Sitting at her desk sifting the newspapers of the day is how Hana Hajjar begins the process of turning current events into satirical sketches.
Hajjar has been illustrating editorial cartoons for the past two years at Arab News. Now the work of Saudi Arabia’s only published female editorial cartoonist is the focus of a ten-day exhibition at Jeddah’s Al-Tahliah Center.
The exhibition was inaugurated Saturday night with a large crowd that came to look at 155 black and white and colored sketches by the 27-year-old Saudi artist.
“Editorial cartoon drawing is a public art that grabs the attention of everyone,” said Hajjar. “I didn’t want to have my exhibition in an art gallery that would only attract an elite audience.”
Indeed the gallery was filled normal, everyday Saudi families.
“It’s interesting that she doesn’t just focus on women issues,” said journalist and writer Tami Al-Simairi. “I thought she would, but it’s clear she is tackling a variety of issues that affect all of us regardless of our gender.”
Although the poster promoting the event depicts a frightened man with a paint brush running away from laughing woman, Hajjar doesn’t seem to make a big deal in her work about being a woman in a man’s world (editorial cartoonists worldwide tend to be men). She has no desire to inflict feminine vengeance against men — although perhaps at times it might be warranted. Instead, you find in her art subtle humorous jibes at the expense of both genders, depending on the subject matter.
One cartoon compares a husband to a cat burglar, sneaking up a drainpipe on a building to hook up with his misyar wife (a wife under a “no obligation” contract, which is sanctioned in Islam but often raises the ire of wives when their husbands hide these marriages to other women from them). The cartoon’s message is clear: A man who hides his misyar wife from his regular “obligation” wife is a crook and a liar. Another cartoon takes a jab at dishonest wives: It depicts a woman sifting through the pockets of her husband’s dish-dash looking for money in order to sneak off to the mall for a spending spree.
“I don’t know exactly why this profession is a male-dominating one worldwide,” said Hajjar. “I think that women are better in noticing the little details.”
Hajjar has participated at many art exhibitions in the past and said that she has had an interest in art since she was 12. Hajjar went to Egypt and was mentored by Saad El-Din, a well-known editorial cartoonist for Al-Ahram newspaper in Cario.
“He is the one who told me that in order to do better I have to go daily to a newspaper and work there,” she said. “The newsroom atmosphere gives a push and a full insight to the news. A cartoonist is both a painter and a journalist.”
