Janan Shihadeh

Malak Fouad
[00:07 - 00:27] Welcome back to What I Did Next from A&T Media. I'm Malak Fouad. I welcome a new guest from the region on each episode, and we take a deep dive into their lives' most pivotal moments. On today's episode, I talk to the uber-talented, multi-dimensional Janan Shihadeh. We talk about her life's key turning points and why she doesn't like being called an artist.

Janan Shihadeh
[00:27 - 00:40] Calling me an artist per se, like my son? No, I don't like, I feel he's a real artist. I think I'm a very good technician. Yeah, that's how I'd describe it.

Malak Fouad
[00:40 - 00:41] I can't believe you're saying that.

Janan Shihadeh
[00:41 - 00:41] Why?

Malak Fouad
[00:42 - 00:44] Because you're low-balling yourself completely.

Janan Shihadeh
[00:44 - 00:57] I'm just, no, I'm good. I'm very good at what I do. That I know. But I'm not, you know, artists paint from the soul. I'm not that artist. I'm a bespoke artist. I like starting points.

Malak Fouad
[00:57 - 00:57] Okay.

Janan Shihadeh
[00:57 - 01:24] I like the client to get inspired by the client. I do get inspired by people. Yeah. And they give me energy. And I like that. Yeah. I like going to decorators and telling me, listen, look at this dining room. I want an 18th century Chinese dining room. I like that. And then I like the research part and how to do the lacquer. And I've done that. I've done actually an 18th century where the walls were actually lacquered on how many layers we did. I like that versus you giving me the swole and saying, do what you want. Where do I start? You know what I'm saying?

Malak Fouad
[01:25 - 01:59] You need that anchor. For you, it's like an anchor. I do. You need that. Whereas someone like my son hates that. Janan is a Palestinian-American artist who's made her mark creating bespoke pieces for clients around the world, whether they be murals in Washington, D.C., furniture and candles in Cairo, or transforming old discarded handbags into little arm candy jewels, or creating colorful side tables for cozy lounge areas. To say that Janan is versatile is an understatement. She brings passion, imagination, and dynamism to whatever art medium she's working
[01:59 - 02:33] on. And her eye for detail and color is unsurpassed. This episode has been a long time in the making. It was originally scheduled for season five and then season six. So I was really excited to finally sit down with Janan in person in Dubai, where she now lives. Janan and I have known each other a long time. We even attended the same school in Jeddah way back when. But interviewing someone and knowing someone socially are very different. As a friend, Janan is fun and mischievous. As a guest, she comes across as passionate, eager to tell her story and driven to make her mark through
[02:33 - 02:40] art. Janan is someone who discovered her passion for art early in life while growing up in Chicago.

Janan Shihadeh
[02:40 - 03:04] I used to always take my mom's lipstick and paint on the walls and she'd hit my hand and I'd do it again and again until one day, I think it was my dad or her, said, why don't we get her a jotting and I started. I guess that was my first and I just got obsessed. I remember I could I could sit

Malak Fouad
[03:04 - 03:15] there and jot for hours. And that was when you were you were in Chicago for how long? Until I was like maybe nine. OK. And then we came to Saudi. And yeah. And then we. And your heritage is what Janan?

Janan Shihadeh
[03:15 - 03:53] I'm Palestinian. Both parents. OK. And my dad was always very proud of Palestine. So we never lived there. But I mean, I feel like I feel so proud to be Palestinian. And he was. Very much into politics. So I remember my childhood was him with with young politicians and they just discuss Palestine all night and my mom would be cooking and. So you grew up around that? I grew up around that. I grew up around around. He was always being followed. Was he was he in politics? He was in politics. He he he was a professor of nuclear
[03:53 - 04:11] physics. He was he had a column in the Chicago Tribune for a long time. And he was he was just a real. Really brilliant debater and speaker and was offered amazing positions, but never took them because he felt. He might be compromised because it wasn't you're not really free.

Malak Fouad
[04:12 - 04:18] So he wanted to remain independent. Yeah. Yeah. And then at some point in your was in your teens,

Janan Shihadeh
[04:18 - 04:43] you moved to Egypt. So we know. And then we moved to Saudi. And then after that, we went to to where we always had a home in London. Right. And then we went to boarding school there. And then after boarding school. My dad was like, my God, my my daughters don't speak Arabic. This is, you know, they have no no sense of culture whatsoever. So we were supposed to go to A.U.B. There was the war in Beirut. So he he sent us to A.U.C. So that's how we came to Cairo. Yeah.

Malak Fouad
[04:43 - 04:46] And at that point, your parents were still married to each other. Yes, they were.

Janan Shihadeh
[04:46 - 04:58] And my mom always loved Cairo because she loves she loves Egyptian movies, Egyptian series. She used to read all the books. She just she was a big fan. So she was very happy. Yeah. To go there.

Malak Fouad
[04:59 - 05:03] And how did you feel about the move? Were you happy with that or? I mean, it was a culture shock for us.

Other speaker
[05:04 - 05:08] Of course. Yeah. And we didn't speak Arabic. Well, so that was that was a bit of a problem. But

Janan Shihadeh
[05:09 - 05:26] it was just very different. I remember going to A.U.C. and wearing, let's say, ripped jeans that I bought from Kings Road, the shop called Flip. That was a really cool vintage shop. I remember everyone saying, you know, like, who is this? Yeah. You know, I just felt it was very nonconformist, you know.

Malak Fouad
[05:27 - 05:38] And at this point throughout your your school years and A.U.C., were you developing your art side, your artistic side? Or was that just a hobby or was it something you were thinking that this could become my life?

Janan Shihadeh
[05:38 - 05:56] So I was supposed to go to art school in London, but my dad chose us learning Arabic and going to A.U.C. versus going to Central Saint Martins or Chelsea School of Art. He says, like, no, you know, it's like you have to go and get a proper degree. And so you got what did you study? Mascom. Wow. Yeah. And you were frustrated with that?

Other speaker
[05:56 - 05:56] Very.

Malak Fouad
[05:56 - 06:21] Akeed. The amount of people I've interviewed who actually did exactly what you just said, they they did what their parents wanted. And then when that was out of the system of the parents, they off they off, they went and did what they wanted. Yes. Most of us. Neda Dibs is a good example. Her father wanted her to do a business degree. She went to A.U.B., did it, hated it. Eventually did her architecture degree.

Janan Shihadeh
[06:21 - 06:22] She's brilliant.

Malak Fouad
[06:22 - 06:22] She's brilliant.

Janan Shihadeh
[06:22 - 06:23] I love her. Yeah. Yeah.

Malak Fouad
[06:23 - 06:34] Yeah. So you did the communication. Yes. Degree. Yes. But on the side, you were still painting. You were still developing that. So everyone knows who knew me in A.U.C.

Janan Shihadeh
[06:35 - 06:41] was that I would tell all the professors before the class that I would be sketching. And it's not like I'm not listening to him. This is the way I focus.

Malak Fouad
[06:41 - 06:42] Right.

Janan Shihadeh
[06:42 - 07:01] So I had a notepad with my notes and I had my sketch. So I'd be sketching. And then and a lot of my friends, many years they used to go, I used to go and throw in the bin after and they'd go take my sketches and keep it. And they came and show it to me later. So I'd be sketching either the professor or someone in front of me. It was always like life drawings. And that's how I'd be able to focus.

Malak Fouad
[07:01 - 07:04] But you're totally self-taught or you were at that point.

Janan Shihadeh
[07:04 - 07:28] Completely self-taught. I've always been fascinated by the technical side of paint. Okay. Solvents, how paints are made, you know, and it's great because, you know, ancient Egypt is a perfect example of how they used to bind the pigments and what pigments they'd use and the minerals and all that. So I was already very fascinated by that side. That's why I'm saying that. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm different from an artist, whereas I'm more the technical side.

Malak Fouad
[07:29 - 07:38] Okay. So what you would go and create your own paints and mix and mix and match stuff? When I came back from DC. I see. Okay. Okay. So what happened next after college for you?

Janan Shihadeh
[07:38 - 07:50] I met Omar while I was still in boarding school. Okay. I was at the party. Met him in Cairo at Christmas. My dad used to take us to Christmas. You know, it was like the best Christmas ever.

Malak Fouad
[07:50 - 07:51] They were the best vacations ever.

Janan Shihadeh
[07:51 - 07:52] And he would take us.

Malak Fouad
[07:52 - 07:54] I would do that every time, every year.

Janan Shihadeh
[07:54 - 08:03] He'd take us as kids to these nightclubs. So focused, you know, they weren't babysitters at the time. And we'd be like me and my sister falling asleep. So I met Omar in one of the parties. So can we just put this in context?

Other speaker
[08:03 - 08:05] Omar is your first husband.

Malak Fouad
[08:05 - 08:22] Yes. The father of your children. Yes. But how you met each other and how the relationship developed. Yes. Is a movie in its own right. It's a mini series. It is. Yeah. I've been asked that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. So you met when you were in boarding school.

Janan Shihadeh
[08:22 - 08:33] You know, it's a huge love story. You come back and forth from boarding school. I was in a girls boarding school in Sussex and we'd have to like keep a look out the windows because there was a guy coming to visit me.

Malak Fouad
[08:33 - 08:42] And I remember those I had. Yeah, I was in a similar boarding school, girls boarding school and everything was always illicit, you know, and against the rules. And yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[08:43 - 08:51] And I was great at it. Look, I put, you know, pillows under my bed and took off to London. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Never got caught.

Malak Fouad
[08:51 - 08:55] She wants like I got I did the same, but I got caught the first time I did it.

Janan Shihadeh
[08:55 - 08:56] Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah.

Malak Fouad
[08:58 - 09:01] So Omar was already in the picture when you were in boarding school.

Janan Shihadeh
[09:01 - 09:11] I met him when we were in boarding school. And then when I came to AUC, you know, he was showing me around and we and then we rekindled our relationship.

Malak Fouad
[09:11 - 09:13] And you were what at this point? You were 21?

Janan Shihadeh
[09:14 - 09:33] Yeah, I was in I was still in college. And and then by mere coincidence, strange circumstances. Yeah. I find out that my my mom is marrying his father. And we never made the connection because they both had different last names.

Malak Fouad
[09:33 - 09:36] So how old were you when your parents divorced?

Janan Shihadeh
[09:37 - 09:37] 17.

Malak Fouad
[09:37 - 09:39] And so your mother met Omar's father?

Janan Shihadeh
[09:40 - 10:07] Later. Yeah. Later on. Yeah. And then and I knew that my mom, you know, was with this. But my mom had moved out. She was she was in London this whole time. She went back to London. And then I knew she was with this person. But and I knew he had a son called Amr. But we did not know when we found out. My dad just freaked out. I remember he got me the map of the states and just put it out in front of me. And he's like, right now, right now, you choose you choose city to go live in. And I just started panicking.

Malak Fouad
[10:08 - 10:10] He wanted you out of Cairo. Yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[10:10 - 10:34] He's like, this is not happening. You know, I like the guy. He loved him. He loved Amr. He's like, I like the guy. He's a great guy. But I can't take this. What was it about the situation that bothered your father? My mom marrying his dad and the fact that he was Muslim. I'm Christian. I'm Catholic. Right. So that didn't help. But also Palestinians want to keep Palestinians together as much as possible because we're being diluted with each generation.

Malak Fouad
[10:34 - 10:34] Of course.

Janan Shihadeh
[10:34 - 10:36] But he liked Omar. I mean, Amr was his great boyfriend.

Malak Fouad
[10:36 - 10:37] Yeah, as a person he liked him.

Janan Shihadeh
[10:37 - 10:48] Yeah, yeah, he did. But he's like, this can't happen. So I did that. I took the next flight out and I chose DC because it reminded me of London from pictures. I'd never been there. It does look similar. Yeah. Yeah. The New England.

Malak Fouad
[10:49 - 10:49] Georgetown. Yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[10:49 - 11:03] It's a bit like Chelsea. When I went and lived in Georgetown. Yeah. And he spoiled me. He got me a nice car, nice flat, blah, blah, blah. And yeah. And so for two years we had actually broken up, but it was very painful. It was very like.

Malak Fouad
[11:03 - 11:05] And a first love and a first breakup is traumatic.

Janan Shihadeh
[11:06 - 11:08] Yeah. It really is. It was traumatic.

Malak Fouad
[11:08 - 11:10] But it opened up another world for you in America.

Janan Shihadeh
[11:10 - 11:11] Absolutely.

Malak Fouad
[11:11 - 11:18] And it opened up your passion for art. But what had you been doing in Washington up until that point?

Janan Shihadeh
[11:18 - 11:22] Looking for a job. But he just saw me go and just deal with it. Okay.

Malak Fouad
[11:22 - 11:23] Find something to do.

Janan Shihadeh
[11:23 - 11:24] Yeah. Okay.

Malak Fouad
[11:24 - 11:28] So I went and I didn't know what to do.

Janan Shihadeh
[11:28 - 11:51] So I'm walking down the street and I see a billboard on a, on a wall saying, assistant mural assistant needed, and it was just like a lightning bolt just hit me in the head. Like, I just realized this is what I wanted to do. I don't know why it was that moment. I'll never forget. It was like, that's what I want to be doing. I want to be painting buildings.

Other speaker
[11:51 - 11:51] Wow.

Malak Fouad
[11:53 - 12:16] Yeah. Janan's evolution as an artist and mural painter. That's right after this break. Welcome back. You're listening to What I Did Next with my guest, Janan Shahedi. Before the break, Janan was telling me how she was wandering the streets of Washington, DC and decided to answer an ad to paint murals.

Janan Shihadeh
[12:16 - 12:55] And I'm sitting there and I look at the line. There's like, oh my God, there's a lot of people who want this job. Shit, I'm not going to get this job. I go, I sit with him and then I'm like, he's not going to hire because I see everyone with these big fat portfolios from Parsons, RISD, all these great schools. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm not going to get in. So I thought I'd play the pity card. So I told him I'm a struggling artist and I basically can't live without even the minimum wage. Could you please, I'll do anything. So he hired me as a studio cleaner. Meanwhile, this is very, I'm living in
[12:55 - 13:34] Georgetown and a very nice flat. And he has no idea. BMW, my dad's not over. And he had no idea, you know. But did he hire you as a cleaner and then also hire a muralist? Yes. Okay. So he hired an assistant, but didn't hire me and hired me as the cleaner. And he told me, don't you dare go near any mural. And what is the name of the artist? Does he know? Byron Peck. He's quite known. So I did the taping very well. I cleaned the brushes and I'm looking at this assistant that he hired and I'm looking at her like, she's really crap. You know, I could do this so much better than her. I just knew it, but I didn't have a portfolio from, you know, and she was really annoying.
[13:35 - 13:42] And she was going out with this actor, Bill Paxton at the time, the guy that did Apollo. And he'd come pick her up in his Ferrari and take her. And I'm like,

Malak Fouad
[13:44 - 13:46] And here I am cleaning brushes.

Janan Shihadeh
[13:47 - 13:49] And getting coffee for everyone.

Malak Fouad
[13:49 - 13:50] And getting coffee for them.

Janan Shihadeh
[13:50 - 13:58] So anyway, one day we're painting this. So don't forget at the time you were getting paid by the hour. Okay. So, you know, and she's really slow.

Malak Fouad
[13:58 - 13:59] On purpose.

Janan Shihadeh
[14:00 - 14:39] I don't know if it's on purpose. She's just not very, I'm known to be very quick. I've always been known to be quite quick when it comes to, you know, so I'm looking at her painting. We were doing this restaurant called South Beach and Adams Morgan. So Adams Morgan ended up doing like half the street later. Like I did, I painted so many things there. So she's doing a mural of South Beach and she's going and painting the window and looking at it from a distance and sipping her coffee and taking, and I'm like, Very pretentious. Not pretentious, slow. Just slow. And over entitled. Yeah. If you can call it that. So yeah. So she goes to lunch hour and I'm like, so I just, I just take the brushes and I finished that mural.

Malak Fouad
[14:40 - 14:41] In the same day?

Janan Shihadeh
[14:41 - 14:41] In that hour.

Malak Fouad
[14:42 - 14:42] Oh my God.

Janan Shihadeh
[14:42 - 14:43] It was like I was possessed.

Malak Fouad
[14:44 - 14:47] How funny. So she comes back. Come on.

Janan Shihadeh
[14:47 - 15:03] And she has a hissy fit. And then Byron comes by and I thought he'd be really happy. He fired me. Right. He told me, I told you not, not to touch a paintbrush. Yeah. You know, against the rules, you know, you've hurt her feelings, you know, I was wrong.

Malak Fouad
[15:03 - 15:05] But he saw the talent.

Janan Shihadeh
[15:05 - 15:11] But I, so I went, so I used to come with my roller blades back. Cause he couldn't see that I had a car because he still thinks I'm a struggling artist.

Malak Fouad
[15:11 - 15:18] Yeah. You're also an actress clearly. So you left.

Janan Shihadeh
[15:18 - 15:35] So I left like with my tail, I was so upset and you know, I was really upset because I really enjoyed, you know, I just, I thought that I would impress him and it, yeah. But anyway, he calls me a week later. So not only do I go back to work for him, I become his main painter. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Malak Fouad
[15:35 - 15:36] And the assistant becomes your assistant.

Janan Shihadeh
[15:36 - 15:51] No, she, she left, she left the job. She couldn't handle it. And but I had, I had 13 people working under me. So with him, and then he would just, you know, he just leave me stuff to do and just leave to Brazil, leave Tony.

Malak Fouad
[15:51 - 15:53] So it was his name on the door, but it was your work.

Janan Shihadeh
[15:53 - 15:54] Oh, he'd make us sign.

Malak Fouad
[15:55 - 15:55] Oh, he would.

Janan Shihadeh
[15:55 - 16:01] Yeah. He was great that way. Yeah. So he had a lot of faith in me. He was really, That's amazing.

Other speaker
[16:01 - 16:04] Yeah. It's an amazing story. What did you take away from that experience?

Janan Shihadeh
[16:05 - 16:31] Oh my God. So much best years. Yeah. I loved it. First of all, I learned a new medium because we use silica paint. Yeah. Which is neither oil nor, nor water. It's and it's also, so I just went back and saw a mural I did 25 years ago and the colors are perfect. Wow. No fading, no UV, nothing. Amazing. Yeah. I also did furniture at night to, uh, I just didn't want to think about my status with Omar. I was heartbroken.

Malak Fouad
[16:31 - 16:33] So you threw yourself into it.

Janan Shihadeh
[16:33 - 17:01] Totally threw myself into it. Totally. I was obsessed. So I was great for Byron because he was like, I've got this little workaholic here. Yeah. Who's doing a lot for the hour. Right. Right. Exactly. So we were finishing more projects and then in the end we became partners because I was the one on the street. He had vertigo funnily enough. He actually wouldn't go up to paint. Oh, wow. So I, I met a lot of potential clients and I'd go to him and say, listen, this person liked what we did. And he, so he's like, listen, we've got to be partners because you gave me all this work. Sure. So.

Malak Fouad
[17:02 - 17:04] And how long were you doing all this for?

Janan Shihadeh
[17:04 - 17:05] Four years.

Malak Fouad
[17:05 - 17:13] Oh, four years. You stayed that long there. Yeah. And what ended it? What stopped? I mean, why did that phase come to an end?

Janan Shihadeh
[17:13 - 17:23] So, uh, Omar's dad, uh, they had the Sheraton hotel and he came to meet the company to, uh, to hire a woman.

Malak Fouad
[17:24 - 17:27] It was like his, his very undercover way of getting you.

Other speaker
[17:27 - 17:33] And I remember Byron telling me you're not coming back. I'm like, don't be silly. You know, they really like our work. They really want us to paint. He's like, no, he's doing this. Cause he

Malak Fouad
[17:33 - 17:37] wants you to be with Omar. So that's exactly what happened. And your dad and all this.

Janan Shihadeh
[17:38 - 17:46] So my dad was in New York at the time he was living in Connecticut. So, uh, and, and he, we eloped in Cairo when I went and then we went back to New York.

Malak Fouad
[17:46 - 17:48] And your father didn't know all this beforehand.

Janan Shihadeh
[17:49 - 17:51] He was very upset with me. He didn't speak to me for five years.

Malak Fouad
[17:52 - 17:56] Really? Hmm. Oh, wow. Shanann that must've been really hard. Yeah. Very hard. Very difficult.

Janan Shihadeh
[17:56 - 17:59] Yeah. And I'm really a daddy's girl. Yeah. Yeah. It was tough.

Malak Fouad
[17:59 - 18:03] And so you eloped because you knew you wouldn't get your father's blessing.

Janan Shihadeh
[18:04 - 18:29] Because I was in Cairo at the time and basically I was whisked to this office. I don't know what I was. I had a fever at the time. I wasn't, I was, I was sick, but just signing papers and I don't, it was all a blur to me. And then he was like, basically Amr Islam took control and basically said, okay, you remember? I'm married now. Both of you, you've both been miserable. I can't, you know, off to New York and go and tell, go, go be a man and.

Malak Fouad
[18:29 - 18:32] And go tell your father-in-law. Yes. And your mom in all this?

Janan Shihadeh
[18:33 - 18:39] She, she wasn't really for it. She was neutral. She, she, you know, she, she knew it would be a lot of heartbreak for me.

Malak Fouad
[18:39 - 18:40] Because of your dad?

Janan Shihadeh
[18:41 - 18:45] My dad and me. And she saw me thriving in the States and she was like,

Malak Fouad
[18:45 - 18:46] Yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[18:46 - 19:01] So I wasn't looking back now, I was at a crossroads and I was doing so well in the States. I was making so much money at the time. Yeah. Did really well, you know, and then I choose and I go to Cairo and then there's.

Malak Fouad
[19:01 - 19:02] It's another world completely.

Janan Shihadeh
[19:02 - 19:09] Yeah. I get asked to paint cherubs and flowers and. All the, all the classic traditional stuff. You know, I'm like, oh no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Malak Fouad
[19:11 - 19:29] It's interesting. There are so many, I think everyone has this in their lives where you have that sliding door moment, you know, that movie, remember? I absolutely love that movie. It's so true. It's so true. If you had taken door one, you would have had one life. And if you take door two or, or subway or, or, you know.

Janan Shihadeh
[19:29 - 19:41] Like if I stayed in DC, I know, I know the man who I would have probably ended up with. Right. And I know what I would have been doing because there, yeah, there was a man and I just never gave him a chance. And looking back now, he was actually really quite wonderful and super, but I just didn't give him a.

Malak Fouad
[19:41 - 19:41] You didn't give him a chance.

Janan Shihadeh
[19:41 - 19:46] I didn't give him a chance. Yeah. Cause I was, I was, you know, hung up on the idea of Omar.

Malak Fouad
[19:49 - 20:10] When we come back, Shannan tells me about her move to Dubai and the exciting Mercedes, she's a Shannan campaign. That's right after this break. Welcome back. You're listening to my conversation with Shannan Shahadi. In 2013, after two decades in Cairo, she moved to Dubai.

Janan Shihadeh
[20:11 - 20:19] So we were in LA every year. We used to go to LA every year. Um, it was my dream to retire there, be on Venice beach paint, you know, I have my bicycle.

Other speaker
[20:19 - 20:22] Venice beach has a ton of murals too. Yes. That's very much.

Janan Shihadeh
[20:22 - 20:43] Yeah. And actually what took me to Venice was, uh, what made me go there? We were going for the last 18 years. It was the movie Xanadu. Oh yeah, of course. Because the murals, I was like, I need, that's why I just, all my life I was meant to be a muralist. Yeah. That's I really believe that was my calling. Yeah. Yeah. On our way back, there was the Rabaa massacre. Yep. So the airport was closed.

Malak Fouad
[20:43 - 20:47] That was the day of my 40th birthday. Oh dear.

Other speaker
[20:47 - 21:03] Yeah. That day. That day. So that day, the 40th birthday, we got stuck in London. Right. And Omar just thought this was a sign not to go back. And I remember him sitting in the room, the poor thing, wearing his bathrobe. What do I do with my family? I can't go back. This is crazy.

Janan Shihadeh
[21:03 - 21:06] And me as a Pasir, I'm like, come on, it's fine. Let's go back.

Malak Fouad
[21:06 - 21:07] You have a thicker skin. Halas.

Janan Shihadeh
[21:07 - 21:18] Yeah, definitely. Yeah. It was always, Omar was the type that would get, if the kids were sick, he would be the hands-on, bring all the doctors in Cairo over. And I'll be like, halas, they just have a fever. It's not a big deal.

Malak Fouad
[21:18 - 21:21] And I'm like you, my husband's more, more of the mother hen.

Janan Shihadeh
[21:22 - 21:39] Right. He is the mother hen. Yeah. So I remember sitting there and he's like, okay, we'll go to Dubai. And we took a hotel room and just, I had to get my mother hen. I had to find a school in mid-August in Dubai for the kids. It was a bit of a, and I was like, nonstop crying. I hated it. I remember there was a massive exodus out of Egypt then. Yes.

Malak Fouad
[21:39 - 21:43] At that same, yeah. A lot of people panicked and didn't go back. So you settled here.

Janan Shihadeh
[21:43 - 22:01] So I settled in a flat, the size of my bedroom in Egypt. You know how our homes are big there. And I remember praying with all my heart saying, God, I mean, I used to have all these companies and now I'm sitting here. I don't know what to do. I don't have workers. Of course. You know, like in Egypt, I have workers.

Other speaker
[22:02 - 22:05] You had your whole team. You had developed a team. Huge team. And taught them.

Malak Fouad
[22:05 - 22:09] And taught them. And they've been with me for years. And here in Egypt, I'm in a city where

Other speaker
[22:09 - 22:14] you don't have unemployed people walking around. That's also very tricky. Like I can't hire a

Janan Shihadeh
[22:14 - 22:52] painter. I need to bring them from abroad and a second and lodging and insurance. Of course. So I just sat there and prayed and prayed with all my heart. What am I supposed to do now? I'm a workaholic. I'll go nuts. I can't. I can't just sit here. So I didn't know. Yeah, I went crazy. But my answers were, my prayers were answered in the most bizarre way, where a friend of mine in Egypt insisting for such a long time to paint on her bag. I'm like, why would she want to paint on her Birkin? And not just any bag, a Birkin.
[22:52 - 23:13] And she kept it. And I never had time. I never had time. And then finally she's like, you're in Dubai now. Now you can paint my bag. And she brought me the bag and it just, it just, that was it. And I looked up to the sky. I'm like, is this what you had in mind for me? Because it was actually a perfect answer to my prayer because it's something I can do in my little flat. I didn't have to get a studio. I didn't have to look for workers.

Malak Fouad
[23:13 - 23:14] It was just you.

Janan Shihadeh
[23:14 - 23:15] It was just perfect.

Malak Fouad
[23:15 - 23:18] Yeah. So that was another light bulb moment for you.

Janan Shihadeh
[23:18 - 23:36] Absolutely. And then I had one of my best friends in London had a huge, a very, one of the third, she was one of the third biggest vintage stores, Claudia. And I called her up. I mean, listen, do you have any bags you haven't sold? She's like, yeah, a lot. I'm like, give them to me. Let's paint them and see what will happen.

Malak Fouad
[23:36 - 23:37] That's clever of you.

Janan Shihadeh
[23:37 - 23:43] And Harvey Nichols just bought all the collections for like, we were there for like six years.

Malak Fouad
[23:43 - 23:50] That's what I meant by saying, did you have a collection that you sold? So you did, you started that way.

Janan Shihadeh
[23:50 - 24:09] I started painting my own collection and then, and I had no clients in Dubai. Right. So I'd be waiting every month for a box from London of vintage bags. I'd paint and, you know, and send them back. They did so well. I went to the opening and all the Egyptians in London came and supported me. It was really, really very nice.

Malak Fouad
[24:09 - 24:10] And why didn't that continue?

Janan Shihadeh
[24:11 - 24:31] It didn't, it didn't continue because Chanel in Harrods said, said, we're going to sue Harvey Nichols. Why are you selling our bags painted? And Harvey Nichols was like, it's vintage. They're over 20 years, which means over 20 years old. We're allowed to paint them. And they're like, yeah, but prove it.

Malak Fouad
[24:31 - 24:32] It became a legal problem.

Janan Shihadeh
[24:32 - 24:47] It became a legal problem. And which they would never have won, but they didn't want to go through the legal headache of it, but we did very well. And the fact that we did so well was what brought Chanel's attention to the fact of why are you, you know, Louis Vuitton had no problem with it.

Malak Fouad
[24:47 - 24:47] Right.

Janan Shihadeh
[24:47 - 24:55] By then the director here had seen one of my bags on a friend, went up to her, who did this, contacted me. And then I became the main painter for Louis Vuitton here.

Malak Fouad
[24:56 - 24:58] And so they did their, they did a line.

Janan Shihadeh
[24:58 - 25:01] No. They just all. Their clients that wanted stuff would, they would give it to me.

Malak Fouad
[25:02 - 25:05] Oh, I see. Okay. And they were aware and they were fine with that.

Janan Shihadeh
[25:05 - 25:20] They were very happy with it. They were very happy with it. Well, it gives the bags a new lease of life. And all their VIP clients would just, uh, ask, you know, I had this Indian, he wanted his, uh, his actual, the Maharaja's elephant on his, uh, on his luggage.

Malak Fouad
[25:20 - 25:20] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[25:21 - 25:30] It's his, you know, or the, or I did for the Royal, uh, Bahrain, uh, they, their, their emblem and their, uh, their, uh, what's it called? Emblem. What's it? Yeah. Heraldry.

Malak Fouad
[25:30 - 25:31] The, the, the ancestry.

Janan Shihadeh
[25:32 - 25:39] The heraldry emblem on all their luggage. So this was all from their Louis Vuitton, uh, you know, VIP clients.

Malak Fouad
[25:39 - 25:44] Yeah. So you did the bag, you, you still do bags. Uh, and then Mercedes approached you.

Janan Shihadeh
[25:44 - 26:24] So Mercedes approached me at the lowest point in my life. Okay. I had just divorced, unfortunately. Um, um, that was really tough on me. I lost my father a few weeks after my kids went off to college. All of a sudden, Wow. You had three big things in one. And at once. Yeah. And one of my, and one of my dogs died. It was just, it was just like a, you know, when they say it was just like, what about, what about, yeah. And I had done a bag for Mrs. Gargash. Um, who's the agent of the wife of the, yeah. And I meet her with Rosamund bless her. I don't know if you know, Rosamund, Manji. And she took me to her by literally by force. She
[26:24 - 26:31] just, it's like almost like it was a calling. They pulled me, they were trying to pull me out of this dark space. I was, cause I just felt my entire life crumbling.

Malak Fouad
[26:31 - 26:37] And at this point, you're not, you'd been in Dubai. How long? A couple of years by then.

Janan Shihadeh
[26:38 - 27:18] Yeah. Like, uh, three, four years. Okay. Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was already established in the, in the bag business and stuff. And she's like, you know, they had, I don't know how many in the world that they were trying and they chose me. And I'm like, you know, she's like, no, one's going to do it, but you, and she kept insisting that you are going to, and I tried, you know, I said, listen, I'm grieving my dad. I'm, you know, and she's like, but this, this might help you, you know, and it was incredible. And I remember sitting and my kids helping me cause I wasn't good at computers at the time. Yeah. And I had to come up with the design and I had the design and, and, you know, I remember my daughter was really good with the, and my son both helping me with the, and I gave him the proposal and they were like, yes.

Malak Fouad
[27:18 - 27:51] And it just, and that for you, cause it's interesting. So when you went to Washington as a young woman, you, you did it because you were trying to forget. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Something else. And then Dubai, uh, two years after you have having been here, you threw yourself into your work again, trying to forget something. So work has, oh, work has always been your mainstay. And it, and it's always been there. You're constant saving you. Art saves me. Yeah. Art always saves me. It really does. And how was the reaction to

Janan Shihadeh
[27:51 - 28:07] the Mercedes? Oh my God. It was huge. It was huge. Massive, massive. You had, you did one car? Millions of views. You did one car? Did one car that was driving around town by all the notables, all the shoes, all the, for like, yeah, six or eight months, I think. Uh-huh. Just

Malak Fouad
[28:07 - 28:26] everywhere. It was great. And how long did it take you to do? Three months. Yeah. Wow. That's a lot. And, and how did you come up with a design? Did you think of it yourself or did they advise you as to what they wanted? No, no, no, no. Totally thought of it myself. Totally you. Okay. They were trying to get the G G wagon. Yeah. To appeal to women. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Janan Shihadeh
[28:26 - 28:43] I see. So they felt that the G wagon in Dubai is very much a man's car. Right. So I did a feminine take on it and we all drove it around to. Nice. And did it work? I think it did. Did more women buy it? I don't know that I didn't get the, the data for that. Yeah. Well, I think,

Malak Fouad
[28:43 - 28:48] I mean, I've seen a lot of women driving that car now, so maybe, maybe, but they did this whole

Janan Shihadeh
[28:48 - 29:09] video. She's Mercedes. She's Janann campaign. It was really nice. And then we had a big opening at the Layla Heller gallery. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. And everybody, it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. So many people flew in from Egypt. Like this is what I mean by Egyptians are really good. Yeah. I love them with all my heart. Yeah. I get like, well, you're, you're very close friends are Egyptian. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. But it's interesting that you also decided to stay on in

Malak Fouad
[29:09 - 29:41] Dubai. Uh, you became, it became your, your home. Yes. Um, so even though you're very good to me, even though you moved here, not wanting to be here, but then it became completely your home. One of the reasons we didn't have our, uh, interview, I think we had planned it for November, was obviously because of the Gaza war. Yes. This war has, uh, caused you a lot of, um, anxiety and, and has, it's very disturbing, but you've used that to create awareness through your

Janan Shihadeh
[29:41 - 30:02] work. Yes. We did a butterfly initiative where, uh, I painted a butterfly with the Kufa inside to symbolize freedom and our culture, because, um, we were feeling that it was trying to be canceled. They were canceling our culture. So, and they're, they're, um, What's the word for identifying the Kufa as a terrorist? How would, how would you say that in

Malak Fouad
[30:02 - 30:09] a sentence? Oh, it was being wrongly symbolized as a terrorism symbol, right? Actually. I don't

Janan Shihadeh
[30:09 - 30:48] know if you know this, but it's about, um, the net is about the love of, of the sea and fishing and the leaves on the side or the olive trees and the, the lines are the trade routes and yet. It's a very symbolic. So beautiful to symbolize it with terrorism. So I just thought the butterfly, was a symbol of freedom and it just became viral like every so many people would just send me by the hundreds i was just painting i couldn't do my work i was just painting these butterflies for so many people and uh and they would travel with it and they'd and people would come and ask them what is this about and then they would explain to them so it's my little tiny little
[30:48 - 31:01] little way of raising awareness yeah yeah to what's happening but this this is a very distressing it is a very distressing time i feel i feel bad for our kids i really do you know yeah no i agree

Malak Fouad
[31:01 - 31:04] like i wouldn't be surprised if both my kids came and said i don't want to have kids

Janan Shihadeh
[31:07 - 31:24] tell me a little bit about what you're doing now so i love cycling i'm a cycling uh a bit of a cycling maniac so uh almost every few years i have some sort of cycling accident so uh my latest accident was i broke my elbow that's why we didn't do the interview the first time maybe

Malak Fouad
[31:25 - 31:26] maybe you

Janan Shihadeh
[31:26 - 32:03] , you were sitting with your foot up yeah yeah i'm just i'm just so accident prone so uh i had a bike a cycling accident in uh in in the hamptons actually and uh no oh sorry take that back no that was my knee accident i had in the hamptons okay it was probably the first time we couldn't do it was the maybe it was the knee accident i had in the hampton the next year was my elbow also in new york but uh manhattan and um so i used to work for alberto pinto who's a very famous cyclist in the united states he was a very famous cyclist in the united states he was a very was his decorative painter on some projects and he fortunately let me use his staff who are amazing
[32:03 - 32:38] and I thought he would tell me his staff were in Syria and Lebanon because he did this inlay work but turned out to be a Palestinian man who lived in Egypt oh wow he became very very good friends so I did a whole line of inlay furniture that did really well I remember you had the most gorgeous bright mirrors yes yes fantastic colors yes yes so those colors I created because I'm I don't want to say you know paint chemist but I came up with a formula that was self-leveling liquid glass that I could do in these incredible colors that I poured rather than inlaid right so me and him
[32:38 - 33:12] you know he was he was a great guy came up with the way he put the pearl and I would pour the paint and they were gorgeous yeah they were colors were just to die for yeah yeah because I couldn't get those colors in wood yeah ah do you know what I'm saying so that was that's where my paint chemistry comes in yes exactly you're an alchemist there you go that's what we're going to call you I love that people till this day we would like your mirrors we would like your mirrors we would like those mirrors really left a big impression yeah I'm in the queue I love them I never I never went back to do them yeah
[33:12 - 33:50] so at that time um I had a rather large house and I remember the coffee table being far from me and I created an armrest out of palisander wood with steel inlay so that I could put my coffee here yeah and not have to do it again yeah and I remember the coffee table being far from me time and then i'm like why don't i reverse it and make a c-shaped table so looking into research i didn't i thought i created that table but it turns out no it was there but i hadn't seen it at the time and i did many of them and i did them in in palisander wood with steel with the resins with the with the mother of pearl and a lot of people in egypt loved them and you know even if you've
[33:50 - 34:29] been to the house they all have those times i hadn't realized that you began this 30 years ago yes i thought this was a new thing that you were doing now the shape is is the old but so i cre i believe i believed at that time that i created this table and alberto printel told me wow this is so clever that you created the c table that goes into the couch versus me bending over so you know but later i found out actually that it was actually created by ancient egyptians oh no way my friend showed me and she's like you're not the creator i'm like okay i thought i was but anyway fast forward to dubai i'm here i i used that table all the time and my elbow was like oh that hurts and then i realized why don't
[34:29 - 34:58] i make it in leather it'll be soft to my broken elbow and that's how i came up with the idea of making the same table but encased in leather and i have a really cool team now took us also i don't know four months of how to print it perfectly on the sustainable leather where it's completely waterproof wow and the coffee just spills out and i've got my designs on so they're limited edition designs they're cheaper they're lighter they're more versatile and they're just great and is that printed here in

Malak Fouad
[34:58 - 35:04] dubai yes they're made in dubai what's your legacy how do you want to be remembered i know it sounds

Janan Shihadeh
[35:04 - 35:30] cliche i want to be remembered for how i made people feel i like the people who i love to know that they were loved i don't know if i'm going to keep any if any of these clients are going to keep their bags i'm not sure they'll have much of a legacy they'll hand them down to their girls and most of my walls and dc have been have been rebuilt so i've only have one mural left Literally, one mural left. Even that restaurant I did, several restaurants have all been changed. So there's not much legacy in that.

Malak Fouad
[35:31 - 35:41] But I think, Kamen, the legacy is what you've instilled in your kids. That's a huge impact. And that goes down in generations. I always cared about my kids not being zombies.

Other speaker
[35:41 - 35:43] I always cared that I wanted my kids to have passion.

Janan Shihadeh
[35:43 - 35:50] I wanted them to have a passion to, you know, this is what's very important for me. And they do. And they do.

Malak Fouad
[35:50 - 35:57] That's amazing. And that's partly because of when they were kids, they were not doing stuff just to pacify them, right?

Janan Shihadeh
[35:57 - 36:00] Yes, yes. They were having to think about what to do.

Malak Fouad
[36:01 - 36:41] Janan, thank you so much. Really? This was perfect. Was it? It was great. Thank you. That was really great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Habibti. Thank you. That was my episode with bespoke artist Janan Shahedi. You can find out more and shop her collection at Janan Studio Home. And you can find the link in our show notes. If you're a member of this show, you'll get a bonus episode next week where Janan talks art techniques and we unpack her cultural life. You'll also find extended clips from our episodes on our YouTube channel. And you can connect with us on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Just search for What I Did Next. Thank you for joining me today.
[36:41 - 36:49] You've been listening to What I Did Next from A&T Media. I'm Malak Fouad, and the show is produced by Chirag Desai. See you in a couple of weeks.