, mechanical engineer and a feminist. she draws illustrations and books about gender democracy and leads art residencies /WOMEN POWER/ to encourage more girls in art fields in Morocco and teaches art and feminism in workshops. She uses also her engineering skills as a DIY maker in fablabs and fetsivals to make interactive electronic installations. Zainab aims to show the world that women can make wonders as men and all genders can live in peace in this world.
According to her bio at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, a organization with close ties to the German Green party:
Zainab Fasiki was born in Fez, Morocco, in July 1994. She recently graduated as an Industrial Mechanics Engineer and is a self-taught cartoonist and digital installation artist. After she moved to Casablanca in September 2014, Zainab created alliances between different cultural organizations in order to develop her passion for art and technology.
When she joined the magazine collective Skefkef, she was able to create comic book panels with a group of artists while working on a number of artistic residencies in Casablanca; she also ran workshops designed to introduce pupils and high-school students to DIY culture and electronic installation with the organization Morocco Makers. Currently, Zainab works as a freelance digital artist and is preparing a new comic book Omor, tackling gender equality in the Arab World, which is to be published internationally.
The video is about 20 minutes. Take a look:
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