In the history of Egyptian feminism, few names carry the electric charge of Doria Shafik. Nadine Nour el Din revives the many lives of Doria Shafik. She was a philosopher, poet, and activist who famously fought for women’s rights. Years of silence and erasure met Doria’s story. Institutions scrubbed her name from textbooks and tucked her legacy away in private family albums.
Art historian Nadine worked to change that. Operating at the intersection of history, art, and cultural memory, Nadine curated a landmark exhibition at the Institut Français in Cairo that not only displayed Shafik’s life but resurrected it.
A Path Built on Archives
Nadine’s journey into art history began with practice rather than theory. After studying visual arts at the American University in Cairo, and working in regional galleries.
“This drew me toward the personal dimension: audiovisual recordings, letters, and marginal notes, traces that reveal how artists spoke and understood their own work.”
Nadine relies heavily on oral histories and close collaboration with families to access previously unseen materials.
“Oral histories and close collaboration with artists’ families and estates have therefore been essential,” Nadine says.
Challenging Historical Erasure
Shafik’s daughters, Aziza Ragai Ellozy and Jehane Ragai, initiated the exhibition to mark fifty years since their mother’s passing. Central to Nadine’s curation was her long conversations with Doria’s daughters.
“They helped me understand her character beyond the printed page or the public persona visible in portraits,” shares Nadine.
“Shafik was a multifaceted woman, a feminist activist, writer, poet, journalist, publisher, mother, remembered fondly as Bint al-Nil,” shares Nadine.
Curating the Senses
How can you build a visual experience around a woman whose life was deliberately concealed? Nadine turned to a “layered visual narrative” that went beyond the printed page. She collaborated with the AUC Rare Books and Special Collections Library to access the Bint al-Nil (Daughter of the Nile) magazine archives.
The resulting exhibition walks like a visual biography of Doria’s life. Nadine did this by collecting the writings and private
“I excavated her writing across books, magazines, and handwritten pages, and combined this material with family-held objects, photographs, press clippings, portraits, and elements from my own archive to construct a coherent visual language,” expresses Nadine.
Doing Right by a Legacy
Nadine felt a heavy responsibility to be honest about every chapter of Shafik’s life, including the more difficult ones. Guided by a quote from Doria herself.
“I felt a deep obligation to present her voice honestly,” she says. “One quote guided me: ‘To want and to dare! Never hesitate to act when the feeling of injustice revolts us.’”
A Modern Reflection
Small moments defined the project’s success.
“One of the most meaningful moments for me was seeing Doria Shafik’s name printed again in publications such as Al-Ahram,” Nadine expresses.
“I was over the moon to be able to collaborate with Miranda Beshara for Toot Toot festival, to introduce young children to Doria Shafik through activities,” she adds.
When asked who represents Doria Shafik today, Nadine believes her legacy is too big for just one person.
“I see her reflected across many women today, women who are building careers while carrying care responsibilities, who are politically engaged, who refuse to accept narrow definitions of what they can be.”
This experience has strengthened Nadine’s mission to advocate for figures who have been left out of the history books. This is how Nadine Nour el Din revives the many lives of Doria Shafik.
“I am deeply driven to tell the untold stories,” she concludes. “I am fiercely committed to this mission.”