Said (Sahira Q) Jiddawy is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on performance art and digital illustrations. They identify as transfeminine, non-binary, and queer. They are black and emigrated to Canada from Tanzania.
Currently, Said is a freelance graphic designer who has successfully secured contracts with PARN, LGBT Youthline, and Trans Youth Can!, to name a few. They are also an illustrator inspired by BIPOC femmes and the different ways they show love, are loved and exist in relationships.
Sahira Q is Said’s performing alter ego. She is the pink punk princess of Peterborough (say that ten times fast). Sahira Q is a drag persona that helps to express how Said feels on most days. She is loud, very black, and very queer. Said uses Sahira as a way to explore themselves and experience different forms of beauty.
What influenced you to use art as a form of activism?
I genuinely believe that my existence is resistance. Therefore, any art I make is automatically a form of activism. The world wants to see people like myself silenced and destroyed. I create to remind the world that people like me are not going anywhere.
– Said Jiddawy
How do you promote activism through your work?
A lot of my work is with companies that work for queer youth, specifically trans youth. Although my art might not directly promote activism, I encourage it indirectly with the designs and work I do for these companies.
– Said Jiddawy
To see more of Said’s work:
Check out their graphic design website! www.SaidJiddawy.com
Check out their Instagram pages!
Check out their Drag Facebook Page!