Power, fear, domestic violence and identity issues are topics that some Emirati women chose to share with the public through the means of a photography exhibition. Eighteen students from Dubai Women's College recently held the exhibition entitled Private(ly) to showcase issues that have affected their private lives at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (Ductac).
The co-curator of the show, Shammi Samano, said that in her opinion this exhibition is probably the first of its kind to showcase Emirati women's talent. "It's a very gutsy show," Samano said. One of the student exhibitors, Ameenah Taher, also believes that this is the first time women like her have got the chance to showcase their work. "We didn't have this chance before… [this exhibition] makes us more self-confident about our work and to show it."
‘Need to interact'
Samano, who is also the professor of the first-year Applied Communications students, believes that "young local women need to interact with them [the public]" as people are interested in the local community and want to know what young Emirati women are thinking about. She wanted her students to have the experience of holding an exhibition and being able to have a dialogue with the public.
Some students were inspired by things that happened to their friends or someone close to them.
Eman Al Shamsi chose to portray domestic violence in her photograph because she was inspired by someone close to her who went through that experience. She also chose this topic because she fears domestic violence and believes that it's a private issue to many people in the UAE and outside the country.
In Reem Abdullah Al Falahi's photograph, she shows Arabic words that mean pride, vanity and hatred, which "live deep in [her] heart." She also believes that "these feelings are not only for Emirati people, it's for everybody."
Marwa Mohammad was inspired by the idea of women's strength and decided to show in her picture how women don't need to be guided by men.
She said it is believed that in her culture "women shouldn't study media because here we [Emirati women] can talk to men or work with them a lot more than in other jobs." However, she believes that even if local women are in public places, they can show their personalities and represent their country in a good way.
Three students organised the event. One of them, Nawar Al Shamsi, is a fourth year Applied Communications student who will be graduating soon. She took part in organising this event because it was her graduation project. She said her project could be translated as a "farewell gift from the graduate class to the first year".
— The writer is a mass communication major at the American University of Sharjah.
