The Middle East Development Center (MEDC), located in Alexandria, hosted the one and only Azza Fahmy for their 10th online free webinar series titled “Hope Now” on September 1. The MEDC is a human development and training center that aims to improve the business community.
From the event on Zoom
Fahmy is a famous Egyptian jewelry designer and is the founder of the design house Azza Fahmy Jewelry. Her passion and dedication towards her jewellery designing career has led her to create one of a kind pieces. Briefly, Azza Fahmy’s jewellery encompasses medieval art, Arabic calligraphy, traditional proverbs, Egyptian heritage and inspiration from all sorts of Egyptian art and architecture.
After graduating from Helwan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design, Azza Fahmy dabbled in various art forms until finding her true passion: jewellery design.
During the event, MEDC gave a short intro on Azza Fahmy before screening a special video on the Mamluk art, architecture and design. Fahmy shared that this video was part of the creation of one of her most iconic collections in Mamluk designs, particularly the domes. “It was for awareness on who the Mamluk are as well,” she said.
Azza Fahmy’s Early Beginnings Of An Artistic Journey
Sherif El Diwany, the main host during the talk from MEDC said that the video displayed shows both art and Fahmy’s success in the field. “When I watch this video, I see work, art, and designs that are brilliant, and I also see Azza Fahmy who had a calling in life, and followed it until she succeeded in this field,” he says.
He added that the Japanese have a saying that says, “having a purpose in life is living like a hero. Every one of us is meant to be in the life of a hero.” And Fahmy agreed.
She expressed that everyone is born to do something that is theirs; something special. However, the trick is to figure out what that ‘thing’ is. For her, she had to look for it. After graduating, she worked in several artistic jobs such as drawing in children’s books and pottery, but, “something in my heart kept telling me ‘no this is not what I want’ and I am a perfectionist, so I like to do what makes me happy,” shared Fahmy.
Photo taken from The Mamluk Collection Video
One day, Fahmy went to a book fair in Egypt sometime around the mid 70s and picked up a book about jewelry design. And it was as if a light bulb appeared over her head, she said.
“This is when my long journey with jewelry began. I didn’t have money to start learning abroad, but I went to work in Khan El Khalili to learn,” she said. Eventually, she was offered a fellowship to study jewelry design abroad and that helped pave the way for establishing a clear career path.
The Connection Between Happiness and Success
A huge part of being successful does come from happiness, but happiness doesn’t necessarily come from success. El Diwany asked “If I succeed, does that mean I’ve found my calling in life?” In theory, sometimes that might be the case but, Fahmy explained that part of finding your ‘calling’ in life has to do whether or not this career makes you happy.
“When I sat to work on jewellery design for the very first time, I started at 3 pm and when I lifted my head to look up, it was 10 pm. I didn’t feel time. And this is a type of happiness because when you sit with someone you love, time flies,” said Fahmy.
Photo taken from The Mamluk Collection Video
Passion, happiness and success go hand in hand to a large extent because if you aren’t happy and passionate about a certain task or job, you’ll never be able to give it all your effort. Fahmy encourages everyone to follow their passions, callings and dreams, and to work in what they like regardless of what that job is.
Generally, following your passion is synonymous with jobs that may be unstable, and this is where the fear of failure comes in. Yet, a major part of dealing with failure is being able to accept that ‘falling’ doesn’t mean that you are failing.
“Falling is necessary. I’ve fallen so many times but every time I fall, I learn something. This is part of the learning process,” said Fahmy. The designer shared that she herself has had her fair share of mistakes. However, this is what made her stronger, and helped her learn what it takes to run a business.
For those interested in learning jewellery design, visit https://thedesignstudioaf.com/ and perhaps you can register for classes taught by none other than the Azza Fahmy team.
