Deena Mohamed (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: دينا محمد‎, born ca. 1995) is an Egyptian graphic designer,

graphic novelist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

, and illustrator, who was born and raised in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. She made her debut at the age of 18 with her webcomic ''

Qahera ''Qahera'' is a 2013 webcomic produced by 22-year-old art student Deena Mohamed. The eponymous protagonist, a hijab-clad superheroine, is an Egyptian superhero. The series, which began as a joke amongst friends but soon became a viral phenomeno ...

'', combining both Islamic and feminist values. Mohamed has collaborated with various advocacy groups, such as Harassmap and Centre for Applied Human Rights, to create informational comics. In a cartoon for the online literary magazine ArabLit.org, she described her experience of creating her work in English, addressing international readers, as opposed to using Arabic for an Egyptian and Arab public. Even though she considers both of these forms of expression as part of her personality, she sometimes uses different issues, like

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

in Arabic and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

in English.

Written works

''Shubeik Lubeik''

''Shubeik Lubeik'' is Mohamed's bilingual trilogy, first published in 2015. It follows the protagonist, Aziza, on her journey in an imagined modern day Egypt. In this world wishes are sold in bottles at the Egyptian markets. Aziza is against purchasing wishes, however her views change when her childhood friend, Abdo, disappears. The graphic novel was originally published in Arabic and later translated into English and other languages. As of 2021, Mohamed is working on the final installment in the trilogy, set to release in 2022.

''Qahera''

'' is Mohamed's first webcomic, first published in 2013, at the age of 18, and is currently still ongoing. Originally published in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, then also in

, the webcomic follows a nameless Egyptian female superhero on the lookout for social issues faced by women in the Arab world. She has criticized sexual harassment, corrupt police, retrograd clerics, and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. The series, which began as a joke amongst friends but soon became a

viral phenomenon Viral phenomena or viral sensation are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...

, had nearly 500,000 unique visitors, with an average of 10,000 hits per day between September and November 2013.

Visual works

Harassmap Consent Campaign

A 2018 social media campaign that includes a series of short comics, in collaboration with

Harassmap HARASSmap is a mobile and online technology non-profit that uses interactive mapping to try to reduce the social acceptability of sexual harassment throughout Egypt. History As of 2005, HARASSmap co-founder Rebecca Chiao began investigating th ...

, about consent. Each comic strip discusses consent in various contexts. The lead for this project was Rebecca Chiao, the co-founder of Harassmap, a project aimed to bring awareness to sexual violence in Egypt.

Center for Applied Human Rights Comics

A series of comic strips, illustrated by Mohamed, in which each depicts the response, from human rights defenders, to "What factors make you feel secure and insecure?". This project was in collaboration with The Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York and was led by Dr. Alice Nah.

Google Doodle

In January 2020 Deena Mohamed was commissioned by

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

to make Mufidah Abdul Rahman's 106th Birthday Doodle.

Awards

Best Graphic Novel and the Grand Prize at Cairo Comix Festival in 2017, for her first instalment of ''Shubeik Lubeik''. In 2019 Mohamed received a McDowell fellowship for literature.

Publications

* ''Shubeik Lubeik 1''. Maamoul Press, 2017. * ''Shubeik Lubeik 2''. Maamoul Press, 2018.

References

External links

*
Qahera Comic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohamed, Deena 21st-century Egyptian women artists 1995 births Arabic comics artists Egyptian comics artists Living people