DIDIHOOD ~ Issue 17

Happy Canada Day Didis! 

As Pride month comes to an end, we want to thank all the Didis who attended the Queer Romance in Bollywood event at TIFF in Toronto. It was an amazing night filled with thoughtful conversation. 

Our next event is taking place on the west coast in Surrey, B.C.; Shades of Brown Girl: Exploring Race and Identity on Stage, hosted by Amrita Kumar-Ratta. The workshop will explore themes of gender, race and identity through artistic methods of reflection and creation. It takes place on July 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and tickets are $10. Get more information here. 

Meet the Didis: 

This month we chat with Anoosha Syed, a freelance illustrator and character designer. She is the illustrator behind the new children's book, Bilal Cooks Daal, and it is one of her many South-Asian focused projects. 

When did your interest in art and illustration begin? 
For most of my life I wanted to be a writer, and in Grade 9 I joined the school paper. I happened to be the only person on the team who could draw moderately well, so I was assigned to draw comics. Fortunately, the teacher who ran the paper was also the art teacher, and encouraged me to take her class, where my passion for art grew. Throughout high school I also became more interested in animation and realized the arts was a viable career option and that's when I decided to pursue it as a career. 

What obstacles did you face as you pursued a career in art? 
Like most brown parents, mine were wary about my choice to go into the arts. While they didn't want to force me to go the "doctor-lawyer-engineer" route, they were a bit worried about my decision and scared that I might become a starving artist. It took a long time to finally show them that my career was a valid one, but they're definitely supportive and proud of me now! 

Many of your published works feature South Asian characters, how important is it for you to create that representation for the South Asian community? 
It's one of my biggest priorities! I don't remember a single instance where I saw positive South Asian or Muslim characters in the media I consumed as a child; in my books or films or on TV. And it certainly had an effect on my outlook on the world, thinking I'm less than because none of the heroic characters looked like me, and contributed to some insecurities of not fitting in because of my culture and the way I looked. Now that I'm older with a talent to be able to change things, I want to use my artwork to give kids today something I didn't have; the feeling of being represented. 

How did you get involved with the book Bilal Cooks Daal? 
I was contacted by Zareen Jaffery, an executive editor at Simon & Schuster who runs Salaam Reads, an imprint focusing on stories about Muslim characters. She thought I'd be a perfect fit to illustrate Aisha Saeed's debut picture book. I just had to say 'Yes' since this would be the first time I'd illustrate a book about a Pakistani kid, and the story is just so cute and important. It teaches kids about accepting different cultures through food, and how wonderful sharing it with your friends can be. Since it's a story about a son and dad cooking together, it also teaches young boys the importance of cooking and helping out around the house which is sometimes lost in our culture. I had a wonderful time illustrating it! 

Tell us about The Art Corner, the podcast that you co-host: 
The Art Corner is a collaboration between me and another freelance illustrator of colour and good friend of mine, Vicki Tsai. We wanted to create a podcast focusing on educating younger artists about the business of illustration and what life is like working in the animation, illustration and design industry. We both felt like we never learned much in art school and ended up learning more after graduating while on the job through trial-and-error, and wanted to save others from that journey by sharing our knowledge. We have a casual, conversational style, kind of like two friends just talking (which we are!) and we often have professional guests come in for interviews as well. The show is available on all podcast apps and on YouTube. 

What's next for you?
I am illustrating a book called I am Perfectly Designed, written by Queer Eye's Karamo Brown. I'm a big fan of him and the show so it's exciting to be working on a project with him and his son! It's a lovely story about family and it'll be coming out on Nov. 5. 

What advice would you give to younger Didis who are looking to pursue a similar career path? 
While I went to art school, it's definitely not required since there's just so much knowledge available online these days! There are just so many resources and online courses you can take to become self-taught. I would also say that having an online presence is extremely important! Post your work online and connect with the artist community on Instagram and Twitter. It's a great way to network if you're looking to be a freelancer, and when connecting with peers you can grow as an artist! 

What we're reading: 

Vogue profiles Mumbai's Naomi Janumala: Meet the 19-year-old Indian model starring in Rihanna's Fenty campaign

We've put in our order for the book, Stories for South Asian Supergirls featuring 50 illustrated biographies of women from Mindy Kaling to M.I.A., Sonia Mirza, Rupi Kaur and more. The book is by Pink Ladoo founder Raj Kaur Khaira and features illustrations from Didi Anu Chouhan (@anumation). 

Upcoming Events:

Shades of Brown Girl: Exploring Race and Identity on Stage takes place on July 13 at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. 

The Indian Summer Festival kicks off July 4 and runs until July 14 in Vancouver. This year's theme is Tricksters, Magicians and Oracles and features 10 days of human diversity, innovation, creativity and wisdom with both ticketed events and free outdoor programming. The lineup includes literary superstars Amitav Ghosh and Pico Iyer (also a TED sensation), the world premiere of Strings for Peace, featuring sarod master Amjad Ali Khan, with three-time Emmy-award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin, and standup comic genius Hari Kondabolu who was recently named one of Variety Top 10 Comics to Watch. Use our discount code 2019ISF for 10% off. 

— Nikkjit Gill 

Issue 17 
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