kqmoucha series

feminism meets art: the kqmouja series

Through my art I am deep diving in my cultural and feminine spirituality. As part of this process I created the Kqmouja series. Kqmoucha is a combination of two words in Darija (Moroccan dialect): khmouja (rotten) qmoucha (scratched). The word khmouja is used to describe women that are not meeting the standards of “a good housewife”. It also refers to the restrictive ayeb/hchouma (English: disgrace, shame) culture in which women and girls in North Africa and the diaspora (myself included) grow in. Qmoucha is referring to the method I used to create the piece but also to the emotional toll of this culture.

As an intersectional feminist I reject the Eurocentric perspective that this mentality is rooted in Arab and/or Islamic culture and that Arab societies are unable to develop. Reclaiming narratives, I rather understand this tendency as a consequence of colonial oppression and fear of cultural alienation.