Cosplay Arabia - January 2021

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Cosplay Arabia • january 2021
Cosplay Arabia • january 2021
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up
// Ibrahim Ansari
Editor letter
THERE’S APPROXIMATELY ONE
HUNDRED IMAGES IN THAT LITTLE
PHOTOGRAPHIC MONTAGE ON THE
RIGHT, SIGNIFYING OUR JOURNEY
OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS. TO QUOTE
PHIL “JUST SAY IT’S A FRIGGIN
AMOUNT OF WORK AND PEOPLE
SHALL SEND MONEY”
A friggin amount of work it is indeed and
we wouldn’t have it any other way. But I
won’t sugar coat it, 2020 was a tough year
for all of us. It started with us having to
pull out of MEFCC 2020 even though we
had designed and arranged a booth for
cosplayers unlike anything they’ve ever
seen. I still remember having several
conversations with Ayman Akaily as the
uncertainty kept mounting on whether
we would even be allowed to travel let
alone have a setup and showing.
Ultimately, we couldn’t make it and had to
cancel last minute. Shoutout going to
Ayman for being understanding and
supportive with our decision. MEFCC
2021 is going to be legen....wait for it..
Last year wasn’t all doom and gloom
though because it gave us the oppertunity
to organize virtual cosplay contests! we
started in June by collaborating with
Digital Games Conference (DGC) Dubai’s
very first cosplay contest. This opened the
doors for CAMEC – our first inhouse
online Cosplay Contest which was a
massive success owing to the unbelievable
passion of cosplayers in the Middle East
and support from prominent international
personalities like Sakuraflor, Rosemagpie
and Shadowborder Cosplay. We even had
US based cosplay photographer Paolo
from paoimages and VFX specialist
Adrijana Cernic from Croatia with us for
a few rounds of judging.
We rounded off the year by organizing
Speedycomics Con cosplay contest which
really showcased the creative cosplaying
and video producing capabilities of all the
contestants. Our judges comprised of Asad
Morningstar, Maikehuster3 and returning
judge Shadowborder Cosplay who did a
phenomenal job. Gratitude going out to
Mr. Rashid, Waleed and Asad from
speedycomics who made this entire
process as straightforward as possible
ensuring an amazing contest.
This year we’ve gone digital! This is the
first of four magazines and we’re super
excited to have Hadeel aka @hadoolalk on
the cover as Tyrande Whisperwind! The
work they’re doing up there in Kuwait is
mind blowing – from crafting the cosplays
to amazing work done by cosplay
photographers, such as the cover of this
edition by Nasser Jamal. We also have
coverage of CAMEC, a wonderful how to
guide by iCosplay, Interviews with new
cosplayer Batman_dxb, german cosplay
photographer Phil from cospixcreation,
german couple Kes and Marcel, Sakuraflor,
Rosemagpie and so much more!
At Cosplay Arabia we want to shine the
spotlight on the work of creatives, be it
cosplayers, artists, photographers or even
producers. We’d love to grow our
community of readers and the way for
this to happen is for you – the cosplayers,
the photographers, fans, friends and
family to share this community magazine.
There’s so much we have planned and so
much already underway which hasn’t
even been announced yet.
For 2021, lets work together so we can all
LEVEL UP!
Let‘s connect!
Get more behind the scenes and latest updates first-hand.
instagram: @ibbi_fit / @mia.shot
email: editor@cosplayarabia.com