We will regularly be presenting a featured artist, writer or performer who is exploring questions of identity and personal narrative through their medium of expression.

The map is your representation. No rigid lines, no defined routes. You direct it on your own account.

Artist: Nehal El-Hadi
Title: Posted Cards Online
Description:

Nomadic is the word that best describes my geographical history - stints in Sudan, Oman, and the U.K. I’ve lived in Canada since 1999, the longest time I’ve cumulatively spent in one country. During this time, I’ve received mail at 12 addresses, taken thousands of photographs and written countless words. Posted Cards Online uses photographs I’ve taken and recombines them with fragments from my writings, highlighting key moments that shaped different aspects of my identity. Each image and its accompanying text are brought together with the use of metadata tags. This project also explores the non-linear nature of memory, and the revisionist, romanticist nature of reminiscence.

because for half an hour, life was beautiful

Tags accompanying this post: Toronto, half of a pair, scorpio, Sizzla, romance, ten

and I wished for you with all my heart

Tags: Khartoum, ghazal, grandparents, Sufism, homesickness, heredity

they were always from somewhere else, like me

Tags: Regina, outcast, masculinity, acceptance, parole

I hide behind the video camera

Tags: Regina, ragheads, dollmaker, Afghanistan invasion, rodeo

and moments still disappear without permission

Tags: Toronto, epidemic, natural, fusion, dilution, Arabic

you’re sitting on that old couch

Tags: Ottawa, Erykah Badu, foreign affairs, alienation, betrayal

betcha that wasn’t the only thing

Tags: Havana, debt, mixed race, frustration, infidelity, gossip

we wear the deaths on our necks

Tags: Khartoum, purge, market, obligation, faith, superficiality

although I had nothing to do with it

Tags: Regina, instability, discounts, amnesia, three hours, psych ward

maybe I imagined it

Tags: Montreal, culture clash, fire escape, escape, dismissal

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Nehal El-Hadi is a writer and cultural producer. Born in Sudan, she has lived and studied in the United Kingdom, Sudan, and Oman. Nehal is currently based in Toronto, and her work explores the intersections of culture, identity, urban spaces, and environment.