Sarah Mousa the American graduate student at the Center of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Layers of resistance’ implying Egyptian murals aren't a form of art - they are an act of protest. Mousa states “…just one month after the fall of Mubarak, security forces gathered demonstrators from Tahrir Square into the National Museum. There, amid ancient Egyptian artifacts and under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the protesters were tortured. One year later, that day was marked with another act of protest; members of the opposition used their talent to paint elaborate murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, just off Tahrir Square. The street, home to the American University of Cairo, had been the site of bloodshed for months. …SCAF erected eight cement walls, barbed wire barriers and security checkpoints throughout Downtown Cairo, citing security purposes. …The walls were a point of great contention; some climbed over them, others attempted to knock them down. …Graffitists, who had mostly used stencils or quickly scribbled messages on walls to avoid arrest or torture …spend more time painting …Mohamed Mahmoud Street as well as the SCAF-constructed barriers became sites of elaborate paintings. Over the past year, the murals, whitewashed and painted one over the other several times, have confronted a number of forces of power: the SCAF government, the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist-dominated parliament, societal apathy, the Morsi leadership, Mubarak-era hijacking of culture, and Western modernist dictations on the utility of art. …The dimensions of resistance revealed in the evolving walls of Downtown Cairo point to the depth of Egypt's revolution. The range of authoritarian forces, both political and social, and on local and global scales is poignantly confronted through the protest murals, which are far more than artistic works to be preserved and displayed.”  Inspired by Sarah Mousa, Aljazeera ow.ly/j4H6R Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4H6C Egyptian murals are an act of protest (April 13 2013)

 

Sarah Mousa the American graduate student at the Center of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Layers of resistance’ implying Egyptian murals aren’t a form of art – they are an act of protest. Mousa states “…just one month after the fall of Mubarak, security forces gathered demonstrators from Tahrir Square into the National Museum. There, amid ancient Egyptian artifacts and under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the protesters were tortured. One year later, that day was marked with another act of protest; members of the opposition used their talent to paint elaborate murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, just off Tahrir Square. The street, home to the American University of Cairo, had been the site of bloodshed for months. …SCAF erected eight cement walls, barbed wire barriers and security checkpoints throughout Downtown Cairo, citing security purposes. …The walls were a point of great contention; some climbed over them, others attempted to knock them down. …Graffitists, who had mostly used stencils or quickly scribbled messages on walls to avoid arrest or torture …spend more time painting …Mohamed Mahmoud Street as well as the SCAF-constructed barriers became sites of elaborate paintings. Over the past year, the murals, whitewashed and painted one over the other several times, have confronted a number of forces of power: the SCAF government, the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist-dominated parliament, societal apathy, the Morsi leadership, Mubarak-era hijacking of culture, and Western modernist dictations on the utility of art. …The dimensions of resistance revealed in the evolving walls of Downtown Cairo point to the depth of Egypt’s revolution. The range of authoritarian forces, both political and social, and on local and global scales is poignantly confronted through the protest murals, which are far more than artistic works to be preserved and displayed.”

 

Inspired by Sarah Mousa, Aljazeera ow.ly/j4H6R Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4H6C