The esteemed artist Hamida Al-Khouja reminisces about the memories of her artistic beginnings, recounting how her steps led her from the seats of Cinema Al-Nasr in the Old City of Tripoli to the lights of the stage and radio before finding herself on a different path away from art.
“Cinema Al-Nasr was another world for us,” Al-Khouja recalls with nostalgia. “We used to eagerly await Friday, a day designated for women, to wear our finest clothes and go watch movies. Those moments were what planted the love of acting within me.”
This love grew with her until the opportunity came, thanks to her neighbor, Hajja Manoubia, who worked as a supervisor of the women’s choir at the radio station. “I used to watch Hajja Manoubia when the radio car came to pick her up, and I wished I could go with her,” Al-Khouja recounts. “After my persistent requests, she took me with her to the children’s corner at the radio station, where I met the late artist Abdullah Krista, and my journey in acting began.”
Her experience was not limited to radio acting but extended to music and theater. “At first, I didn’t know anything about theater, but fate led me to it,” Al-Khouja says. “I remember how I participated in a theatrical performance as a last-minute replacement; it was an unforgettable experience.”
She also participated in performing two songs with artists Mohammed Al-Kaabazi and Mohammed Sidqi as part of the “Al-Nagham Trio.” However, despite her passion for art, she made a surprising decision to join Al-Brega Oil Marketing Company, thus ending her artistic career.
“It was a difficult decision, but it was necessary,” Al-Khouja says. “Art was and still is a part of me, but life has other paths.” Paths that led her from the joy of the cinema to the heart of the radio, then the silence of the oil fields—chapters from the life of a Libyan artist.
