Cartoon by Hassan Fedawy.
Hassan Fedawy (also referred to as Hassan El Fedawy) is an Egyptian caricaturist and political cartoonist. His work has appeared in magazines like Alahram and Rosa El Youssef. Fedawy has also been a faculty member and associate professor with the Faculty of Fine Arts of Alexandria University.
Life and career
Born in 1962, Hassan Fedawy enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Alexandria University in 1980, and obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1986. Between September 1986 and June 2003, he worked as a professor of graphics, drawing and multimedia at the Art Decoration Department of his former university. He also received an MFA in 1993 for a thesis about novelist Naguib Mahfouz, adding a PhD in 1994 for his studies of puppets in science fiction films.
Cartoon by Hassan Fedawy.
Between 1998 and 2000, Fedawy studied at the San Francisco State University (MSP) to obtain a certificate in 3D Art. This helped him become an instructor at the AAST Architecture Department (2000-2003) and a senior graphic designer for AbsolutelyNew, Inc. (2004-2009). Between September 2009 and February 2011, he worked as a computer program coordinator at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology. From January 2015 to September 2022, Fedawy was head of the Cinema and Theatre Department at the University for Modern Sciences and Arts in Alexandria. He has subsequently been a full time professor with The Egyptian Russian University.
Comic by Hassan Fedawy.
Cartoonist
Fedawy has combined his academic work with a career in graphics. His cartoons have appeared in such magazines as Al-Arabi, Al-Ahram, the Economist, Ladies and Gentlemen, Caricature, Shell, Sabah Al-Kheir, Ala-Aldeen and Rosa El Youssef. Particularly in the latter magazine he is regarded as one of its house cartoonists, while also illustrating articles. He has also worked with the advertising agency Hegazi Group. During the Arab Spring of 2011, many of his political cartoons spoke up against the regime of president Hosni Mubarak, who was eventually toppled that same year. His cartoons were exhibited at the 2011 event 'Breathed... Unsaid' at the SOMArts Cultural Center.
Cartoon by Hassan Fedawy.
Fedawy has organized weekly workshops which not only attract graphic artists, but also novelists - among others Hagag Odoul - and musicians - like singer Hamza Alaa Eddin. In an interview with Rania Khallaf for the online weekly Al-Ahram, Fedawy explained his motivation behind this cultural event: "The idea is simply an attempt to establish a basis of reconciliation in our society. Egyptians, Muslims and Copts, need to conciliate. In this critical juncture of time, Egyptians need to refresh their spiritual memory. Egypt was the first country in the world to believe in the unity of religions; it is a shame that we were forced to fear each other."
Cartoon by Hassan Fedawy.
This is why Fedawy - a Muslim himself - organized these workshops at the courtyard of the St. Mark's Cathedral rather than a mosque, because in his opinion: "Mosques have become less spiritual. Most Imams argue for verbal violence rather than tolerance, and the worshippers finish their prayers and leave the mosques with a sense of anger. My aim is to simply bring to life the idea that I have always believed in: tolerance and spirituality should be restored to our society. I want artists and people in general to rediscover their language, their rich verbal and body language; because when our dictionary of words diminishes, we tend more towards violence. I want participants of all walks and ages to attend this workshop to discover the language of art, and therefore to discover themselves and act in a positive way."
On 5 October 2012, Hassan Fedawy, Ahmed Magy and Amr Diwan initiated the live graffiti performance 'Graffiti Non Stop! Live on Stage', during which young Alexandrian artists could spotlight their talents in co-production with the Alexandria Creativity Centre.
Self-portrait.