Amira Wasfy "The Veiling of Isis" (Egypt)

Article 9: Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest, Exile

565 x 395mm lithograph 607 x 428mm paper size

Artist Statement: Amira Wasfy

To obtain a passport, wives must submit their marriage certificate and their husband’s written permission to be issued a passport.

The idea of the art work was inspired by the artists struggle to obtain an Egyptian passport. Even though an Egyptian citizen in good standing, she cannot obtain a passport unless the following translated requirement is met: [Item# 7 of the Regulation governing a renewal of an Egyptian passport, the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 454 Laurier Avenue East Ottawa, Ontario, Canada] Also, even though the artist holds dual Canadian/Egyptian citizenship, she would be unable to leave Egypt without her husband’s permission, though both do not reside in Egypt.

These requirements are some of the human rights violations committed in the Republic of Egypt. Expressing a longing for recognition of her identity as an Egyptian, the artist uses the image of her expired passport. For her, the eagle in the passport’s crest represents Horus, the son of Isis and protector of the ancient civilization.

The passport image is repeated through out the piece in a smaller scale and in inverted mirror image as a way to express her disappointment with the treatment received by women in contemporary Egypt. The artist hopes that Egypt will begin to comply with the Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which it is signatory, and by this, return to it’s ancient status as “Mother of the World”.