Noha Bahr's Birds

Scrolling through Instagram in a hypnotic fasting haze, we stumbled upon the account of Noha Bahr. The 26 year old graphic designer and visual artist has created utterly quaint stop-motion animations, as well as witty illustrations that play on social awkwardness and Egyptian idiosyncracies, through the eyes of her adorable birds. We chat to the former English lit. student about here sketches and quirky world that’s become a big hit on social media…

When did you first start creating these sketches and characters?

There isn't a deep or dramatic story behind these sketches. It started last year when I got a new sketchbook. I was in Dubai and had plenty of spare time and decided to dedicate the sketchbook to sarcastic sketches with clean lines. So somehow these characters gradually started to appear. They are cute, stupid and ill-mannered.

Why do you decide to mix reality with animation?

I mixed reality with animation as a prelude to a bigger project that I unfortunately didn’t get the chance to post yet. But the idea of mixing reality with sketches was to utilise the fact that the characters are paranoid about anything outside the sketchbook, since they belong, or perhaps are trapped, in the sketchbook. So I used the nearest things to them, which are the stationery items on my desk, then sketched them over-reacting towards an eraser or a pair of scissors, etc.

What inspires your art/where do you get your ideas from?

Egyptian slang language is the main inspiration for most of the sketches, precisely the kind of rude slang language, besides dialogues I overhear in public places, daily situations, and sometimes I brainstorm with my sister Dina.

Who are your favourite artists?

That'd be Mustafa Hussien, Mahmoud Sa'id and Hussien Bicar.

How has social media developed your works?

Well, social media has been the only source for a real audience, through which I managed to develop a kind of understanding of what is generally agreeable and what is repellent. Plus, knowing awesome people who have been helpful, I wouldn't have got the chance to know them if it wasn't for social media.

Do you have any big plans? Where do you want to go with your art?

My plans include continuing doing what I enjoy doing; art and animation. In the future I want to make real animation series with more characters.

Check out more of Noha's art on here Instagram here.