Nora’s Cloth

The jury's
conclusion

“Nora’s Cloth” is a project that showcases contemporary women’s perspective and re-introduces the audience to the feminine with Islam as a backdrop - through portrait photography, mixed media and video. Issraa El-Kogali is an artist exploring her creativity through many different tools of communication. She has the artistic audacity to see the great work of Ibsen both behind and outside women’s veils, in a Sudan that is redefining its borders and refusing to embrace its own cultural diversity. “Nora`s Cloth” is an invitation to meet contemporary muslim women in an intricate society, and the project brings Ibsen to the core of controversial and important issues in today's society.

About the project

Whether in Europe or The Middle East, strong women have explored their place in society and in the home, much like Ibsen’s Nora. The project “Nora’s Cloth” focuses on the presence or absence of the symbol of hijab as an expression of liberation or rebellion versus a tool of opression. With a backdrop of Islam “Nora’s Cloth” will showcase a contemporary women’s perspective as a way of introducing or reintroducing audiences to the feminine. The representation of mixed heritages, misconceptions and stereotypes of muslim women among the international community are to be investigated. How we dress ourselves today reflects a multitude of attitudes towards liberation. Using photography, mixed media and video, the aim is to create a work of art that depicts portraits of women and their voices creating a conversation about their sense of self.

Issraa El-Kogali is an aspiring Sudanese artist exploring her creativity through photography, writing short stories, poetry, jewelry design and film. She has a MA in theatre studies from University of Leeds School of English and a Screenwriting MFA at the University of Boston. For her first play she was awarded New Writers Awards at the AUC’s New Play festival in Cairo.