In Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare asks, “What’s in a name?”
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.
Spoken by Juliet in Act 2, Scene 2, Shakespeare, of course, was implying that names don’t matter. Whether you be a Montague or a Capulet, one shouldn’t judge you by your family name, rather they should look to the content of your character.
And yes, while I can agree that we should go beyond surface level to create meaningful connection, can we really say that names have no significance?
Our #artist2lookout4 would say no. She believes that names hold power, culture, and history. To her, your name is everything.
Photograph by Amaya Faria
Say hello to director + founder of Noor Studios, Bex.
Based in Harlem, New York, Rebecca Hanna, better known as Bex, is an Egyptian-American multi-hyphenate creative who makes work that “transcends distinction between photo, video, design, animation, and collage.” In whatever projects she takes on, her aim is to create art that goes beyond social campaigns—curating intentional work that makes an impact.
“Growing up, I went to Egypt a couple of times, and I also went like right before and after COVID quarantine. I visited other countries like Nigeria and Tunisia, as well, which was really inspiring. So, I wanted to tap into where I'm from and learn more about that. [Being a Coptic Egyptian], I’m a minority in Egypt. So, I always wanted to give back to people that are minorities in the world, wherever they’re from.”
Her creative agency, Noor Studios, is an extension of her artistic intention. Her mission? To ensure voices are heard, visions are seen, and people are credited. For Bex, creating a platform where minority voices are represented and amplified gives her strength to use her own voice. “I like to work with people that are like me,” she says, “people who have the same passion as me or come from the same background because I feel the art is just better.” Bringing her own unique perspective to various global partnerships, she provides content creation, brand + creative development, and strategy + marketing.
Last year, she partnered with Spotify to help produce Spotify Arab’s first MENA (Middle East and North Africa) networking event at Zööba NYC for tech and creative professionals. Run by her friend and now creative partner, Yasmin Afifi, the event partnered with tech giants like Google, Twitter, WhatsApp’s cultural affinity groups, Snap Inc., and MENA for ADCOLOR. “I’m Egyptian and that’s what I’m mostly educated on. [Opportunities like this] allow me to do more research and learn more about [other Arab cultures], which is really fun.” This year, she collaborated with Spotify again in a larger capacity for Arab Heritage Month, creating deck designs for Spotify’s team and managing creative operations for their internal + external events.
Along with community building initiatives, Bex has a passion for film & photography. Her 24/7 Art Show section on her site highlights raw, captivating imagery of her home, Cairo, Egypt. It’s hard not to find beauty in her photographs. You feel the energy instantly. Accompanied by a brief narrative that describes the setting of each capture, she creates visual sequences to allow the viewer to make their own interpretation.
Most recently, Bex co-wrote and directed her film, Esmeha (اسمها ), which translates to ‘Her Name’. The film follows Faith, an Egyptian woman who explores the meaning behind her name. Prompted by the question, “Essmek eh?” (What’s your name?), she searches for answers via blind conviction. She writes, “It’s not just about a name, but about believing in something without fully understanding, seeing, or hearing it.” As she states in our interview below, names are beautiful. “I feel like a name is something that you may not understand, but you have to have faith in it. That's why I chose the name of the character in the film to be named Faith because, at the end of the day, it's all about faith.”
From directing music videos and managing creative briefs to developing film projects and writing scripts, one of the most valuable lessons she’s learned along the way is the power of ‘no’. While she can’t always pick and choose the projects she wants to work on because, well you know, we live in a capitalist society and these bills don’t pay themselves (ha!), she is striving to get to that point in her career. “That's the goal: to be selective. To be able to say yes or no to certain things that serve me or don’t.”
Noor Studios’ mission statement is to ensure “voices are heard, visions are seen, and people are credited”. How important is visibility, representation, and Women BIPOC leadership in the creative industry? How does your agency strive to achieve this?
It’s very important. I like to work with people that are like me—people who have the same passion as me or come from the same background because I feel the art is just better. There's more communication, there's more understanding. And I think that's important to make beautiful work that actually makes an impact because it’s very purposeful. Versus just doing it for a check by check, which is not glorifying for myself. Using the internet as a source to be able to communicate all this stuff is really important because a lot of people, a lot of Black women, a lot of women of color are making these amazing visions and voices come to life, and that's what I want to do. Like, just keep enhancing it in every creative aspect. At the end of a [creative] brief we say who we are what we're about. I would love to be selective about who I work with, which I am, but sometimes when it comes to [making money] I can't always be. I feel like when you need money and income, then you kind of make sacrifices, but not to the extent that you're not doing or glorifying what you want. But that's the goal: to be selective. To be able to say yes or no to certain things that serve me or don’t. I want to do something that's fulfilling and serving to others.
How did you find your voice as a creative?
Obviously, we're always gonna continue searching for that one thing that keeps us going, and for me, that's using my voice and giving glory to people and myself. For things that I didn't always have when I was younger, I didn't get to hear when I was younger, so that others can feel comforted and so that I could also feel comforted. Especially, you know, giving credit to people. I think just my background being Egyptian and also a minority in Egypt, there's not a lot of credit that's given to Coptics. From the littlest things to the language of the Egyptian Arabic. Like some of the words are Coptic, though most people don't know that. And also—I hate to have this kind of talk but it's true, I feel like these voices are everywhere, in every type of culture, and I want to be that person to allow their voices to be heard and seen visually through my work. I feel like I just want to give light to all the truth.
In your opinion, what makes impactful work?
Work that touches others. For example [the project I worked on for Arab Heritage Month], I feel like a lot of people love the design I made because they hired someone that knows the culture. So, I was able to implement things that only Arabs would know. That's impactful for people to be able to see that on social media and be like, “Oh, wow. That’s nice.” I love that for myself, so why not do that in my work? Everything has a purpose. From the borders to the typography to all the shapes, everything has to do with something. Everything is with intention, so the designs are meaningful.
Can you speak on your involvement with Spotify Arab’s first networking event at Zööba NYC?
It was the first networking event for MENA (Middle East and North Africa) in Tech. And Zööba is an Egyptian street food place in the city. The event was run by my friend and partner who also works with me at NOOR, Yasmeen Afifi. She asked me to do a video for them, and I was like yes, of course. They liked the video I made and asked me to work with them again next year. I was able to implement some graphics, some tatreez, which is an embroidery that is mostly Egyptian. I’m Egyptian and that’s what I’m mostly educated on. [Opportunities like this] allow me to do more research and learn more about [other Arab cultures], which is really fun.
Your 24/7 art show section on your site holds raw, stunning imagery of your home, Egypt, and personal experiences. At one point you describe it as “beautiful chaos”. How do different elements of visual artistry help with storytelling?
The symbolism really. What is symbolic helps with storytelling. That's something that I always try to implement into my work. I feel like just by going outside and taking photos of random things, it can help gather your ideas together for something bigger—to get a meaning of how you feel based off photos. So, I just keep taking photos and those photos end up translating to me. I'll put [photos] in a certain sequence to allow the viewer to see what I see, but it's not for me. I don't like to decide what the viewer thinks. I would rather just have the images live, and to each its own. If you get something out of it, then cool. If you get the same thing that I'm getting out of it, then cool.
Your project اسمها (Esmeha), which translates to ‘Her Name’, explores a young woman’s journey of understanding the meaning of her name. You write, “She owns her name. But she can’t make sense of it. Her name is everywhere. But it’s still not within her.” What did you mean by that? And what were some realizations that you came to in this quest?
I got so many realizations. That's what I love about making art because you're creating something and unboxing something that you keep inside you. And then, at the end of the project, you're like, “Wow, yeah, that's actually how I feel.” So, this whole project was based on [one of my trips to Egypt]. My name is Arabic is Refka (رِفْقَة), which means Rebecca. Living in America, my parents wanted to give me a name that was easy to pronounce. But I was like, why should you assimilate to the world like that? That's kind of erasure, and that's kind of why people don't know about us because we give in to this whole society. It starts off with the littlest things to even your name. And I think your name is beautiful. Even when I go to Egypt, I'll say my name is Refka, and my name is usually given to a boy, but pronounced Refik, meaning good company. So, I feel like a name is something that you may not understand, but you have to have faith in it. That's why I chose the name of the character in the film to be named Faith because, at the end of the day, it's all about faith. I love faith so much. I think in everything that you do, faith is the most important thing to be able to do something without fully understanding what it's going to end up as. You believe in it—you believe that it's gonna work out without fully seeing it. That’s why the film is titled Esmeha (اسمها), Her Name because it’s something that I personally don’t fully understand, but I believe in it. And I’m working to understand it and believe in it. So, it’s all about faith, which is what the film is about. I did not let out the full film yet just because I’m pitching it places. We’re getting featured in Lagos for Amaka Film Festival, but I’m also trying to get it featured on different platforms so it can gain recognition.
Photograph by Yasmin Afifi
What is your dream project or goal?
I don't think I have a dream project, but projects I do want to fulfill. This year, my goal is to do a whole campaign for a beauty brand. I also want to direct a perfume ad. I like to think long-term, but recently, I've been trying to stay in the moment of things and do one by one. I just want to be able to say yes or no to anything, which is a luxury and a privilege. So, to be able to do that is my goal. And my dream is to do whatever I want, anytime I want.
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Interview by Rahel Tekle