Sarah Al-Noumas ... Creative Caricaturist by Nature

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The employees of KOC have many talents and skills, both those related to administrative and technical aspects of their work, or those that are not related to the world of oil, gas, management and technology, that bring them success in other areas.

In fact, the Company is replete with such talents, which we had learned about some of them. Today we meet Sarah Al-Noumas, a creative caricaturist from the Prospect Evaluation Team, Exploration Group. Sarah practices the art of caricature continuously along with her position as an UD Geologist in the Company. It is worth mentioning that Al-Nomas has achieved a lot in a short time, where her name has become brilliant in the world of caricature in Kuwait, at a time when she aspires  to be a cosmopolitan artist, and has all the capacity to do so.
In the following pages, we present Sarah’s views with all their interesting details.

Caricaturist by Nature
Sara says that since her early days she has loved art in general and caricatures in particular because of her sense of humor, adding that she likes to hit ridiculous examples. She has integrated that sense with caricature with which she was in love since childhood. At the beginning of her career, she encountered great difficulties where people did not accept the idea that a female practices caricature especially when she is engaged in the field of political and social caricature. It is obviously clear the art of caricature requires a high dose of audacity in delivering its message. Moreover, over time, Sarah has become more determined not to give up this hobby, and people were accustomed to her through this fine art.
Art and Geology
Sarah loved art ardently since childhood, and her friends and sisters knew that caricature was exactly the art that suits her personality most. They always bought her comics and magazines that gave her a feeling of joy and pleasure, and she always wished to have the sense of humor that the caricaturists have. Whether there is a link between the art of caricature and geology, Sarah points out that there are people who see that there is no link between science and art. However, this statement is largely untrue, as the famous Renaissance artist, Leonardo Da Vinci combines various types of knowledge in his personality, such as art, engineering, science and philosophy. Therefore, there are many links between science and art, as artists love imagination so much, and there is a lot of imagination and drawing in geology. On her part, Sarah has always studied through painting, and she cannot absorb information unless she painted it.

The Occupation of Troubles
Sarah explains that during her studies, she continued her career in developing her artistic skills. At Kuwait University, she was drawing continuously, and the university's Afaq newspaper often published her drawings that discussed the university's status and the problems of students, to the extent that she cooperated with the professors of the Faculty of Science who sometimes needed some caricatures, which she offered with a great spirit of cooperation.
Since her early childhood, Sarah has faced many difficulties. She knew that most people do not accept the idea that a female practices caricature. As for her experience with the Kuwaiti press, Sarah says that she was very interested in the press. She worked as an editor in several Kuwaiti newspapers during her studies at Kuwait University, as she likes to raise issues, find solutions and engage people in her discussion. She adds that there has been intense competition between her and her colleagues, and some well-known journalists often grabbed her ideas, articles and essays and make some changes to them, and that was very frustrating for her because articles were published in their names. Nobody was aware of that except those who were following her work up and read what she writes. Thus, she abandoned press for years until it knocked he r door again. Then she was happy and remembered the fatigue she felt in order to achieve her ambition in the press. Before that, she was publishing in a blog of her own, and was able to put her footprint between bloggers and readers back in 2013.

Support and Cooperation
Sarah reveals that her deceased father was her greatest fan. Despite being conservative and pious, he was very impressed with her ambition and love of caricature. He told his friends how proud he was proud of her as a painter who raises important issues in her drawings. In addition, her family was supporting and following her works up. Every day she gets to know new people who support her, and she is well aware of those who supports her out of their love for her and for her success; as she knows those who are trying to fight her and wait for her failure.
When asked whether she is the only Kuwaiti caricaturist, Sarah points out that in her early days she was the only one in the domain that now includes many female artists. She notes that female caricaturists support each other and communicate constantly. She adds that if she cannot take a leave from her work to attend an exhibition, she communicates with her colleagues who represent women caricaturists abroad. Of course, it is a pleasure, because their presence gives me a positive energy, she says.

Inspiration and Audacity
When asked about her inspiration, and if she has the courage to touch on sensitive topics, Sarah asserts that her thoughts, like most people, come from blue. She has made most of her powerful caricatures when she has no idea at all. The most important advice from famous artists, and therefore they urge her to read as much books as she can. Therefore, has read a lot of novels and history books, and this is what gives her a glimpse of the ideas that permeate her imagination. In addition, many of the strange ideas come to her while she is talking to people. She always tries to avoid the indisputable audacity of her topics out of respect for her society, but she used to put forward very bold ideas in her caricatures
Sarah has been the subject of many attacks. She does not like to cross a red line in the conservative society in Kuwait. Nevertheless, she says that there is a big difference between the Arab and the Western artist. The latter usually gets full support for his ideas and paintings.

Polite Criticism
When asked whether one of her caricatures has embarrassed her, she says it has already happened. However, she prefers not to mention any examples, considering that embarrassment usually comes only because of misunderstanding. She adds that political caricature is her best, and it happens a lot that she attacks public figures indirectly. However, she asserts that it should be quite clear that she only attacks modus operandi of public figures. She believes that the Kuwaiti citizen has the right to criticize as long as this is done in a polite and clear manner and does not constitute an infringement of people themselves. She explains that political caricature, from her point of view, is what highlights the artist, especially as the people are constantly following up local and global politics. In this context, she affirms that Kuwait enjoys the freedom to propose and express opinion, but not fully, and finds that this is natural. Our society is restricted by customs, traditions, religion and Arab life in general, she says. She reveals that she has faced criticism and slander at the beginning of her career. She received offensive messages, and some of them contain threats to leave the field to men, but she did not care about those messages. She considers that an artist’s pencil is often honest and people usually look for honesty and frankness.
Can caricature serve as a source of livelihood? Sarah says that she has met a number of caricaturists in Europe who depend on their art for a livelihood, as well as some non-Kuwaiti artists in Kuwait who derive from this art. Ultimately, the art of caricature is not the chicken that lays gold. It remains a simple and humorous art, and expensive paintings are always those of artists who died poor.

Communication Is a Bliss
When asked about social media, Sarah says that one of the most important aspects of these sites in her case is that most of her followers do that through them, especially those who follow her up from outside Kuwait. These sites enables her to reach her followers rapidly, where they can post their comments instantly. In the end, she insists that social media sites constitute a bliss for her. In addition, Sarah is a fierce advocate of women. She asserts that she feels pity for a person who dedicates his energy and time to attack women. However, she says that people who attack women are those who are lacking in life. If they dedicate time for themselves, they will leave a beautiful footprint in society. Moreover, Sarah has a simple mission in her art. She wants to highlight the cons in her society and contribute to correct them.

Participation and Success
Sarah has participated in many exhibitions and received awards in Kuwait. Now she aspires to receive a global award. She was about to organize an exhibition of hers, but she had postponed the idea for a variety of reasons, the most urging of which is time. She says that she is pleased that Kuwaiti Society of Caricature was recently instituted, of which she is Vice-Chairperson.
Sarah is an employee of KOC, and she finds it easy to reconcile with the art of caricature. She admits that she faced many obstacles in the beginning, but she always made her position in KOC a priority.
In conclusion, she wishes to extend her sincere thanks to Manager, Exploration Group, Mohammad Dawwas Al-Ajmi, as well as her direct supervisor, Team Leader, Prospect Evaluation, Abdulaziz Sajer, for their continued support and encouraging her to be distinguished in the Company and in caricature as well. Usually Sarah draws at weekends, and she is often busy, but prefer to be busy with something she loves and find herself in, more than wasting time without a goal.