This research project focuses on the concepts of politics / cultural imaging and visual language, gender and new social media. Media images (or photographic images) of revolutionaries and political leaders are mainly idealistic (and predominantly male). The image of Arab women in the Western media has been greatly simplified and is mostly one-sided: on the one hand we see suppressed hijabi (veiled) women (or women as victims) and on the other hand free-spirited Western-minded women. The most important underlying question in this research project is whether it is possible as an image maker to show a more complex and deeper picture, partly on the basis of an analysis of the diversity of Arab fighters.
Important questions are: What images of female warriors are there and what is their place in visual culture? Is it possible to visually show the (political) meaning of the female activist?
We search for women in the so-called 'aftermath' of the recent revolutions in Cairo and Tunis. Own (photographic) images and portraits are already made and interviews took place with leading contemporary activists, in which humanity, as well as their femininity, are central. In this study it is important to highlight women who occupy a leading position, women who have actually participated in the recent changes.
Promoters: Luc Pauwels (UA) & Sonja Spee (KAA)
