Our new episode is about “Using art to live authentically abroad” and our special guest in the studio today is Hani Assaf. 

Hani is a Lebanese audiovisual director, holding a Master Degree in TV direction from Lebanon. He is 34 years old, moved to Norway in May 2017, due to love and the dream of living a free love story in a free country. Hani describes his love story to turn to be like hell, where he faced a super dramatic violent relationship in Norway that ended with physical abuse. 

The dream of being free has never died and the confidence he has in his Art was always the only hope he has. And from that was the creation of Frida Marida. Frida is an art form, a way to deal with personal and social issues in an artistic way. Frida’s art is a continual evolution of self to stand firm in the face of gender bias, social constructivism, shame and stigma. 

Hani created an organization Called FriDawn with a bunch of friends that deal with social causes via Art. They are now working on their project in cooperation with Politi, Skeiv verden, Fakkeltog, Oslo Pride and others. 

Note: This episode has been edited by students in the Bachelor study of international communication at the Highschool of Østfold, Thomas Voukelatos and Ida E.Støten.