São Paulo – Ever since she was a child, 28-year-old Letícia Gomes (pictured above) pictured herself working with art. But it was only during the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, she decided to turn her artistic sensibility, and especially her interest in Islamic art, into a business.
“I started posting arts I created in a course, and they were quite successful,” she said. Regarding her sales of bookmarks and pictures, over 60% of the buyers are Arabs living in Brazil. The proximity to the Arab world, according to her, is due to aesthetics. “Even non-Muslim Arabs were interested. It’s their roots. Even if they are not practicing Islam.”
Bookmarks can cost from BRL 80 to BRL 150 (about USD 16.3 to 30.6 at the current rate) depending on the customization and take an average of four hours to complete. The frames, which are sold for around BRL 1,000 (about USD 204.5), depending on the complexity, take weeks to complete. Currently living in Curitiba, Paraná, the artist sells her artpieces in her free time as a secretary and earns around BRL 3,000 (about USD 613.66) a month.
The paintings are the current focus of the artist, who is preparing an exhibition of 10 to 15 works, with an opening scheduled for November. The exhibition is expected to be independent.
In addition to producing the paintings, she collaborates with the Muslim publisher Bismillah, making illustrations for book covers and studies folk dance. All these activities have left Letícia with little time to produce bookmarks. That’s why products of this type have been made solely for close friends and existing customers.
In the future, the São Paulo native intends to expand her teaching side and return to producing bookmarks for more people in addition to selling the paintings on display. “I have a course on Introduction to Islamic Art, which I intend to build up from,” she said.
Origins of the arts
Ever since childhood, the artist imagined herself studying architecture or something related to art, as she was always fond of drawing. In her teens, she even took the entrance exam for Visual Arts but realized that was not the path she wanted to follow.
She found her way after reverting to Islam in 2013 and learning about Islamic arts. In the same year, she married a Muslim Brazilian, who, despite his religion, has no genetic connection with the Arabs.
When she started going to mosques, Letícia became fascinated with the aesthetics in geometry, calligraphy, and arabesques. Early on, the artist realized mosques and religious arts were completely different from anything she was used to and became interested in learning how patterns were made, what was behind them, and began to study self-taught.
She bought a book and started studying English, as the course he most wanted to take was taught by a teacher from abroad. “The difference between Islamic art and Western art is that, in the Islamic world, they have a reverence for beauty. Any spoon, box, or table is beautifully decorated,” said Letícia.
She studied Islamic Arts at the English institution The Prince’s Foundation and took classes with Yemeni artisan Amina Quraishi and English Samira Mian, who taught classes and workshops on Islamic geometry. “The colors that stand out most in this type of art are green, blue, and yellow.”
The São Paulo native decided to use the artistic name Farhah Gomes for greater identification with the Islamic world. The small business to sell the pieces also bears the same name. According to the artist, despite being different, Letícia and Farhah have the same meaning: Joy.
Special report by Rebecca Vettore for ANBA.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
