Wafa's art: Quite the Emirati character

Dubai Women's College graduate walks away from a career in the government sector to pursue her passion for art. Wafa Al Marzouqi, 23, recently walked away from a career as a research analyst to pursue her passion and make a living as an Emirati character designer. The Dubai Women's College (DWC) graduate has been nurturing her talent for character design since she was a shy little girl. “ It got to a point where if you asked me where I see myself in two years I'd say not as a research analyst ” Wafa Al Marzouqi "I've always been more into character design as opposed to landscapes because I was a shy kid," she said. "I used to reflect my feelings through my characters, like if I was sad I'd draw a sad character." However, Wafa's art is no longer about the simple reflection of a child's feelings but instead a source of national pride and a budding career. She recently held her first solo exhibition at Dubai Mall's Bidaya (Beginning) exhibition which attracted a visit from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. "The exhibition was a great success and I decided afterwards it was the right time to resign," she said. The measure of the success of her showcase was a week-long extension of the exhibition. "My first job after graduation was in public relations and my second job was research analyst at the Prime Minister's Office in the international relations department." She has also worked as an intern for a global advertising agency but after stints in both private and public sector employment, Wafa made the decision to go solo. "It got to a point where if you asked me where I see myself in two years I'd say not as a research analyst," she said. "I see myself as an artist and I want to be a self-employed individual working on my own projects, so I resigned in March." Business plan Faced with the initial apprehension from her family, Wafa is determined to prove to everyone she is serious about her chosen path. She now spends most of her days working on her business plan to open a merchandise shop within a year. "Right now I'm working on my business plan to open a store where I can sell merchandise," she said. "I want to do my characters on T-shirts and mugs and sell them professionally." Ever the entrepreneur she went out and about at the weekend to test the market by showcasing her work and selling basic merchandise at the inaugural Middle East Film and Comic Con. She is also working on writing and illustrating a drawing tutorial book as well as a children's storybook in Arabic. "The books combine two things I like, writing and illustration," she said. "I already have three children's books out there for which I did the illustration." Wafa's ambition is to turn her characters into an Emirati brand recognised globally. Her characters reflect Emirati tastes, habits and culture. Having discovered Adobe Illustrator software at university while studying media, she now creates all her work digitally. "Anyone who sees my work will know the characters are from the UAE or at least the GCC because they are all inspired from the local identity," she said. "I try to reflect the younger generation's interests and I think people are attracted to my work because it's not common like anime and manga, which are everywhere." She added she mirrors Emirati traditions by ensuring her characters wear national dress, which is a large part of the identity. "My art work is essentially a reflection of our traditions and my female characters should be wearing the shayla and abaya and the guys wearing the kandora." From: Gulfnews