Calais

I recently went to the refugee camp in Calais with a group of students from Oxford. We had collected food and clothes to take over and had raised a lot of money.

We spent several days helping out at a warehouse and distributing donations, as well as talking to refugees there, hearing their stories and working out how best to spend the money and how we could raise awareness of the situation in the camp.

I have written two pieces in response to my visit. One describes the camp: https://collect4calais.wordpress.com/2016/03/27/a-picture-of-calais-sophie-dowle

The other looks at how the camp illustrates the number of unremembered conflicts there are: http://www.cherwell.org/comment/world/2016/03/26/calais-the-camp-of-forgotten-conflicts

A long absence

 

I am sorry to have hardly posted so far this year! I’ve been pretty busy writing for and doing editing for various publications. Please check out what I’ve been up to:

An Interview with Lalla Essaydi

Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog for a while. I’ve been writing a lot elsewhere. Check out this interview with the wonderful Lalla Essaydi that I did for Bluestocking

Bluestocking Oxford

By Sophie Dowle.

Lalla Essaydi

Lalla Essaydi is an influential Moroccan-American artist, whose uncompromising portrayals of women have sent waves across the art world. Bold, brave and unafraid to make frank and honest statements regarding gender and the Middle East, Essaydi challenges the tropes of Orientalism head-on in her work. When I spoke to her, her passion and clarity of perception was clear. She is enthusiastic in her mission to add balance and depth to the discourse surrounding women in the Arab world.

You’ve been creating art focused around women in the Middle East, their role and their portrayal, for many years now. Have you seen a change in how they are perceived and portrayed? 

There has definitely been a change in the world in general, and especially in Morocco and other Arab countries, perhaps due to the Middle East and North Africa becoming better connected with Europe and…

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Roam: Jordan

Don’t get me wrong, I love my home. Wales is pretty difficult to beat, and one of the best places in the world. Walking in the Brecon Beacons is one of my favourite things to do, but given a chance to roam away from home and travel the world, I will take it with open arms. Roaming and living away from home certainly makes you appreciate where you come from much more. Having spent a year in Jordan, the second most water poor country per capita in the world, I now can’t get enough of the rivers, mountains and green, green grass of home, but I used to curse every rainy morning. And home, in turn, appreciates you more after a long absence, with family and friends excited to see you and hear all about your adventures.

The Dying Dead Sea

This article first appeared in the Cherwell Student Newspaper in October 2015.

The feeling of floating, unaided, in the salty water, floundering about if you try to swim, the oily feel of the water against your skin, the disgusting taste, and the searing pain if the water gets in your eyes or a small cut- these experiences all make a visit to the Dead Sea a unique experience. But the days are numbered for the marvel, fun and bewilderment of a visit to this landlocked salty ‘sea’.