Egypt: art of the revolution

The revolution may have slowed down, but political art is thriving in Egypt. It’s a new way of showing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of change. Graffiti is particularly popular.

Alaa Awad, a graffiti artist from Luxor, said: “We have to feel free to express ourselves and to paint our criticisms of society. Some people draw pictures of government officials and then cross them out to illustrate that they reject them. They also use these paintings to declare that someone is innocent of a crime or guilty if that’s the case. It’s kind of a popular court through which the people show that they are in charge of this country not the government.”

But this kind of art isn’t only found on the streets of Cairo. At the Sawi Cultural Centre, they are exhibiting work by artists from the “Revolutionary Artists Union” which now has more then 2,000 members across the country.

Sanah Abdel Tawab, an artist and member of the Revolutionary Artists Union, said: “Before the revolution we were all censored. We were told “don’t draw this” or “you need to remove this picture” and peoples’ writings were also censored. But today we can say what we want without inhibition. We fought to have freedom of speech and now people will see the true Egypt through our work.”

The music industry is also undergoing a revolution. Hundreds of bands have sprung up in the last year. Mariam Ali, a singer with the Abou Mariam band from Cairo, said: “The new bands that have emerged in Egypt that comment about politics or the social situation have an important role. They introduce people to new ways of thinking and show them that they are not alone in their opinions.”

Mohamed Aboul Enein, who is a guitarist and singer, said: “Art is the simplest and the most beautiful way to get a message across to people. It could be a painting or music, but I believe music is strongest because people love hearing songs. This means that we, and other bands like us, can be more effective then numerous talk shows on television.”

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