Hey there,

December is finally here, and as always, it can go one of two ways: it could deliver the biggest plot twist of your year, or it could simply be the prelude preparing you for 2026. How you move through these next few weeks will shape the way you step into the new year, so make sure this month fuels you, not drains you, before we greet 2026.

In this edition, we dive into the realities of parenting and the weight it carries, especially as Egypt’s biggest conversation right now revolves around recent child abuse cases. It’s important to remember that abuse isn’t only physical; it can be emotional, psychological, and built up over years. 

And as parenting traditions shift across generations, we’re left asking a bigger question: Is parenting genuinely getting harder, or is the world around us simply becoming tougher to navigate?

Also, Egyptian Streets has officially opened Early Access for people based outside of Egypt to its first ever limited-edition merchandise collection, created in collaboration with four independent Egyptian artists whose work brings everyday Egypt to life in original, meaningful ways.

We hope you enjoy reading!

Warm regards,

Mirna Abdulaal

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Spotlight

^{Meet Nada Baraka}

They say the mind is the scariest place to live in. Not haunted houses, not imagined ghosts. The mind itself. It can convince you you’re standing on the edge of a cliff, drifting in mid-air, or wrestling with demons you’ve never seen or heard. And perhaps most haunting of all, it can make you feel utterly alone.

To feel isolated inside your own head, and to believe no one can understand you, is one of the deepest, quietest battles so many people carry. There is a particular confusion, even heartbreak, in feeling alone while knowing others must feel the same, yet no one seems able to hear or mirror what you’re going through.

Egyptian artist Nada Baraka, whose work has appeared in group exhibitions across London, Paris, and Lisbon, softens that loneliness. Her paintings show you that emotions can be chaotic, strange, wild, and beautifully dream-like. The world may appear neat and orderly on the surface, but when we pause long enough to look inward, we find that reality is far less tidy than it seems.

Inspired by the constant shifts of emotion and sparked by lived experiences, Nada’s surrealist works reveal a truth many of us forget, which is that sometimes surrealism feels more honest, more vivid, and more alive than the reality we insist on calling real. Discover her work here.

Speaking to Egyptian Streets, Nada shared more about her cultural picks and work below:

Your work has such a distinct, almost dreamlike quality. How did your artistic style evolve over time, and how did you arrive at that visual language?

My style has always leaned toward the surreal, even in my earliest works, but it evolved organically as I became more comfortable letting the painting unfold intuitively. I’ve never been interested in reproducing reality as it looks; I’m more drawn to how reality feels once it passes through memory, instinct, and emotion.

Over time, I learned to trust the subconscious and allow distortion, symbolism, and unexpected imagery to emerge naturally. I draw inspiration from cinema, literature, poetry, surrealist novels, animation films, interior design, and everyday life. Those influences shaped my understanding of how fragmented and layered perception can be. My visual language grew from the tension between the conscious desire for structure and the subconscious impulse to disrupt it. The dreamlike quality isn’t something I force; it’s simply the result of allowing instinct and intention to coexist on the canvas.

Do you have any rituals that help you enter that dream-state flow? How do you make each brushstroke feel intuitive?

I always begin by creating a moment of internal quiet. Before I start painting, I sit with myself for a few minutes without distractions, just to sense the emotional atmosphere I’m bringing into the work. Sometimes I read a line of poetry or revisit a scene from a film that mirrors the mood I’m in; it helps me enter a state where I’m connected to feeling rather than narrative.

When I begin painting, I let instinct guide the first gestures. Those initial marks are the most subconscious part of the process. Later, I come back with clarity and intention, adding the structure and context that anchor the piece. This balance between spontaneity and thought allows each brushstroke to feel both natural and meaningful.

In works like Cosmic Truth and Tales to Be Told, there are elements that edge into horror. Do you intentionally incorporate horror into your pieces? What draws you to that emotion?

I don’t intentionally seek out horror, but I’m drawn to the emotional intensity that often sits beside it. For me, horror is never about fear in a literal sense; it’s about revealing truths that are usually hidden or ignored. It’s a way of expressing vulnerability, rupture, and transformation without softening them.

In Cosmic Truth and Tales to Be Told, those elements emerged naturally because the inner world can sometimes feel chaotic, overwhelming, and unfamiliar. I’m fascinated by the contrast between discomfort and tenderness, and by the tension between what we choose to show and what we keep beneath the surface. Horror becomes a language for exploring the weight of human experience with honesty and sensitivity.

Are there other emotions that shape or guide your creative process?

Emotions shape my work, but more as atmospheres than subjects. I’m deeply interested in how the body evolves and adapts depending on its surroundings, so biology, nature, science, and history are strong influences. They help me see the body as something fluid and constantly interacting with the world around it.

My daily life filters into the work in subtle but significant ways. A single mood, a conversation, a physical sensation, or even the energy of a space can shift the palette or movement of a painting. These emotions don’t dictate the imagery, but they charge the canvas, altering its temperature and rhythm. They create the environment in which the piece grows.

In Tea Time With My Lungs, you explore trauma and mental health. What compelled you to take on those themes, and how do you feel art can help us navigate complex emotional experiences?

Tea Time With My Lungs was created during a time when my internal experiences felt larger than anything I could express verbally. Trauma often manifests physically through breath, tension, and sensations that don’t always make sense.

By depicting the body and its organs in surreal, intimate ways, I try to give a visual form to emotions that haven’t yet found language. I believe art creates both distance and connection. It allows viewers to confront their own emotions from a place of safety, while also feeling seen or understood through someone else’s imagery. Art can’t resolve pain, but it can help us navigate it with greater clarity, softness, and self-awareness. That, for me, is one of its greatest powers.

Merch Drop

^{Limited-Edition Merch Drop}

Egyptian Streets has officially opened Early Access for people based outside of Egypt to its first ever limited-edition merchandise collection, created in collaboration with four independent Egyptian artists whose work brings everyday Egypt to life in original, meaningful ways.

The Early Access window is currently available for global audiences only. A dedicated Egypt-based launch will follow soon, with local pricing and production being finalized to ensure affordability and availability inside Egypt.

This collection is more than apparel. Each piece carries stories that feel familiar. The humor we inherit. The sayings our parents repeat. The street scenes we pass without thinking. The warmth and chaos that shape us.

Read more here.

Feature

^{To Raise a Feminist Son}

In a time when cases of harassment, abuse, and gender-based aggression are surfacing more openly in Egypt and beyond, real change begins at home and with how we raise our boys. 

The tendency to treat raising sons as “easier” than daughters helps fuel a culture in which men are socialized to think they can get away with more; a dynamic underlying many gender-based violences. 

Instead of reinforcing rigid gender roles (“boys don’t cry,” “girls sit out sports,” “housework is for women”), parents should encourage children, regardless of gender, to explore a full spectrum of traits and emotions. Let boys express sadness or frustration, let girls lead, play sports, or embrace strength if they wish.

Why this conversation matters: For a society struggling with gender-based violence and inequality, raising children, especially sons, with awareness and empathy might be the seed of bigger change. 

Read the article here.

^{Parenting Today}

In Egypt, parenting is slowly shifting. As generations pass, what was once taken for granted as the only way to raise children is being rethought. 

For older generations, parenting was rooted in discipline, respect for authority, and strict adherence to cultural tradition. Obedience was prioritized, independence was limited, and children were expected to follow rules rather than challenge them. 

But things have changed. For many parents of the next generation, there is an effort to create a different balance; one that allows children to voice their opinions, learn from their mistakes, and build character with guidance rather than control. 

And among younger parents, those of the most recent generation, the shift becomes even more pronounced. Of course, this transition is neither smooth nor guaranteed. Some parents wrestle with reconciling their upbringing with this newer approach, wanting to honor tradition while protecting their children from old limitations. 

Others worry that too much freedom might make children vulnerable, especially in a world that isn’t always forgiving. 

Read the article here.

What to Read

^{The Golden Chariot}

A woman sitting behind bars is a story many prefer to look away from, yet it often reveals more about society, and about ourselves, than we expect.

In The Golden Chariot, Salwa Bakr invites readers into the inner world of Aziza, a woman imprisoned yet fiercely imaginative, who decides to build a chariot of gold that will carry her to a place where her hopes are no longer out of reach. As she imagines who might join her on this journey, she begins to recount the lives of the women around her, each story marked by pain, survival, and choices shaped by circumstance.

Some are wrongdoers, some are victims, and many are both. Bakr uses their intertwined stories to reflect on the weight women carry, the injustices that shape their lives, and the uncomfortable truth that shame and longing are shared across all backgrounds.

Read more here.

What to Listen to

^Faouzia

Faouzia’s sound doesn’t follow the usual rules; it's bold, unexpected, and all the more captivating because of it. For anyone who grew up swept away by the drama of Evanescence, she feels like a Moroccan counterpart, blending that same emotional intensity with the pulse of North African rhythms and the occasional tabla heartbeat.

What sets her apart is her refusal to chase trends; she leans fully into her own voice, even when her music doesn’t fit neatly into what the mainstream expects. Her first full-length project as an independent artist, FILM NOIR, is a multilingual journey through the highs and lows of love, sung in English, French, and Arabic. It’s a record that treats vulnerability as a kind of power.

Listen here.

What to Watch

^{Farag Foda}

In June 1992, Egyptian intellectual Farag Foda was assassinated outside his office, ending a career defined by outspoken criticism of political repression. A practicing Muslim who championed a secular state, Foda consistently challenged the rise of religious extremism and exposed how extremist groups distorted Islamic teachings to justify violence. His final published essay accused the government of enabling the climate of hostility that culminated in the previous year’s massacre of Christians in Egypt. This documentary traces Foda’s life, his fearless advocacy, and the circumstances that led to his killing, offering a detailed look at one of Egypt’s most influential and controversial modern thinkers.

Watch it in Egypt here and in the US here

What to Eat

^Fino

What is fino? On the surface, it’s just a soft sandwich, stuffed with cheese, chicken, or whatever you have on hand. But in reality, fino is something far bigger. It’s a piece of cultural memory, a shortcut back to comfort and home. It’s the 3 a.m. study session when your mother quietly placed a warm sandwich and hot milk beside you, or the moment you paused your PlayStation game to take an oversized bite that somehow made everything feel right again.

Fino is warmth and youth wrapped in bread. And that’s why it’s so heartening to see a new business built around honoring that small-but-mighty feeling of joy and playfulness.

Find out more here.

What to Visit

^{'Home & Beyond'}

“Home and Beyond” is a journey across lands and memories, tracing the life of Saad Hajo, a gifted artist and cartoonist whose path winds between Damascus, Beirut and Sweden.

In its essence, the show becomes a mirror for anyone who has carried memory and home inside them, and for those who have seen borders change but the inner compass remain.

Home is not just where we come from, but also what we carry within us.

Find out more here.

^{The Strange And The Prevailing}

What does it mean to walk the line between what feels foreign and what feels familiar? Between the Strange and the Prevailing is a conversation with the self and society, probing the subtle tensions that shape our lives. Over one hour and more, Khaled Ghattas draws maps of human relationships, cultural currents, and inner choices, inviting us to reflect on what is imposed, and what is born from our deepest yearning.

It is a space for quiet reckoning: with loneliness, with our inherited beliefs; with the small betrayals of comfort, the weight of belonging, and the unspoken rules that govern our hearts.

Find out more here.

Saudi Spotlight

^{Red Sea Museum}

In early December 2025, the Red Sea Museum will open its doors inside the beautifully restored historic Bab Al-Bunt building, located in the heart of Al-Balad, Jeddah, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The museum will feature over 1,000 artefacts and artworks spread across 23 galleries, organized into seven thematic sections that explore everything from maritime trade, navigation and ecology, to coastal communities, pilgrimage routes, and artistic interpretations of the Red Sea’s legacy.

More than just a collection of objects, the museum aims to reconnect people with the cultural, natural, and historical heritage of the Red Sea region — celebrating centuries of exchange, migration, faith, and creativity.

Read more here.