By Maya El Helou

“What is Feminist Artivism?” is the ninth session in South Feminist Future’s Political Education series. This series is an initiative by South Feminist Futures that seeks to strengthen cross-regional, intergenerational dialogue and build a cross-regional feminist constituency. The series cuts through various topics to interrogate and strengthen understanding of issues shaping conditions in the Global South.

This session took place on the 31st of August, 2023 and was taught by By Maya El Helou In this video, Maya unpacks the idea of artivism and discusses its expressions in queer and feminist experiences of resistance in the global South.

Maya El Helou is a Ph.D. candidate and Course Instructor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. El Helou is nestled within the corridors of the Department of Socio-Cultural Anthropology and the collaborative tapestry of Gender and Women Studies and Sexual Diversity at the University of Toronto. Her academic journey is a profound exploration of the dynamic queer feminist resistance movements that colour the canvas of the everyday in Beirut, Lebanon. Her current journey has led her to Toronto, where she is labouring over her graphic ethnography dissertation blueprint. Her scholarly pursuits orbit around the intricate spheres of gender, sexuality, affect, spatiotemporality, revolutions, embodiment, existence, and the vast expanse that lies between them. Beyond the academic arena, Maya dons the hat of a skilled comic artist, wielding the magic of illustrated ethnographic methods to reveal the ineffable. Her canvas becomes a portal to the unspoken, a bridge between worlds that words alone cannot traverse. She utilizes art and humour as tools to distill intricate feminist theories into accessible forms for the public. She harmonizes academia and activism, transcending borders to spotlight Lebanon and the wider MENA region. Her endeavours carve pathways through the rugged terrains of gender, sexuality, theory, and creative knowledge production, forging a nexus that bridges the intellectual and the transformative.