Campus exhibition challenges Saudi laws

Mohammad Sharaf, a graphic artist from Kuwait whose popularity grew when he began exhibiting works on social media, will celebrate the opening of a collection of more than 20 original illustrations at the UNC FedEx Global Education Center tonight.

The exhibit, called “Visual Reactions: A View from the Middle East,” will run until Oct. 31, said Ingrid Smith, events and exhibitions manager for UNC Global. Smith said the exhibition touches on topics ranging from gender dynamics to the Arab Spring.

Sharaf said his works are typically large, simple screen prints with minimal colors, almost always political or social critiques inspired by current events. He gained recognition by exhibiting his works on sites like Twitter and Instagram, sites he said are hugely popular in Kuwait.

“My gallery was social media,” he said during an Honors Carolina tea Wednesday.

“That’s it.”

One such work was a critique of a law that allowed Saudi women, who cannot legally drive, to ride bicycles for recreation when accompanied by a male chaperone. The law drew widespread criticism from international news outlets and Sharaf said it just didn’t make sense to him, and he responded by portraying a Saudi woman riding a bicycle with a man standing in a seat on the back.

“This artwork went viral to the point where I was overwhelmed,” Sharaf recalled. “It was everywhere.”

Sharaf said he doesn’t want to be labeled a feminist.

“I don’t like labels,” he said. “But when I see women mistreated it doesn’t make sense — they have to have equal rights and duties.”

Carl Ernst, a distinguished professor of Islamic studies in the department of religious studies, will provide opening remarks at a reception for the opening of Sharaf’s exhibition tonight.

Sharaf will make remarks and lead a discussion about his pieces following the reception.

He said the Middle East is little understood to most Americans, and that’s what make this exhibition so important.

“For most people, their impressions of the Middle East are based on news media reports of aggression,” Ernst said. “But this is fun — it’s interesting, it’s stimulating.”

Associate Professor of Asian studies Nadia Yaqub will moderate a question-and-answer session at the reception. She agreed the exhibition is important because it shows a different side of the Middle East.

“One of the stereotypes is that women are oppressed, but here you have a young Kuwaiti man who is critiquing his government on gender policies,” she said. “And that’s provocative.”

Sharaf said he believes in art that is “useful.”

“The ultimate goal is that when someone sees one of my posters, they do something,” he said. “Even just one person.”

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