I would like to thank my interlocutors, my professors who are also mentors of their own right, my... more I would like to thank my interlocutors, my professors who are also mentors of their own right, my advisor for such a pleasant guidance, my friends, and my biological family; without you this wouldn’t have happened. The reason why I said biological family, is that during the journey of this project and this certificate, I have made yet another family, one that through the toughest times, when we were are in our weakest points, we found strength in lifting each other up. In our good days we spread our colourful feathers wide like peacocks, we find joy in the ordinary and the mundane, we create the wild and magnificent from the scraps of affect we collect as we breath, we fight, we argue, and we stay strong; not as one but as diverse. The people mentioned in this thesis, and the people known but not mentioned in this thesis, have given me the honor of sharing their most private, intimate and vulnerable moments, of entrusting me with their data they could not utter sometimes even to the...
In this paper I problematize the aspects of a statement that I heard in a contemporary art conven... more In this paper I problematize the aspects of a statement that I heard in a contemporary art convention: “Contemporary Art is Elitist”, I try to understand the nuances of such a concept in Egypt, to review some of what the contemporary art curators and artists said about the Egyptian contemporary art market, and to look at the art market and the other market solutions offered in Egypt, apart from the state. It asks: what actually defines the Egyptian Contemporary Art (ECA)? What is the relation between it and capital in Egypt? What are other nuances of space, language and subjectivity entangled in the contemporary art business? What is the definition and nuances of “Elitist Art” for various ECA curators and artists? What are the ‘alternative’ approaches to the intensive “Neoliberal” approach? And what are other possibilities it can open?
This paper discusses the representation of Gay, Lesbian and Queer (GLQ) identities in one of the ... more This paper discusses the representation of Gay, Lesbian and Queer (GLQ) identities in one of the most influential industries in Egypt and the Arab World, cinema. It takes the time frame of the 1970s, also known for the presidency of Anwar El-Sadat for Egypt, who was one of the most enigmatic and controversial statesmen that ever existed. Litigations, freedom of expression, and dominant discourses in the cultural reproductions were affected by several factors such as: political events, alliances, economic policies, war and peace agreements, and the relation to the previous regimes and colonial history. This culminated in the cinematic productions of the 1970s in Egypt, making it probably the golden age in GLQ representations in the entire history of Egyptian cinema, in quantity and sometimes in quality.
Virtual reality (VR) is a term that identifies computer generated environments that involves vari... more Virtual reality (VR) is a term that identifies computer generated environments that involves various forms and levels of interaction and immersion with the users’ position and surroundings. Originally inspired by science fiction, today virtual reality is commonly used in entertainment industry, in tactical combat stimulations, medicine, psychology and aviation. With a revenue of products that is expected to reach 5.2 billion USD in 2018 and a dramatic rise of users from 6.7 Million in 2015 to 43 Million user in 2016 (Statista, 2016) VR platforms manifests themselves as a mecca for a wide range of users from teenagers to 40+ users where everyone can exist in their own forms (a.k.a Avatars or Aliases). VR and Augmented Reality (AR) applications form a type of Heterotopia that Foucault described as seemingly open spaces, where the only initiated body can access (Vidler; Foucault; Johnston, 2014, p.22). From gaming, chat rooms, to artworks; initiation options vary in hardware from PCs (46% of users in 2016), to Gaming Consoles (28% of users in 2016) to Mobile (26% of users in 2016). Its projection also extend to real world communities, real life relationships, and a separate virtual economy; VR and AR are topics that raises many questions on the political, economic, social and theoretical level, that deserves analysis and study. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the founding fields that creates VR has long been dominated by males, Cyberfeminism and Cyborg feminism were theories that revolutionized the way we see gender in technology; Cyberfeminism emerged out of the awareness to the male dominance of technology, and encouraged ‘women’ to engage more with technology. It had two opinions within: One that favored existing outside the label of feminisms seeking the push for more knowledge of new media technologies as is, and the other that saw critical participation that surpasses the call for “all girls need modems” (Consalvo, 2003, p.2) as crucial to not only be an active participant of decision and policy making, but also to be able to utilize the mediums and tools we have to help everyone outside the Western, White, Technologically Privileged population online and offline (Consalvo, 2012). On another side stood Cyborg Feminism with the foundational work “A Cyborg Manifesto” (Haraway, 1991), that discussed the human-machine symbiosis, abolishing all boundaries of sex and gender, to establish the multi-gendered, multi-sexed, and non-binary “Cyborg”. This also opens the door for the role of corporeality and gender by Judith Butler (Butler, 1990), and the similarity between the fluid geographic nature of VR and fluid representations of its inhabitants.
The paper the debates and previous discussion a topic that is relatively new in theoretical discussions; this paper tries to explore various gender theories and technology with focus on virtual realm, it explores various forms of virtual spaces, various gender and sexuality representations in them, and whether or not they are manifested in the same way real life is. It argues that virtual reality as a realm of parallel existence, as a heterotopic realm can be as space of amplifying the sexual representational norms that exists in real life, and yet also manage to create its own rule of the game. It uses the world of “Second life” as a focus of study, both by the author of the paper, or by other studies conducted on Second Life population.
This paper, though unfinished, connects the Nubian Diaspora to the Nubian literature, in a way th... more This paper, though unfinished, connects the Nubian Diaspora to the Nubian literature, in a way that illustrates how literature plays the role of the Nubian archive. How the forced and arranged obliteration of any trace of the Nubian heritage happened and is happening through out the years, and how this is also reflected through means of language, mobilization, and other cultural and political forms.
This poem discusses the question of Formal and real subsumption, in the Marxian sense; and how it... more This poem discusses the question of Formal and real subsumption, in the Marxian sense; and how it seeped through our everyday, constituting our concepts of labour, freedom, jobs, leisure, as well as, what is called "struggle" against all that.
I would like to thank my interlocutors, my professors who are also mentors of their own right, my... more I would like to thank my interlocutors, my professors who are also mentors of their own right, my advisor for such a pleasant guidance, my friends, and my biological family; without you this wouldn’t have happened. The reason why I said biological family, is that during the journey of this project and this certificate, I have made yet another family, one that through the toughest times, when we were are in our weakest points, we found strength in lifting each other up. In our good days we spread our colourful feathers wide like peacocks, we find joy in the ordinary and the mundane, we create the wild and magnificent from the scraps of affect we collect as we breath, we fight, we argue, and we stay strong; not as one but as diverse. The people mentioned in this thesis, and the people known but not mentioned in this thesis, have given me the honor of sharing their most private, intimate and vulnerable moments, of entrusting me with their data they could not utter sometimes even to the...
In this paper I problematize the aspects of a statement that I heard in a contemporary art conven... more In this paper I problematize the aspects of a statement that I heard in a contemporary art convention: “Contemporary Art is Elitist”, I try to understand the nuances of such a concept in Egypt, to review some of what the contemporary art curators and artists said about the Egyptian contemporary art market, and to look at the art market and the other market solutions offered in Egypt, apart from the state. It asks: what actually defines the Egyptian Contemporary Art (ECA)? What is the relation between it and capital in Egypt? What are other nuances of space, language and subjectivity entangled in the contemporary art business? What is the definition and nuances of “Elitist Art” for various ECA curators and artists? What are the ‘alternative’ approaches to the intensive “Neoliberal” approach? And what are other possibilities it can open?
This paper discusses the representation of Gay, Lesbian and Queer (GLQ) identities in one of the ... more This paper discusses the representation of Gay, Lesbian and Queer (GLQ) identities in one of the most influential industries in Egypt and the Arab World, cinema. It takes the time frame of the 1970s, also known for the presidency of Anwar El-Sadat for Egypt, who was one of the most enigmatic and controversial statesmen that ever existed. Litigations, freedom of expression, and dominant discourses in the cultural reproductions were affected by several factors such as: political events, alliances, economic policies, war and peace agreements, and the relation to the previous regimes and colonial history. This culminated in the cinematic productions of the 1970s in Egypt, making it probably the golden age in GLQ representations in the entire history of Egyptian cinema, in quantity and sometimes in quality.
Virtual reality (VR) is a term that identifies computer generated environments that involves vari... more Virtual reality (VR) is a term that identifies computer generated environments that involves various forms and levels of interaction and immersion with the users’ position and surroundings. Originally inspired by science fiction, today virtual reality is commonly used in entertainment industry, in tactical combat stimulations, medicine, psychology and aviation. With a revenue of products that is expected to reach 5.2 billion USD in 2018 and a dramatic rise of users from 6.7 Million in 2015 to 43 Million user in 2016 (Statista, 2016) VR platforms manifests themselves as a mecca for a wide range of users from teenagers to 40+ users where everyone can exist in their own forms (a.k.a Avatars or Aliases). VR and Augmented Reality (AR) applications form a type of Heterotopia that Foucault described as seemingly open spaces, where the only initiated body can access (Vidler; Foucault; Johnston, 2014, p.22). From gaming, chat rooms, to artworks; initiation options vary in hardware from PCs (46% of users in 2016), to Gaming Consoles (28% of users in 2016) to Mobile (26% of users in 2016). Its projection also extend to real world communities, real life relationships, and a separate virtual economy; VR and AR are topics that raises many questions on the political, economic, social and theoretical level, that deserves analysis and study. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the founding fields that creates VR has long been dominated by males, Cyberfeminism and Cyborg feminism were theories that revolutionized the way we see gender in technology; Cyberfeminism emerged out of the awareness to the male dominance of technology, and encouraged ‘women’ to engage more with technology. It had two opinions within: One that favored existing outside the label of feminisms seeking the push for more knowledge of new media technologies as is, and the other that saw critical participation that surpasses the call for “all girls need modems” (Consalvo, 2003, p.2) as crucial to not only be an active participant of decision and policy making, but also to be able to utilize the mediums and tools we have to help everyone outside the Western, White, Technologically Privileged population online and offline (Consalvo, 2012). On another side stood Cyborg Feminism with the foundational work “A Cyborg Manifesto” (Haraway, 1991), that discussed the human-machine symbiosis, abolishing all boundaries of sex and gender, to establish the multi-gendered, multi-sexed, and non-binary “Cyborg”. This also opens the door for the role of corporeality and gender by Judith Butler (Butler, 1990), and the similarity between the fluid geographic nature of VR and fluid representations of its inhabitants.
The paper the debates and previous discussion a topic that is relatively new in theoretical discussions; this paper tries to explore various gender theories and technology with focus on virtual realm, it explores various forms of virtual spaces, various gender and sexuality representations in them, and whether or not they are manifested in the same way real life is. It argues that virtual reality as a realm of parallel existence, as a heterotopic realm can be as space of amplifying the sexual representational norms that exists in real life, and yet also manage to create its own rule of the game. It uses the world of “Second life” as a focus of study, both by the author of the paper, or by other studies conducted on Second Life population.
This paper, though unfinished, connects the Nubian Diaspora to the Nubian literature, in a way th... more This paper, though unfinished, connects the Nubian Diaspora to the Nubian literature, in a way that illustrates how literature plays the role of the Nubian archive. How the forced and arranged obliteration of any trace of the Nubian heritage happened and is happening through out the years, and how this is also reflected through means of language, mobilization, and other cultural and political forms.
This poem discusses the question of Formal and real subsumption, in the Marxian sense; and how it... more This poem discusses the question of Formal and real subsumption, in the Marxian sense; and how it seeped through our everyday, constituting our concepts of labour, freedom, jobs, leisure, as well as, what is called "struggle" against all that.
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Papers by Radwa Fouda
VR and Augmented Reality (AR) applications form a type of Heterotopia that Foucault described as seemingly open spaces, where the only initiated body can access (Vidler; Foucault; Johnston, 2014, p.22). From gaming, chat rooms, to artworks; initiation options vary in hardware from PCs (46% of users in 2016), to Gaming Consoles (28% of users in 2016) to Mobile (26% of users in 2016). Its projection also extend to real world communities, real life relationships, and a separate virtual economy; VR and AR are topics that raises many questions on the political, economic, social and theoretical level, that deserves analysis and study.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the founding fields that creates VR has long been dominated by males, Cyberfeminism and Cyborg feminism were theories that revolutionized the way we see gender in technology; Cyberfeminism emerged out of the awareness to the male dominance of technology, and encouraged ‘women’ to engage more with technology.
It had two opinions within: One that favored existing outside the label of feminisms seeking the push for more knowledge of new media technologies as is, and the other that saw critical participation that surpasses the call for “all girls need modems” (Consalvo, 2003, p.2) as crucial to not only be an active participant of decision and policy making, but also to be able to utilize the mediums and tools we have to help everyone outside the Western, White, Technologically Privileged population online and offline (Consalvo, 2012). On another side stood Cyborg Feminism with the foundational work “A Cyborg Manifesto” (Haraway, 1991), that discussed the human-machine symbiosis, abolishing all boundaries of sex and gender, to establish the multi-gendered, multi-sexed, and non-binary “Cyborg”. This also opens the door for the role of corporeality and gender by Judith Butler (Butler, 1990), and the similarity between the fluid geographic nature of VR and fluid representations of its inhabitants.
The paper the debates and previous discussion a topic that is relatively new in theoretical discussions; this paper tries to explore various gender theories and technology with focus on virtual realm, it explores various forms of virtual spaces, various gender and sexuality representations in them, and whether or not they are manifested in the same way real life is. It argues that virtual reality as a realm of parallel existence, as a heterotopic realm can be as space of amplifying the sexual representational norms that exists in real life, and yet also manage to create its own rule of the game. It uses the world of “Second life” as a focus of study, both by the author of the paper, or by other studies conducted on Second Life population.
Drafts by Radwa Fouda
Talks by Radwa Fouda
VR and Augmented Reality (AR) applications form a type of Heterotopia that Foucault described as seemingly open spaces, where the only initiated body can access (Vidler; Foucault; Johnston, 2014, p.22). From gaming, chat rooms, to artworks; initiation options vary in hardware from PCs (46% of users in 2016), to Gaming Consoles (28% of users in 2016) to Mobile (26% of users in 2016). Its projection also extend to real world communities, real life relationships, and a separate virtual economy; VR and AR are topics that raises many questions on the political, economic, social and theoretical level, that deserves analysis and study.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the founding fields that creates VR has long been dominated by males, Cyberfeminism and Cyborg feminism were theories that revolutionized the way we see gender in technology; Cyberfeminism emerged out of the awareness to the male dominance of technology, and encouraged ‘women’ to engage more with technology.
It had two opinions within: One that favored existing outside the label of feminisms seeking the push for more knowledge of new media technologies as is, and the other that saw critical participation that surpasses the call for “all girls need modems” (Consalvo, 2003, p.2) as crucial to not only be an active participant of decision and policy making, but also to be able to utilize the mediums and tools we have to help everyone outside the Western, White, Technologically Privileged population online and offline (Consalvo, 2012). On another side stood Cyborg Feminism with the foundational work “A Cyborg Manifesto” (Haraway, 1991), that discussed the human-machine symbiosis, abolishing all boundaries of sex and gender, to establish the multi-gendered, multi-sexed, and non-binary “Cyborg”. This also opens the door for the role of corporeality and gender by Judith Butler (Butler, 1990), and the similarity between the fluid geographic nature of VR and fluid representations of its inhabitants.
The paper the debates and previous discussion a topic that is relatively new in theoretical discussions; this paper tries to explore various gender theories and technology with focus on virtual realm, it explores various forms of virtual spaces, various gender and sexuality representations in them, and whether or not they are manifested in the same way real life is. It argues that virtual reality as a realm of parallel existence, as a heterotopic realm can be as space of amplifying the sexual representational norms that exists in real life, and yet also manage to create its own rule of the game. It uses the world of “Second life” as a focus of study, both by the author of the paper, or by other studies conducted on Second Life population.