Habiba Abd El-slam is 21 years old senior student at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Graphics and Animated Cartoons Department, Helwan University.

When Henri Matisse’s and Édouard Manet’s ghosts possess someone’s body…

The moon peeked through her window into the dark room eager to witness the marvellous scene ahead of him, and she didn’t mind his presence since the light was just right to allow her to dive into her painting, and with some old tunes that belong to ancient times playing in the room, it was easy to become one with the painting. 

Her heart was soaring with feelings, and her mind was screaming a clear idea, so she wielded her brushes like a magical wand. Soon after, her idea and feelings were born and were looking back at her. She looked at her own doing with a raced breath as if she was running for miles. She is Habiba Abd El-slam…

Habiba Abd El-slam is 21 years old senior student at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Graphics and Animated Cartoons Department, Helwan University. 

During her childhood, she was a very active child, always moving and running around with tons of energy that were difficult to contain. So, her family decide to get her to join tons of activities to have a healthy outlet for her tons of energy. So, she joined musical, artistic and sports activities. 

When Habiba started to draw, her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes started to shine in a way she didn’t know were possible, and the world became a bit more colourful. Her heart reached the clouds from within the darkest shades of green trees in a forest of natural art. 

One sip of water is never enough to satisfy someone’s thirst, and the lone wolf never survives. Upon joining the Faculty of Fine Arts, and upon realizing the unlimited skies through which she can soar with her colourful wings, through watching her colleagues and professors wave at her while on the clouds. She pushed herself towards learning and practising until her wings became as strong to say the least. 

In addition to this, joining this faculty helped Habiba learn how to taste the pure sweetness and sourness of art on the tip of her tongue. It also taught her how to appreciate, value and understand art. This led to her seeing the whole world differently, with no illusion to cover up her eyes, but with a more mature eye that sees life with more depth. So she decided art was worth practising for her entire life. 

The surrealist painting "جدل" which is purchased by Almansoura University is the dearest to her heart.

Habiba’s painting “ ,"جدلwhich was purchased by Almansoura University, is the painting she loves the most. This painting came to life during the Republic’s faculties of Fine Arts forum in Almansoura. It was called “ ,"جدلbecause the forum commissure would see it with different eyes every time, making a buzz about the painting with many interpretations. 

Upon looking at this surrealistic painting, we can see a human being who lost his head and hands, and a plant emitted from his neck. Habiba wanted to argue that if human beings lost their minds, fire would eat up their humanity and leave them with a faint trace of it that would get them back on track, after the beasts in them roar and claw at everything they worked so hard to achieve

Among all the artistic schools she studied, her heart yearned for the Bestiality and Expressionism with their vibrant vivid colours, and Surrealism with its unique philosophy and unlimited imagination, that would put words in animals’ mouths and curse human beings with the Bestiality of animals. 

Habiba took part in many art exhibitions, for example: Exhibition of the Forum of the Egyptian Faculties of Fine Art in Almansoura, Cairo International Bank exhibition with Fine Arts, The 8th International Conference on Architecture and Arts by the Scientific Research Authority, Designarto online gallery, Al-Qasr Art Exhibition at the Egyptian Opera House, Toulon Exhibition with Our Eyes at the Egyptian Opera House, and an Exhibition hosted by Empain at Baron Palace. 

If you are curious about this splendid artist, hare is a collection of her favorite paintings:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/126992737/Hands-Sketching

https://www.behance.net/gallery/126992451/Landscape

Habiba’s most cherished advice for the youth is to fight as fiercest as they can and defend their future with the sword of hard work until they reach home, and if they don’t reach home, it would at least lead them to a safe and a peaceful place. Hard work doesn’t need to change worlds at the blink of an eye, but baby steps would definitely lead you to the door one day, and until this day is upon us, one must be patient and aware of who he is and where he’s heading