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Tag: Tahrir Square
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

Joseph Eugene Stiglitz the 69 year old American economist and professor has published an article on The Daily Beast titled “The 99 Percent Wakes Up” pointing out  that “Inequality isn’t only plaguing America—the Arab Spring flowered because international capitalism is broken.” In the article Stiglitz states “…I met with protesters in Madrid’s Retiro Park, at Zuccotti Park in New York, and in [Tahrir Square] Cairo… The protesters have been criticized for not having an agenda, but such criticism misses the point of protest movements. They are an expression of frustration with the electoral process. They are an alarm. …they are asking for a great deal: for a democracy where people, not dollars, matter; and for a market economy that delivers on what it is supposed to do. The two demands are related: unfettered markets do not work well, as we have seen. For markets to work the way markets are supposed to work, there has to be appropriate government regulation. But for that to occur, we have to have a democracy that reflects the general interests, not the special interests. We may have the best government that money can buy, but that won’t be good enough.

 

Inspired by The Daily Beast http://ow.ly/aS6rW image source http://ow.ly/aS6zP

Mazhar Shahin the Egyptian cleric who has become the distinguished face of the Tahrir Square protestors now facing off with the Egyptian army, has called for the army leadership to immediately transfer power to a government of eminent civilians. During a Friday prayer, Shahin stated to the loud support of thousands in attendance, “The revolution is the one that thinks, the revolution is the one that decides, it is the one that judges … Our revolution was a body without a head. Today, the revolution will have a head … Few of the revolution’s demands have been met … The people insist on completing their revolution. Either we live in dignity, or we die here in Tahrir.” The civilian government Shahin proposed includes Mohamad ElBaradei the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.

 

Inspired by france24 http://ow.ly/7G7Lk image source youm7 http://ow.ly/7G7KX

Moataz Nasr the 50 year old Egyptian cultural artist activist has been prevented from including a key element to his London’s Hanover Square maze by the Westminster City Council. After gaining approval to exhibit his maze installation that has inscribed the words “The People Want The Fall Of The Regime”, he is now prevented from including the inscription on the basis that it was not “suitable at this time”. Nasr has been an activist since he was shot while demonstrating against the government at age 16, actively protested in Tahrir Square during the downfall of the Mubarak regime over its corruption and repression. Nasr responded “I was always looking up to England and Europe as places where I could express myself and live freely without anything to control me, so I am bitterly disappointed”.

 

Inspired by Coline Milliard http://ow.ly/6TvTz image source thenational http://ow.ly/6Tweg

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