"Before I came to Berlin, I always wondered how would it feel to kiss on the streets. How would it feel to kiss them while a cool breeze gently touches my face … or while feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin … or just … kiss them with no fear!
I wanted to leave a long, long time ago … Since i gained consciousness … I knew I didn’t belong …
NO! My place is not the kitchen!
My place is not my father’s house!
Nor my future husband’s house!
NO! I won’t obey you!
NO! I won’t be your slave!
NO! I don’t exist to be your breeding sheep!
NO! You don’t tell me what to wear!
Where to go! Nor what to do!
I do not lack a mind.
I do not lack a personality.
It was so clear.
I felt it, I saw it very clearly ...
I do not belong here.
[...]
Berlin gave me what I wanted … freedom … wildness … Berlin helped me explore who I am, and BE who I wanted to be … Love is for certain people only in Damascus, and only Muslim men get to have four wives and be polyamorous!! Of course in their Sharia’s patriarchy misogynist way!
So a gay woman? No chance.
[...]
I fled continents to reach my dreams, and, darling, I will. I am who I am. And I enjoy it. Nothing before ever stopped me. And nothing will now."
At the time the portrait was taken, Enana was 22 years old. The singer-songwriter and actress studied at an academy for classical music in Damascus.