Rethinking a textile appliqué tradition long associated with male tentmakers in Egypt, Amer masterfully pulls at the threads of cultural dualities—feminine and masculine, craft and art, abstraction and figuration, East and West—with sensitivity and specificity. In Checkers in Color, Amer appropriated a quote from the renowned feminist Egyptian writer and activist Nawal Al Saadawi —"Refuse, Revolt,wake up. Refuse, face the situation without being broken,tear out the Burqa, do not let them choose for you. Darkness will be over for sure, so start the shortcut, do not give up, your silence is weakness and suicidal. "

Amer takes on a traditional Egyptian textile craft in which richly colored appliqué panels were used to decorate the interiors of tents and pavilions and transforms them into abstract grids. And yet, within the seemingly-abstract surfaces, Amer has in fact embedded feminist texts— a testament to her long-standing commitment to gender equality and female agency.

QUOTE USED BY NAWAL AL SAADAWI: the quote is in arabic and this is the translation
"Refuse, Revolt,wake up, Refuse, face the situation without being broken,tear out the Burqa, do not let them choose for you, Darkness will be over for sure,so start the shortcut, do not give up, your silence is weakness and suicidal."