Democracy Day: Shurooq Amin

To mark Democracy Day on the BBC, Matthew speaks to Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin. She's known for her controversial depictions of the double standards she sees in Arab society. As a result, she is not allowed to exhibit her work in her home country. This hasn't deterred her, and she continues to speak out against what she regards as injustices in the Gulf states.

61 year old Hellen Nadolu lives in Sydney where she works as a beauty therapist. She has three grown-up children who until very recently were unaware of their mother's extraordinary life. Her story begins in communist Romania and features a love affair in Ghana and an escape to Australia.

(Photo: Shurooq Amin in the studio with Matthew Bannister.)