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Abstract
There was - and still there is - much talk and research about graffiti and street art that appeared for the first time after the revolution in Cairo, Alexandria and in other Egyptian cities. It is a real phenomenon, surprising and new, that literally boomed in an urban context full of bans. In 2011, revolution graffiti and street art became a tool to foster an anti-regime peaceful guerrilla in many Egyptian cities. It brought to the streets a (rarely violent) counter narrative that could be reproduced an infinite number of times by using, for example, the stencil technique of fast execution. Often small and therefore adaptable to any space, stencils could also be used by everyone, even by those who were not artists. In the Spring of 2011 a series portraits of the victims of the revolution drawn on Mohammed Mahmoud Street (in Cairo) contributed to replace the face of Mubarak, not only on physical walls but also in the collective memories of the people. Today, graffiti and street art in Cairo are mostly spread around symbolic centers of power, even if not all of the works have a political content. This presentation places a selection of relevant murals, stencils, and texts, that recently appeared on Cairo walls, on an online interactive map of the city. Reproducing these works on their significant geographical locations engenders an under-explored narrative of how the ongoing dissent spreads in Cairo. And in which the current regime’s propaganda is not absent.
Discipline
Media Arts
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
Current Events