The Arab Spring and the Rise of Protest Art in Egypt
As the civilian populace grows tired with the corruption of leaders in powerful positions, they begin to gather and show that they are not the ones who will put up with it any longer. The Arab Spring starting in early 2011. Egypt found themselves like many other arab countries, fighting their own political leadership to gain freedoms and liberties stripped from them. But how does one fight a government entity who controls the media and army? The answer, they take to the streets. Protest and demonstrations started to pop up over the country but there needed to be more of an inciting factor during the times when these protest were not happening.
These artists took the the streets to roll out subtle messages of the resistances. The surrounding buildings and walls started to become ground zero for messages of hope, uniting those who lived int he surrounding areas to take part in the revolution. These city wide canvases become the blank slate that revolutionaries would use to share their protest chants as well as images of opposition. [1] An example of a young artist using his talents to help the revolution is a young man who goes by the name of Ganzeer. Seeing the turmoil around him he takes to the street to and help the cause. He is most notably known for a piece that depicts a tank aiming its barrel toward a lone cyclist. Ganzeer and artist like him need an outlet to put out work that was counter to the governments us of propaganda which depicts the revolutionaries are the violent offenders. [2]
These works that the everyday person walks by acts as a medium for messages to be sent through. In an age where the government controls the flow of traffic through the internet and tracks individuals it deems to be hostile, some outlets need to be had. These works constantly get taken down by the government but these street artist reclaim what was theirs with new works and keeps the fight going all in the name of freedom and for the reparations of the liberties in which they were denied. [3] Their art is bigger than just a merely aesthetic image. People's lives, liberty, and blood is on the forefront of every image showing us this this is not just are but it's much more than that. -Daniel Tenorio
These artists took the the streets to roll out subtle messages of the resistances. The surrounding buildings and walls started to become ground zero for messages of hope, uniting those who lived int he surrounding areas to take part in the revolution. These city wide canvases become the blank slate that revolutionaries would use to share their protest chants as well as images of opposition. [1] An example of a young artist using his talents to help the revolution is a young man who goes by the name of Ganzeer. Seeing the turmoil around him he takes to the street to and help the cause. He is most notably known for a piece that depicts a tank aiming its barrel toward a lone cyclist. Ganzeer and artist like him need an outlet to put out work that was counter to the governments us of propaganda which depicts the revolutionaries are the violent offenders. [2]
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| Tank and cyclist by Ganzeer |
Works Cited
- Ekamel, Sara. “The Anatomy of Graffiti: Arab Spring Arts and Protests.” FutureChallenges The Anatomy of Graffiti Arab Spring Arts and Protests Comments, 4 Sept. 2012, futurechallenges.org/local/the-anatomy-of-graffiti-arab-spring-arts-and-protests/.
- Farabaugh, Kane. “Arab American Museum Shows Arab Spring Protest Art.” VOA, VOA, 10 Feb. 2014, www.voanews.com/a/arab-american-museum-shows-arab-spring-protest-art/1848680.html.
- Pollack, Barbara. “Ganzeer Takes Protest Art Beyond Egypt.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/arts/design/ganzeer-takes-protest-art-beyond-egypt.html.
The last line of the first paragraph is a bit confusing, what is the factor you are talking about? In the second paragraph you talk about "these artist" but there was no previous mention of any artists. There is a spelling error in the second sentence, second paragraph, " int he surrounding areas". You describe Ganzeer's painting but you do not explicitly state what his intended message is, you sort of imply it by writing it but I believe if that you explicitly write it out it would be better. There is also another mistake in the last sentence of the second paragraph, "counter to the governments us of propaganda". Over all, this blog post is pretty good on getting why this type of art is significant in this political atmosphere and describing the bigger picture of this type of iconoclasm.
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