Artist Maria Mahfooz is Using Hijab In a Humorous Way To Combat Racism [Video]

Her hilarious yet thought-provoking content will keep you wondering!

Maria Mahfooz

Maria Mahfooz is an arts graduate who obtained her degree from Central Saint Martins- University of The Arts, London. Early on in her line of work, Maria realized that her hijab made her a target of racism in the UK. But she was not one to back down.

 

Instead of letting bullies get to her, she turned that factor into her favor by creating humorous pieces of arts and videos featuring herself in a hijab. While the topics of discussion in her videos seem to be very real and controversial, Maria believes a little humor can mitigate the seriousness of it all while still sending a point across.

I love to take audiences down a particular route via humor only to end up confronted with something so big and so sensitive in the form of a punchline. I often employ humor within my work, not only for the sake of accessibility, but also because sometimes more can be said within the work if the intro seems like a joke.



She created a space for herself on the internet, where she expresses herself however she wants. Though most people might not have a taste for her humor, it is nonetheless a very commendable endeavor. By using this platform, she continues to present pressing issues that she, as a brown girl, faces in her day to day life.

I use satire as a way of dealing with the dislocation I can feel. So the work sometimes feels more digestible but still generates reactions of uncertainty about whether to laugh or not?



She says that her hijab was automatically green-screened and removed throughout technologies as such. But that did not demotivate her, instead, she used the platform to speak out on the matter.

These systems were not built with a hijab in mind, and so it failed to archive my digital self truly.

 

 

She has made parody songs in order to communicate the pressing issues that she as an artist in a hijab faces daily.

We have to green screen ourselves in because in reality, we cannot occupy these spaces, and that’s the important factor to take away from this. Two harmless Muslim gurls just tryna have fun at a beach but these systems of oppression are stopping us, and othering us.



You can catch Maria Mahfooz live on 26th March, here.

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Via itsnicethat


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