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Malu Halasa and Rana Salam found art in the streets of Damascus’ Souk-el-Hamidiyeh. But it didn’t involve canvases, watercolors or sculpture; instead, in one of Syria’s historical souks, they had discovered thongs and remote controlled bras. Halasa, a London-based writer, and Salam, a Beirut-raised and London-based graphic designer, released The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie last year. The comprehensive book explores all aspects of the raunchy underwear coming out of a conservative Middle Eastern country.

The two authors talk to Communicate about the book, the lingerie, and how, counter-intuitive as it may seem, conservatism can breed creativity.

ON THEIR INSPIRATION
Rana: When we saw the lingerie in Damascus, it was just overwhelming and so unexpected for such a society. It needed to be documented, and that’s how the book came along.

Malu: I felt that, in the design of Syrian lingerie, Rana was getting closer to her own interest in the design that takes place on the Arab street. When we think of lingerie in the West, it’s always up-market brands. But in Syria, with the kind of lingerie you find, it somehow feeds into the vibrant design which is in the souk. And that’s not just in Syria, but across the Arab world. There’s a street culture that nobody documents, and lingerie is a part of that.

ON ART AND THE REGION
Rana: Through my training and study of design in the UK, I was encouraged to understand what was happening in the Middle East in terms of design language. For me it’s about capturing the kind of spontaneous design that hasn’t gone through art school or anything – Syrian lingerie is a complete reaction to its own environment. And censorship is definitely a part of that. You can just call it art.

Malu: I think it’s definitely an expression of street art or street design, but it doesn’t make it any lower than high art or elitist art. Everyone talks of the Arab street in a derogatory fashion, but nobody really looks at the street and see that’s it’s a place of intense creativity and commerce.
We look at Syria, which is still under US sanctions and still pretty closed off because it’s a dictatorship. There is a homegrown network that’s taking place, and there’s a market there that the Syrians themselves have cultivated, and they’re sending their lingerie to both the region and the rest of the world.

ON THE UNDERWEAR
Rana: I think the element of fun can be taken out completely out of sex; people forget that it doesn’t have to be erotica or hardcore. The art that comes out of lingerie in Syria is naïve, obviously, and it’s got a lot of charm. People are enjoying it, and it’s not like they’re frustrated and suppressed.

Malu: It also shows that Syrians can take a scrap of material, transform it, and sell it on. The Syrians are the Chinese of the Middle East. I think the trouble with the world today is we don’t have enough manufacturing cultures. Of all the economies of the Middle East, Syria doesn’t have a lot of money, yet they’re busy creating.
Their lingerie, even if you don’t see it advertised widely, is sold. There’s an underground network, where no matter what the government says about women’s bodies, women and men are buying lingerie. It’s tied up to Islam; after marriage, pretty much anything is permissible, so no matter what the restrictions are or what the government says, this stuff is getting through.

ON THE BOOK
Malu: Our approach to the book is Western, but we’ve commissioned a lot of essays from Arab writers, and photographic work from Arab photographers. We have an interview with a leading Syrian novelist, and we show the artwork and poetry of a young Syrian woman who takes pictures of herself in the bedroom.
We wanted the book to be a celebration of something, but also we wanted to showcase Arab voices and Arab artwork.

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