Ahmad Mohammad Nady ( ar, أحمد محمد نادي) is an Egyptian

political cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...

ist, comic artist and activist. Belonging to a family of artists, Nady began his career early on, steadily rising to become one of the best known comic artists in Egypt at a young age. He has drawn political cartoons since an early age, and since the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

, has become increasingly active in this area of work, garnering a significant reputation for the boldness of his work.

Biography

Background

Nady was born on December 31, 1981, into a family of artists. His father, Mohammad Nady, was a cartoonist and his mother, Iman Ezzat, is a sculptor and writer. In addition to his parents, Nady has cited his childhood and upbringing in the 10th of Ramadan CityThe "10th of Ramadan City" is like the

6th of October City 6th of October ( ar, السادس من أكتوبر, Al Sādis Min Uktōber; arz, ستة اكتوبر, Setta Oktōbar) is a city in Giza Governorate, a satellite town and part of the urban area of Cairo, Egypt, 32 km (20 miles) outside the c ...

. as an early influence in becoming an artist. As a child, he was an avid reader of comic books and magazines and he would occasionally create comics about his relatives, basing his characters on their features. Over time, this became a hobby with his father acting as mentor. He drew caricatures of schoolmates and teachers. Among his first comic characters was the "Amazing Mido" ( ar, ميدو العجيب ''Mido al-'Ajeeb''), a young inventor who was subjected to radiation that allowed him to easily control and change his shape and form. According to Nady, his first published cartoon was political. The cartoon was made during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, while Nady was in elementary school, and it portrayed

Sindbad Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghda ...

hitting

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

on the head, saying, "You've made the children of the world hate me now that they know I'm an Iraqi." In 1992, at barely 11 years of age, he won his first award in a workshop at the Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum. The following year, he was given the best caricature award by a caricature magazine.

Career

Ahmad Nady began his professional career at the age of 14 when his father was suffering from fatigue and overwork. Nady asked him if he could draw for a Lebanese magazine and his father agreed and encouraged him. He started out at first as an assistant at a workshop producing Pharaonic sculptures, before working with a number of magazines, including Karma ( ar, كرمة) company, known for several of its comics: Simsim's World ( ar, عالم سمسم ''The Egyptian version of

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''), Sameer and Alaa el-Din ( ar, سمير علاء الدين) and the Young Arab ( ar, العربي الصغير), among others. During this time, Nady started mailing several comic magazine editors with samples of his work and his ideas, all of which were rejected in Egypt. One of these, among his very first professional work, was a series of adventures called Fayek w Rayek ( ar, فايق ورايق) after its two main characters, a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

and a

sloth Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...

. The series was published by the Saudi comic magazine ''Basme'' ( ar, باسم) and was popular among children. While steadily advancing as a comic artist, Nady began entering the realm of political cartoons. In 1996, he won third place in a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

exhibition, "''Where We Live''", and in 2004, participated in an art exhibition organized by the Artists' Syndicate in solidarity with Palestine. He promoted comics and cartoons by setting up numerous workshops across Egypt, including at least one in the

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin for "Library of Alexandria"; arz, مكتبة الإسكندرية ', ) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library ...

. He has also won three awards from

deviantArt DeviantArt (historically stylized as deviantART) is an American online art community that features artwork, videography and photography, launched on August 7, 2000 by Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens among others. DeviantArt, ...

, an online community of artists.

Activism

Nady participated in the

2008 Egyptian general strike The 2008 Egyptian general strike was a strike which occurred on 6 April 2008, by Egyptian workers, primarily in the state-run textile industry, in response to low wages and rising food costs. Strikes are illegal in Egypt and authorities have been ...

and, for a time, in

Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei ( ar, محمد مصطفى البرادعي, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá al-Barādaʿī, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July ...

's presidential campaign. Nady joined the 2011 revolution from the very beginning, participating politically at

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...

and drawing cartoons on the spot, inviting those around him to suggest ideas and captions. He was one of the many people who camped out in Tahrir Square and was hit by a rubber bullet on

January 28 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. * 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession o ...

during the violent clashes with the police. He also was attacked by members of the "Popular Committees" due to the propaganda by state owned media, which claimed that the protesters had a "foreign agenda". When asked about what should be done with National Democratic Party headquarters set on fire during the 2011 revolution, Nady praised the idea of turning the headquarters into a centre that holds cultural activities, saying, "It should be a place for workshops of all artistic fields inviting all artists from all over Egypt".

Awards and honors

;Local recognition * Merit certificate of Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum Workshop, 1992.FineArt Sector - Biographies - Ahmed Mohammed Nady
. 2011-09-05.Archived at webcite at https://www.webcitation.org/61TOArgrU * Prize for the best caricature in caricature magazine, 1993. * Honorable mention from the exhibition of "''Egypt in my Heart''", by the Republican Youth and the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

, 2004. * Recognition Award from the Artists' Syndicate for his contribution to an art exhibition in solidarity with Palestine, 2004. ;International recognition * Third prize at UNESCO exhibition, "Where We Live", 1996. * Three Daily Deviations awards from Deviant Art, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Gallery

File:Sebo3 althawra almasria.jpg, The

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

, The

Coptic church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

, Elites and the

SCAF The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; ar, المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة, ', also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a statutory body of between 20 and 25 senior Egyptian military officers and is headed by ...

trying to control the Jan25 youth File:No to Military Trials in Egypt.jpg, SCAF trailing peaceful protesters in

Military courts Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

while Mubarak faces a civilian court File:SCAF and 6 April Youth Movement.jpg, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces accusing the

6 April Youth Movement The April 6 Youth Movement ( ar, حركة شباب 6 أبريل) is an Egyptian activist group established in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on 6 April. Activists calle ...

of receiving American funds File:SCAF oppose Right2Vote For EgyAbroad.jpg, SCAF opposing the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

for Egyptians living abroad, claiming that Egyptians abroad are unpatriotic and have a secret agenda File:Freedom under SCAF.jpg, Freedom under SCAF File:Ali Jawad al-Sheikh by Ahmad Nady.jpg, Ali Jawad al-Sheikh

Footnotes

References

External links

Ahmad Nady's blog

Nady on Behance Network

Nady on DeviantArt

Fan page on Facebook

Nady on Flickr

Nady on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nady, Ahmad 1981 births Egyptian editorial cartoonists Egyptian comic strip cartoonists Egyptian comics artists Egyptian caricaturists Egyptian satirists Living people Artists from Cairo People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Helwan University alumni