“You cannot express yourself well if you do not possess the tools.” May Al-Sa’ad takes us into the world of art, how it gives us a voice, and what it inspires it.
A passionate stand out Kuwaiti artist who recalls that she has always found it easier to express herself using art rather than words. Her talent was recognized at a very young age and the continued support from the adults around her gave her the confidence to keep going.
From winning an international competition her school teacher entered her into winning awards in multiple art festivals, Al-Sa’ad has played an important role in the art scene and has helped pave the way for female artists in the Middle East by offering mutual support and the opportunity to display their art in female only exhibitions.
The theme that ties the interview and a lot of her work together is female empowerment. Her first painting from 1993 titled “A Woman in a Bottle” was inspired by the lack of women’s voting rights at the time, it serves as a resistance using faceless women in glass bottles to convey the suppression of their voices and their suffocation, but what cemented her place in the artrealm is “The Sound of Color”. The purpose of this project, or “experiment” as she called it was to showcase who May Al-Sa’ad is as an artist, strengthen her talent, her identity as a Kuwaiti woman, and secure her place and name in the field. The basis of “The Sound of Color and the Beat of Life” was to show stories unique to Kuwait through drawings and adding color to give them a voice. In 2005 she moved on from this collection and created an exhibition dedicated to 25 paintings inspired by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad as she was touched by her work and despite the language barrier, she saw herself and the similarities between the struggle of the Persian woman and the Arab woman.
A strong compelling message that May emphasizes throughout is the importance of working on yourself first and foremost and not waiting for someone else’s push to be able to reach your full potential and that in order to make a lasting impact, you must master your art and understand your ability and identity. When a parent notices something special in their child, they can only offer a beginner stepping stone to their journey, as May’s parents praised and gifted her with paint sets, but the rest of the journey depends on oneself. Art, in all its forms comes from inspiration, and inspiration comes for your own lived experience, it grows as you grow and continue to develop, which is why Al-Sa’ad reminds us that having talent is not enough, it is developing that talent and dedicating your time to building it up that allows you to do your best with it.
Circling back to female centric themes, Al-Sa’ad discusses the stereotypes and societal pressures that come from being a woman in the workplace in Kuwait. Woman has always had double the pressure and expectation compared to man, she is a being who is more prone to criticism and has to work harder to prove herself. The conversation shifts to history, and how back then there were little to no female names in the list of artists, not because they did not exist, but because it was not what they were expected to be, however when women were at home while their husbands worked, they were creating art in their own homes an example being Sadu weaving. May believes that while there is no such thing as male or female art, but because women were not acknowledged until later, people were forced to categorize art, but art and self-expression is genderless.
Literature also plays a major part in May’s journey, being an avid reader from a very young age allowed her to envision more stories that she can translate to art, whether that be by drawing, or even writing, leading her to write a book titled“Like Writing, or a Bit Less”.
Overall, May Al-Sa'ad episode is a conversation worth sitting for, it aims to inspire young girls and women to believe in their self and talent in order to achieve their dreams leaving them with a message of how to master your tools and gain independence and why it is the most important step to success.
