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Passionate activist Sandy Abdelrahman is Co-Founder of Skaped, an artivist charity for young people in East London. Taking action on human rights at Skaped, Sandy also is an artist, filmmaker, creator, and graduate and also represented the UK as a Youth Delegate at the UN Headquarters in 2017. Go Inspire spoke to Sandy about her activism, and the amazing opportunities she’s experienced over the past few years.
Go Inspire UK: Tell us about your career (Reprieve and Amnesty International) and education. (congratulations on your masters degree!)
Sandy Abdelrahman: Thank you, it’s been tough doing it in lockdown, but I’m glad I did it. Well, where do I start? My career has actually been in the creative art sector. I graduated with a BA in media; afterwards, I worked as a trained filmmaker for a while, and now I’m a multidisciplinary artist. However, most of my work was inspired by people and politics, and this is where I found my passion lies; within art as a tool to create change in society; and being an activist at a young age, I was seeking another potential way to create change. I have been involved with charities such as Reprieve and Amnesty International, fighting for fundamental human rights issues and enabling voices to be heard, especially in the middle east. At this time, I became increasingly interested in utilizing art to educate young people about their human rights. I’m currently the CEO of Skaped; I deliver workshops/talks that explore inequality, social change and community issues through art. I also work with another amazing organization called Social Ark which empowers young people in East London communities to use their lived experience and start their own social businesses.
GI: What about Skaped and The Other Checkbox - could you give us more information on them in particular?
SA: Skaped is an Artivist charity that was co-founded in 2017; we encourage young people to engage with community building and social change through the creative arts. We run educational programmes, workshops and art projects that explore identities/intersectionality, community building, and social change issues that matter to them (such as gender inequality, discrimination, gentrification etc.). Skaped was co-founded by two young migrant women who use their lived experiences to inspire and empower under-represented youth to grow in confidence and be more able to create the change they want to see. We wanted to create something that didn't exist for us and be by and for young people for real. We have so far been doing amazing work with our young people and the community.
SA: The Other Checkbox, on the other hand, is a very personal project, it's rooted in myself and JC's (co-creator) own lived experience as immigrants and members of the '‘Other'’ ethnic groups within the equality and diversity forms. The project explores this specific community, our sense of belonging, our identities and our commons rather than difference. We kicked the project off with a survey asking 100 individuals about their experience with the forms; we used the analysed data from the survey to create a monthly podcast where we interview individuals to explore representation in national statistics. Listen on Spotify now! And then, we introduced our collective community workshops, where together with participants who also feel '‘othered'’ explored identities, sense of belonging and representation through various creative activities and doll-making. We are creating a new community of ''otherness''. These artworks will be exhibited in a collective exhibition in the Bermondsey project space gallery in January.
GI: What was it like representing the UK at the UN Youth Summit in 2017?
SA: To be honest, I was very shocked to be selected as a youth delegate; I didn’t expect it at all, however, it was a very proud moment to be standing there representing young people from the UK and speaking about the work we need to do to support the future of young people. It was absolutely extraordinary.
GI: Why do you choose art as a form to educate and document important topics?
SA: Arts has always been there to document human rights violations, injustice, and inequality all over the world. I believe art is the best method to encourage conversation about human rights and promote the need to protect our rights. Creativity and arts are open to all regardless of background and class, imagination doesn’t need a guard, and can be accessed anywhere. I use arts as a method to express myself, when I first moved to the UK and was struggling to fit in, I found myself through the arts, in particular, I used drama to help me get out of my shell and express my emotions. By allowing people to express their pain and battle through creative arts you’re giving them a tool to speak and share their voice and that’s how we can endorse human rights. Arts can help you think about possibilities and that’s why I believe it’s the best way to promote our human rights.
GI: Tell us about one of your favourite projects/pieces of art you have created?
SA: Oh, this is hard as each project has a special place; however, it has to be 'Meet an Arab woman', which is a project inspired by the possibility of having an open-minded conversation with people on questions they want to ask or issues they want to address about being an Arab woman. This conversation was open to anything, from questions about our identity, culture, political correctness, and stereotypes to who makes the greatest falafel! It challenges preconceptions of women from the Middle East; I invited people to ask questions about what it is like to be an Arab woman and opened up a discussion via video call, then this information was transformed into a visual art project through zine-making.
I wanted to be able to break the barrier and the presumptions people have about Arab Women which, unfortunately, they receive through the media; they are told we are weak, oppressed, controlled and so on. This is not to say that some of these issues are not true, some of us of course struggle with this. Yet, my aim of this project was to ask people to see us as individuals rather than as one general mass. We all have our own stories, struggles, and achievements and we should be able to speak about it and share it without presumptuous judgment. In this project, I wanted people not only to see me as an Arab woman but also to acknowledge the similarities we would have despite our different identities.
GI: What made you want to start empowering young voices on topics such as racism and inequality?
SA: This came from my own lived experience as a migrant kid and has really shaped who I am today and the work I want to do in empowering young voices. Moving to the UK in my early teen years was a massive step. I didn’t just struggle with the language but with fitting in, especially being the only Arab in the school. I came from a completely different culture, so trying to create a new home was a daily battle. However, this made me more determined to aim for the best for myself and my family. It made me realize the everyday struggles of migrants, people of colour, working class and what young people go through, and they don’t have a space to voice their feeling or worries. Seeing this made me want to create a space for that, allowing young people to talk, listen and learn from one another. To be able to create that community for them.
GI: How do you think younger people could raise their voices - in big and small ways?
SA: Young people are already doing it and raising their voices, especially on social media, it is the adult who needs to stop for a second and hear it. However, it’s important for the young people to do it in a way in which they feel comfortable and not pushed. Some young people might find themselves joining protests or maybe through signing petitions, others might be through the art and creativity enabling a way that they can still share their voice but still feel safe and comfortable. And that’s what is important understanding that everyone has their own journey and experience.
GI: What would you say are some of the biggest topics you tackle in work, or day-to-day life?
SA: One of the biggest topics we tackle in work is gender equality as a womxn led organisation there is still misogynistic approach to how some people approach us. However, one of the biggest day-to-day works is actually the importance of self-care, especially as a social justice organisation, we need to acknowledge how activism can be so triggering and tiring, we need to look after ourselves, team, volunteers and others in our community when we’re creating social change. We need to ensure we take time off when needed and not be apologetic about it, know our comfort, stretch and alarm zooms only then we can keep the creating changing without sacrificing our mental health and well-being.
GI: Can you tell us about your workshops - where can people find out about them?
SA: So, at Skaped we run various workshops from gender equality, introduction to artivism to self-care and exploring identities/self-worth; you can find most of our workshops and programmes on our website on Skaped.org. In terms of our community and belonging at The Other Checkbox, we run workshops that specifically explore these themes and otherness.
GI: What are your upcoming ventures/goals - even thoughts for the future?
SA: I’m currently running two exhibitions in January: one for Skaped Artivism programme for young people and another for the Other Checkbox collective exhibition both will be at the Bermondsey project space gallery. One of my future plans is to create a gallery/ creative space that is accessible to young people, particularly to those from tough backgrounds. While anyone can be an artist, it is difficult and expensive for many to fund and exhibit their work. For my own artwork, I was to challenge and push myself further.
GI: What advice would you give to our readers who are furthering their education, activism or wanting to get involved in campaigns and workshops?
SA: This is some advice I always say to young people, be yourself and stand-up for what you believe in. Surround yourself with people who will inspire you, support you, and give you positive energy. It’s ok to make mistakes and feel lost at times you’ll find your way if you stick to your values. Set yourself goals and tasks monthly to achieve these goals whether to read a book by your favourite activist or learn a new skill, whatever it is you set, you need to commit to it.
Instagram: @Skaped
Photography by Laura Pink
Article by Chelsea Abbott
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