The personal and artistic journey of Shurooq Amin has been marked since childhood by men. For better and for worse. Her father, responsible for the Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Information - the same that has now set the artist as the target of his rant - was the one who taught her to travel the world and learn about other cultures.
«It was my great reference. He took me to see the bulls and flamenco in Spain, to London, Paris, Moscow, Rome ... It made me feel like a citizen of the world and educated me regardless of our gender. I played football with my brother and he played dolls with me, ”recalls the 53-year-old Kuwaiti in a telephone conversation.
The divorce with her former husband, in 2010, was the instant catalyst that changed "drastically" the orientation of their works. "I realized that society treated me like a prostitute just for divorce," he says.
Shurooq already treasured a long career that began with 22 years, but until that moment he had stayed out of the controversy.
In his next exhibition, Shoot: the hidden truth of the girls of the society (Kuwaiti), turned his canvases into a platform to show the local women in miniskirts or praying with the naked torso, to conclude by shooting against the paintings in an attempt to simulate the "murder" suffered by female sensuality in that country under the rigor of a patriarchal society dominated by religious conservatism.
It is not surprising that the next collection, that of 2012, dedicated this time to men, was closed three hours after its inauguration. The censors of the Arab country regime were outraged when they saw that Amin had captured in their works images of Arabs surrounded by whiskey bottles - in Kuwait alcoholic beverages are absolutely prohibited - and always accompanied by the evocation of voluptuous females.
«They said it was pornography, the same as now. Then they complained about how I had represented men and now they complain about the way I have portrayed women. They say it is contrary to local tradition and culture, ”says the artist.
Amin had not tried to show his works in Kuwait again until January 8, when he opened his latest collection: "Like Russian dolls, we stayed in previous beings."
The show included chairs that personified the devotion of the Arab states for the position of power, seductive women showing their charms in bikinis, smoking or surrounded by the everlasting forbidden drinks, and several mannequins covered with the abaya and the traditional niqab (veil).
This time the officials of the Ministry of Information only acted after a week, although with the same result. The exhibition was closed and, as in 2012, the decision generated a huge scandal in the country's social networks, divided between those who support the artist and those who accuse her, such as columnist Dahem al Qahtani - a well-known local journalist - of "Outrage to good manners" and "obscenity."
According to Amin, the censors were especially offended by the figures dressed in the abaya, one of whom carried a purse with the word "sinner" written as an emblem - "to represent social hypocrisy," the painter apostles - and another wore a underwear bag and a bottle of juice that are used there to camouflage alcohol.
«It was my way of interacting with conservative women, of accepting them. I wanted to show that we can all live in the same space as long as we are able to dialogue in a civilized way. But they didn't get it , ”says Amin.
The controversy confirms the iconoclastic nature of this artist, whose creations denounce all the taboos of the Arab nation: from forced marriage of minors to homosexuals who must marry to maintain a double life.
An artistic conception that led her to be the first creator of Kuwait invited to the Venice Biennale in 2014. In her country, however, her name is immediately associated with censorship.
«If someone wants to make an auction of paintings and includes one of mine, they are forbidden to do it until he removes mine. There are writers who wanted to make a generic book about art in Kuwait that they forced to take away my name, ”he says.
As a reply, Shurooq Amin dedicated an exhibition to "laughing at the censors." He opened it in 2013 in Dubai and called it Popcornographic in reference to the qualifying "porn" that officials give to their creations.
«We were forced to place two works in a private room. They were censored but not removed. It is a less arbitrary type of censorship than that of Kuwait, ”he explains.
One of those paintings is one of the most controversial portraits of the Kuwaiti and summarizes the gap between its approaches and local orthodoxy. It simply shows a Kuwaiti passionately kissing a woman.
«It is fascinating in sociological terms. People are ashamed to see a man worried about a woman. We are so used to the woman being prostrated at her feet, cleaning her shoes, kissing them , or cooking, that seeing a man kissing a woman seems offensive, ”he concludes.
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