#bysamania

LONG DISTANCE INTERVIEW: SAMANIA

Samira Mahboub & Ania Catherine, Artist/Scholar Duo

(what moves you: to make your work, to get up in the morning, to feel what allows you to create)

Our initial motivation to collaborate was a desire to visually translate subjects we studied (gender, sexuality, postcolonial theory, politics, media) into a medium that was digestible to a wider audience. We still incorporate our academic backgrounds into our work, bridging academia with art, performance, and film, and more recently have also used our daily life experiences and questions as inspiration. 

(how did it start: your art career, your love for it, how old were you when you Became An Artist are you still Becoming One how does one claim that identity)

We met in London; we were both doing our postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics Gender Institute and had a few classes together. We both had performance backgrounds, and decided to collaborate on a film so that year we made our first piece “cloth” which we directed and performed. Everything started there and we have continued working together as a duo ever since.

(how does the internet/your online presence function in the creation and distribution of your work)

Social media is very useful; it increases accessibility to art and is an effective tool for mobilizing younger generations and raising awareness of social/political issues. A strong online presence should not be the goal, but as artists we see the value of its use as a means to an end—our end being spreading our work and message.

(advice)      

It is really common to see young female creatives, young and old, downplay their talent and seriously question their abilities/potential (see impostor syndrome). We’d like to take this moment to say create if you feel called to do so, reach out to people who inspire you, and collaborate with people who believe in you. You never know who could be waiting to experience your work or whom it may touch. Also, use your voice and speak up in situations, even (especially) if it causes some discomfort.

(what are your Dreams what are your Goals what are your Visions what is your Favorite Work)

We hope to not only bring our academic research subjects/gaze as gender scholars into the art sphere, but also to bring art into academia. Not everyone learns the same way, and we believe that if universities took the educational value of film and photography seriously, it would be much easier for the world to analyze/understand complex subjects from personal identity to war. We would love to see our creative work shown in academic settings, and our academic work in museums. We hope people are challenged, moved, and empowered by what we do. It is also our aim for people to identify with our work—ideally, in unexpected ways.

September 1st, 2016

bysamania.com