More than 20 talented artists from the UAE are participating in Bahrain Comic Con’s Artists’ Alley, as part of a collective known as Uprizing based in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.
Uprizing founder Abdulla Al Louz explained his organisation’s mission as one which supports local artists and takes their work abroad to show it to the rest of the world.
Emirati artist Nadia Al Ghaithi, who goes by ‘Dodie Alexander’ online, designs and sells nostalgia-inspired stickers and pins of cartoon series that were popular in the Middle East.
These franchises, considered iconic by those who grew up in the 90s, include Detective Conan, Legend of Zorro and Pokémon.
Ms Al Ghaithi’s products cater to a GCC-wide phenomenon known as ‘ayam al taybeen’ (loosely translated to ‘the good old days’), idealising the 80s and 90s including pop culture from that era.
“I began drawing as a teenager, as a way to vent my feelings through art,” the computer science graduate told the GDN.
“I got started with drawing a simple comic strip about my day-to-day life.
“In time, I moved to drawing in the classical anime shoujo style that was popular in the 70s and 80s.”
‘Shoujo’ is a genre of Japanese comics targeting girls and young women.
Ms Al Ghaithi listed Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda, which was dubbed into Arabic as Lady Oscar, as one of her main inspirations, along with Black Jack by manga legend and pioneer Osamu Tezuka.
“I really admire their work since it has a clear emotional message, Arab society needs stories that show us how one expresses their real emotions and not bottle up what’s in their heart.”
Fellow Emirati artist Nadia Al Ali also had a table at the Artists’ Alley featuring characters from modern Japanese video game franchises.
“I studied animation in university, so doing this full time is an amazing opportunity for me,” the 25-year-old, who goes by ‘Nidori’ on social media, told the GDN.
“I can finally share my art with people – that’s something I’ve been dreaming of doing since I was a young child.”
One can find Uprizing on Instagram at @ uprizing.ae, Ms Al Gahithi @dodie.alexander, and Ms Al Ali @nido.ri.
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