Woman behind mashrabiya II

Susan Hefuna

Many of Susan Hefuna’s multimedia works explore her experience navigating the discordant parts of her heritage—German and Egyptian, Christian and Muslim. Hefuna’s photographs, videos, sculptures, installations, and drawings explore the rifts between cultural codes and perceptions of them, towards larger themes of identity and social politics. In 2001, she produced a series of self-portraits, cityscapes, interiors, and portraits of her family, sometimes including images of Mashrabiyas—latticed windows Hefuna encountered in Egyptian cities that allow one to observe without being seen. Between 2004 and 2010, Hefuna designed a number of Mashrabiyas herself, incorporating phrases in English and Arabic, and commissioned artisans to produce them. Hefuna is also known for her drawing, which she considers the backbone of her diverse practice.