Cairo: Images of Transition: Perspectives on Visuality in Egypt 2011-2013 [1. Aufl.] 9783839426159

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cairo images of transition

Perspectives on Visuality in egypt 2011-2013

edited by mikala hylDig dal

Acknowledgements Special thanks are due to all the artists and writers who have poured their work into this project during the past two-and-a-half years. Applied arts students at the German University in Cairo, who worked on their research long after our courses on political visual communication came to an end; William Wells of the Townhouse Gallery Cairo, for offering a place to work, think, and meet; visitors of the exhibition "Politics of Representation" for collecting election posters from the streets; Dina Kafafi for utilizing her networks to search for artistic works related to our topic; Fred Meier-Menzel for applying our research internationally in educational workshops; Mona Khaled Diab for her invaluable support as an editorial assistant and for the organization of the extensive image archives that have accumulated during the course of our project; Kaya Behkalam for his valuable suggestions and for his inspirational practise as an artist-researcher; Jenifer Evans for her critical readings; Mona Osman for supervising the Arabic translation and online availability of all essays that are printed in this volume; Omair Barkatulla and his assistant Hend Awad, whose visions of graphic design have enriched this publication in decisive ways; Jakob Erle and Muna Bur for their continuous faith in the project and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI), for making the printing of this book possible. Mikala Hyldig Dal, editor

contents CHAPTER 1 Meta-Image Tahrir 07 Editor's note: Mikala Hyldig Dal 10 Mindmaps A preliminary overview of the book's contents in the flux of process 16 "Meta Image Tahrir" Introduction: Mikala Hyldig Dal, reflects on the iconization of the revolution and Tahrir’s entry into the global imaginary 20 Tahrir Square: Social Media, Public Space: Mohamed Elshahed, architect, reviews the history of Midan El Tahrir as an architectural space and describes its transformation during the 18 days of January and February 2011 26 The Tain of Tahrir: Kaya Behkalam, filmmaker, describes the curfew imposed by security forces in the wake of the revolution of 2011 as an iconoclastic act 36 Blind Spots (unfinished manuscript for a stage play): Various contributors An unordered set of scene descriptions for a manuscript attempt to trace the erasure of protestors’ vision in the Egyptian uprising to a global power struggle over visual representation. The scenes have been collected during open editing sessions of this book 38 The Language of Tahrir – Working Together on Translating Egypt’s Revolution: Samia Mehrez, scholar, reflects on the collaborative process of writing the 2012 book “Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir ” 42 2011 is not 1968: Philip Rizk, filmmaker and member of Mosireen Video Collective, reflects on image politics and international viewership during the January 25 revolution and reaches the conclusion: The subaltern cannot blog

CHAPTER 2: Politics of representation 48, 50, 80, 100, 101, 119, 174 Egyptian Letters: Eliane Ursula Ettmueller, Ph.D in Islamic Studies, kept an extensive blog that documents the political developments in Egypt 2011-2012 in the form of personal encounters and observations 76 Warnmeldungen/ Security reports part 1: Alexandra Stock, curator, has tracked the representation of the situation in Egypt by Egyptian embassies abroad, in hand-drawn word clouds 82 PACE: Ellis Johnson and Susanne Slavick, visual artists, superimpose national emblems of the US and Egypt in a play on the geopolitical power relations that bind the two nations 84 Springtime in Alexandria connects the destruction of a governmental building in Alexandria with the mythology of ancient Egypt 90 Shrouds II: Monika Weiss, artist, discusses her plans for a future performance at Midan Tahrir, shaped by the notion of loss and the healing power of lament 94 Today we are all Egyptians: Jane Jin Kaisen and Guston Sondin-Kung, artists, account of the increasingly tense environment in downtown Cairo one year after the 2011 revolution, in the form of diary notes 102 Caption of the revolution: Nele Broenner, comic artist, examines gendered news language in Western media coverage of Egypt 2011-2012, in hand-drawn text-collages 106 Mashrabiya: Recension of Al-Ahram newspaper, Cairo Feb 12, 2011: Kaya Behkalam The newspaper from the day after former president Mubarak stepped down is emptied of all text and image contents, leaving only the negative space of its framing

108 Crop: Marouan Omara and Johanna Domke, filmmakers, follow the development of official image-politics in Egypt over six decades, through interviews with Egyptian photojournalists 114 Work is our only solution: Daniel Rode, visual artist, translates the formal aesthetic of program-errors in Cairo’s advertising system into light based installations Throughout chapter Images by Mosa'ab Elshamy Andreas Sicklinger, Joscelyn Jurich, Mona Amr, Jane Jin Kaisen, Daniel Rode, Steve Double Images from the archives of Mosireen Video Collective, Tahrir Media Tent, Cairo: Images of Transition, Collective Image Archive (C.I.A)

126 "Politics of Representation" Introduction: Mikala Hyldig Dal discusses the functional usage of visual imagery in the electoral processes of 2011-2012 130 Temporary Architectures: Mahmoud Khaled, photographer, has documented outdoor election campaign advertising in Ismailiya 136 Poster Archive: Various contributors (Cairo Images/C.I.A) An archive of posters from the constitutional referendum of 2011, the parliamentary elections 2011-2012, the presidential elections 2012 and the constitutional referendum of 2012 (continuous throughout chapter) 146 "The Politics of Representation" – Notes on an Exhibition at Townhouse Gallery: Dina Kafafi, program coordinator, discusses the gesture of exhibiting election ephemera in a gallery space 154 Visual Election Campaigning in Egypt: Fred Meier-Menzel, graphic designer, describes the function of visual communication in the Egyptian electoral system and discusses its politics of female representation 162 Get a designer's viewpoint on election symbols: Fred Meier-Menzel and Mikala Hyldig Dal document a research workshop at Fair Trade Egypt in Cairo 164 Student works Hana Sadek, Sara Sarhan, Amina Shafiq, Mina Nader, Forat Sami, Nadia Wernli, Ali Heraize, and Rana Elgohary, media design students from the German University in Cairo, reflect their analyses of parliamentary campaign posters visually

CHAPTER 3: Urban Transformations 172 Old Eyes, Young Words: Nikolai Burger & Mona Khaled Diab, product designer and teaching assistant, discuss how Egyptian voters' decision-making might be influenced by object-based visual communication 180 Growth & One-LineNote: Abla Mohamed, design student, documents the traces left on her body as she cast her vote for the first time 186 The Fool's Journal – 2012 (work in progress): Huda Lutfi, artist, has used newspaper clippings to form a fool’s hat from the media coverage of the presidential elections of 2012 188 The experience of an implausible female candidate for presidency: Mona El Prince, lecturer of English literature and activist, inscribes the reactions of her peers after announcing to run for president in 2012 192 Presenting Khaled Ali: Sarah Borger & Bogdan Vasili, editor and scholar, recount their involvement in designing a poster-campaign for civil-rights lawyer and 2012 presidential candidate Khaled Ali 196 Two ears, one mouth: Jakob Erle, director of the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI), discusses statistical information related to voter behavior in the 20112012 elections 198 QOMRA – An Online Platform for Political Participation: Dina Kafafi argues for the necessity of independent political education in Egypt 200 Design education and Social Progress: Qassim Mohammed Saleh Saad, product designer, argues in favour of increased social awareness in design education 202 Youth's Reflections on Change: Amira Mansshour, Sandra Nagy, Alia Yassin, Mirna Alfred, (Mona Amr) graphic design students from lecturer Alexander Tibus' class

on information design at the German University in Cairo, have created posters that condense statistical information about current political developments 206 If I Were President: Amado Fadni, artist, distributed blank election posters throughout Cairo to encourage citizens to define their own political programs 210 Who are you voting for?: Hamdy Reda, artist and manager of the independent project-space Artellewa, initiated a poster campaign that promoted the social values of anonymous citizens 211 Bakaboza: Nini Ayach, cultural worker, organized a public rally for the fictitious presidential candidate “Bakaboza” 212 Sing it out loud, Brother – Impressions from a Muslim Brothers Campaign Rally: Mona Abouissa & John Perkins, journalist and photographer, were present as the Muslim Brotherhood celebrated the parliamentary election victory of the Freedom and Justice Party 220 The President: Nadia Mounier, visual artist, documents the campaign of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq from street level 224 Crumbling down the Walls: Matteo Valenza, photographer, documents how the posters of presidential candidates disintegrate through organic decomposition and public interventions Throughout chapter Images by Mahmoud Khaled, Mostafa Hedayat, Mosa'ab Elshamy, Eliane Ettmueller, Nina Hwaidak Images from the archive of Cairo: Images/C.I.A.

232 “Urban Transformations”: Introduction Mikala Hyldig Dal considers the various forms of writing in Cairo’s urban landscape, as a draft for a new constitution 234 Archive II Various contributors Photo documentation of activist political communication in Cairo’s public space (continuous throughout chapter) 240 Notes on Optical Illusions around Tahrir: The No Walls Project: Andreas Sicklinger, product designer, traces the art historical roots of the No Walls street art project to the tradition of the trompe l'oeil mural in renaissance Italy 248 Gender Representation in Graffiti Post-25 January Mona Abaza, sociologist, discusses the use of Irony and the subversion of symbols as important tools of dissent in the context of the Egyptian revolution 265 Graffiti as Stage – Performing Dissent Eliane Ursula Ettmueller was on-site during the creation of various murals in Mohamed Mahmoud Street and discussed the pictorial statements with artists and bystanders 272 Cairo Palimpsest Joscelyn Jurich, writer and photographer, describes the rapidly changing layers of political communication in the urban landscape of Cairo as an organically evolving palimpsest Throughout chapter Images by Mosa'ab Elshamy, Joscelyn Jurich, Steve Double Images from the archive of Cairo: Images/C.I.A

editor's note CAIRO: IMAGES OF TRANSITION is an in-process

an active agent for change. We examine the realm

study of the relationship between aesthetics and poli-

of image-politics during and after the crucial 18

tics in Egypt’s current transitional period. Using the

days of January and February 2011. Which semiotic

methodological toolsets of art and academic research

references prevail? Which aesthetic structures, rep-

this volume examines the visual transformation of

resentational codes, and conventions are followed?

Cairo’s public space after the demanded ouster of

Which are broken? How is democracy envisioned?

President Hosni Mubarak on January 25, 2011. With

How did January 25 change the relationship between

an emphasis on the visual communication of politi-

citizens, visual communication, and public space?

cal parties and activist groups, we map the images

Which politics are at play when history manifests as

that shaped the political processes and follow their

an image?

transmutations through shifting media and modes of representation.

A central conception of this volume is that the history we are attempting to embrace is still in the

The process of overthrowing Mubarak’s regime and

writing, and dynamically so. New icons are being

the resistance to a military coup brought forth Egypt’s

produced while the subtexts of existent ones are

first democratic elections in November 2011. Image

being altered through varying media. At this point,

politics and visual expression play a central role in all

we do not aim to present a finite archive of imagery

stages of this development. Outdoor photo galleries

produced by Egypt’s revolutionary cycles; rather this

erected by image-activists display documentation

publication should be seen as an attempt to generate

of events as they unfold. An ongoing narrative of

a deep perspective on the images that shape Egypt

graffiti and other street art forms integrate symbols,

today, and to offer a temporary record of their history.

messages and icons of common reference into the urban landscape and transform the surfaces of the

Methodology

city in an all-encompassing editing process. During

The interdisciplinary field of contributors to this book

the elections, visual ephemera promoting candidates

embraces several distinct perspectives: The estab-

and parties exploded throughout streets and strata

lished Egyptian professional who has been reflecting

of Cairo. The communication of political content via

on developments in the region for decades; the

imagery persists to the present day, as protestors

Egyptian student for whom January 25 brought about

faced with deficient parliamentary representation and

the first significant opportunity to reflect on his or her

continuing human rights violations, struggle to reclaim

work politically; and representatives of a well travelled

the revolution.

international community of artists and writers in per-

In a collective effort of more than 40 Cairo-based

6

introduction

manently impermanent residence in various cultural

artists and writers, Cairo: Images of Transition –

spheres. With a plurality of voices a multi-linear field

Perspectives on Visuality in Egypt 2011-2013 traces

of thoughts on our subject matter is rendered acces-

the shifting status of the image in revolutionary Egypt

sible, informed by subjective frames of reference and

as a communicative tool, a witness to history, and

individual modes of expression.

The aesthetic concept of the book reflects the

revolution, serves as an introduction to the general

Urban Transformations

nature of this discourse; our editing process has

topic of imagery in the context of Egypt’s transi-

The last section of the book documents the palimp-

included meetings among contributors to discuss

tional period. Modes of production, distribution, and

sest of political messages on a street level as layers

entries and exchange mutual critique. Before it

instrumentalization of images concerned with rep-

upon layers of campaign posters, street art, and graf-

went to print a preliminary copy of the book was

resenting the revolutionary movements and which

fiti accumulated to form a tangible second skin on

subjected to handwritten notes and comments in

ultimately manifest Tahrir as an icon of common ref-

the city. The ecological environment of the heavily

public editing sessions. The writing generated in this

erence in the global imaginary, are addressed.

commuted city and public interventions in the form

process has been integrated into the book, to offer

Cinema Tahrir, organized by media activists such

of adding handwritten comments to, removing, or

additional references to its primary contents, while

as the Mosireen Video Collective, enabled protes-

blinding unpopular candidates, slowly transformed

leaving space for ambiguity and allowing for doubt.

tors to watch themselves in real time through live

these visual materials. In the structure of an ongoing

broadcasts. The workings of such media circuits and

public editing process a new form of urban writing

during the revolution and subsequent uprisings,

protestors’ awareness of becoming image are also

is transforming Cairo’s public space on architectural,

visual election material and photo-documentation of

evident as demonstrators stage themselves with

symbolic, and unconscious levels.

the 2011-2012 election campaigns, and records of

self-made English-language posters, and so provide

street art interventions and various types of propa-

their own image-captions for foreign media.

An extensive image archive of photographs taken

ganda material constitute an important part of the fieldwork for this book.

The attempts of erasing protesters’ visual agency

Mikala Hyldig Dal Mikala Hyldig Dal is a visual artist and independent

is expressed in its most direct sense in the calcu-

curator. She holds an MFA from the University of

Image content, methods of display, and specific

lated targeting of demonstrators’ eyes by police

Arts in Berlin; in 2011 she was appointed lecturer at

icons and symbols that have gained new meanings

‘eye-snipers’. The notion of blindness becomes a

the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts, German

and subtexts through the January 25 revolution

metaphor for the intense power struggle over visual

University in Cairo. Together with students she initi-

are examined, as is the integration of revolutionary

representation one can observe.

ated a research project on political campaigning in Cairo, which this book is a subsequent result of.

imagery into the iconographic gallery of the election processes and subsequent protest movements.

Politics of Representation

We trace the iconographic representation of mass-

The second part of the book presents an

protest in its current function of mobilizing further

overview of the visual communication applied by

action against what many activists describe as a

political parties in the 2011-2012 campaigns for

hijacking of the revolution by conservative forces.

parliament and presidency. We document the

Works of a visual character intertwine with text-

stylistic features of political posters and observe

based contributions to create a multifaceted reading

how gender, secular or religious affiliations, and

experience in which topical content and formal

socioeconomic segmentation were central divides

approaches overlap and integrate fluidly. However

by which the representation of contesters was

the main themes of the book are framed by three

informed. Informal interventions produced by artists

areas of attention:

open up a parallel discourse concerned with examin-

Meta-Image Tahrir “Meta-Image Tahrir,” under-

ing, commenting or re-thinking the practice of the

stood as the iconization (Ikonisierung) of the

democratic process.

8

introduction

Campaigning Cairo - expanded visions 0

Make a Wish, Cairo

Mikala Hyldig Dal Tain of Tahrir

00

Loulou Daki

Youths Reflection on Change

00

Kaya Behkalam

00

Sandra Nagy, Amira Mashour, Mirna alfred, Alia Yassin Translating Egypt's Revolution Samia Mehrez

00

The Fool's Journal Design education and Social progress

2011 is not 1968 00

Philip Rizk

The Eye as Target

00

Qassim Mohammed saleh Saad

00

00

Huda Lutfi

Obey

Mikala Hyldig Dal

Qomra Egyptian Letters Media Coverage 00

Mona Khaled Diab & Heba El Kest

Power Patterns

Tahrir Square: Social Media, Public Space 00

Mohamed El Shahed

Presenting Khaled Ali 00

Warnmeldungen/Security reports I

META-IMAGE TAHRIR

00

Alexandra Stock

Who are you voting for? Hamdy Reda

PACE Andrew Ellis Johnson Susanne Slavick

Andrew Ellis Johnson Susanne Slavick

Today we are all Egyptians Jane Jin Kaisen Guston Sondin-Kung

Nikolai Burger, Mona Khaled Diab, Mikala Hyldig Dal

00 The use of object-based Identification for Illiterate Voters in the Egyptian Elections Nikolai Burger, Mona Khaled Diab, Mikala Hyldig Dal

00

00

00

Visual Election Campaigning in Egypt Symbol and Subject

Fred Meier-Menzel

00

00

Graphical Style in the 2011/12 Elections in Egypt Omair Barkatulla

Caption of the Revolution Nele Broenner

Shady Noshakaty

Monica Weiss

Growth & One-Line-Note 00

Fred Meier-Menzel

Female representation in Revolutionary Graffiti 00

Daniel Rode

To be a young, Female, Uncertain Candidate for presidency Andrew Ellis Johnson Susanne Slavick

00

Marouan Omara Johanna Domke

The visual representation of Ms Marwa Ibrahim al-Qamash Fred Meier-Menzel

00

10

introduction

Photographs Mosa'ab Elshamy

00

Fred Meier-Menzel

Work is our only solution Crop

00

00

Note-book

Shrouds II

00

00

Sara Fouda, Amina Shafik, Mina Nader, Hana Sadek

Mashrabiya. Recension of Al-Ahram Newspaper Kaya Behkalam

00

Old Eyes, Young Words

00

Springtime in Alexandria

00

00

Rana Elgohary

Sarah Borger

CHAPTER

00

00

Mahmoud Aboulfotoh

00

Eliane Ursula Ettmueller

Ali Heraize

Chapter

Urban Transformations

00

00

EPILOGUE: Human Billboards 00

Chapter

Urban Transformations

Graffiti as Stage - Performing dissent 00

Eliane Ursula Ettmueller

Notes on Optical Illusions around Tahrir Andreas Sicklinger

If i were President 00

Amado Fadini

The President 00

Nadia Mounier

Sing it out loud, Brother Mona Abouissa John Perkins

00

Bakaboza Nina Ayach

00

12

introduction

00

00

1 meta-image Tahrir

(work notes) global iconography/ imaginary viewership and media Image and representation blind spots/iconoclasm camera obscura /phone aesthetic of protest image archaeology recordmaking/Live-streaming image search engine Meta image /martyr Cinema theater stage Actor becoming image visual Agency Sight-line eye-light eye sniper

META IMAGE TAHRIR: introduction

[1] Mona El-Ghobashy The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution published in the Middle East Research and Information Project MER258 2011 [2] In April 2008 the violent dispersal of a planned general strike for minimum wages and against corruption and police brutality brought about the formation of the April 6 Youth Group, which would be a central player in the organization of January 25 [3] Compare Mona El-Ghobashy (2011) [4] Annelle Sheline Egyptian Revolution In The American Media Midan Masr 2012

In January and February of 2011 demonstrations of civil

media as being the central motor for the revolution-

Image-philosophers Susan Sontag and Roland

be the (first) one we see, after that: a cascade of onto-

dissent against the autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak

ary process rather than one applied tool among others

Barthes both made analogies between the photo-

logical copies.

peaked as millions took to the street chanting and

[5]; as we know, the mass of protestors swelled rather

camera and the loaded gun.[6] The allegorical

eventually effectuating ‘the downfall of the regime’

than decreased during the six days of Internet lock-

proximity between the two devices is becoming

the present as a moment of revolution consciously or

that had effectively rendered Egypt a police-state.

down from January 28 – February 5, 2011.

increasingly evident, as the cases of Syrian rebels

unconsciously consult this image-gallery in their out-

Do individuals who have an interest in manifesting

January 25, 2011 was not an overnight phenomena; it

What is beyond doubt at the present moment in

who ‘duel’ sharpshooting snipers with their camera

wards communication and collective performance?

was years in the coming. Years in which public spaces

time, more than two years after the general uprising

phones and, in Egypt, the targeted shooting of the

When protestors kneel down in the face of superior

such as workplaces, coffee houses, theaters, art galler-

and amid the wake of the continuous protest cycles

eyes of citizen journalists by ‘eye-snipers’ illustrate.

police forces, displaying their potential sacrifice with

ies, and mosques offered the setting for a ‘parliament

it sparked, is the immense impact of the powerful

of the street’ [1]. This parliament eventually took to the

images the revolution generated and was, as one

of their bearing witness to their cameras, a circuit

into this image an appropriation of past gestures by

streets and conquered them, as Mohamed Elshahed

might argue, in part generated by.

which was recognized and reversed by military

martyr-revolutionaries from biblical David to Jesus

describes in his essay Tahrir Square: Social Media, Public Space, and Revolution in Egypt.

Egyptian protestors transferred the record-making

open chests and outstretched arms, can we read

A number of factors play a role in this reciprocal

personnel, who targeted the biological rather than

of Nazareth to homo sacer prisoners at Guantanamo

process, several of which are indeed connected to

the mechanical eyes of their opponents. The mea-

Bay? In this gesture, can we trace a conscious-

The events of 2011 built on the experiences of

technological advancements. One is the integration

sures taken to prevent Tahrir from becoming an

ness about becoming image, a knowledge about the

the proceeding decade, notably 2008 [2], when dif-

of image-recording technologies into a wide range of

image of global significance were, as we know, in

gesture in which one encapsulates one’s body, ren-

ferent sections of Egyptian society, bound together

mobile communication devices obtainable at a variety

vain. The bird’s-eye view of a roaring square, joined

dering it a medium for a message beyond itself and

by workplace, neighborhood, religious or ideologi-

of price ranges. In large parts of the world, including

in collective action against an oppressive regime,

beyond the present? A consciousness that some-

cal affiliations, had called for change. The success

Egypt, the prevalence and wide accessibility of image-

has inscribed itself into the global iconography of

times expresses itself as an euphoria, as in the cases

of 2011 derived from uniting these disparate seg-

technologies has affected our sensory perception on

revolution.

where protestors in Tahrir cheeringly display live-

ments into one powerful – if temporary – movement

direct levels and our social behavior on indirect levels.

The unfolding events were condensed in this

streams from Tahrir on their laptops: Sharing footage

[3]. It is not the aim of this volume to map out the

Each moment is a potential picture and each picture

image; history manifested as an icon. This process

of the event of which they are themselves, in the very

complex sociopolitical structures that generated the

a potential opportunity for constructing and manifest-

established 'Tahrir' simultaneously as a physical place

moment of broadcast, active participants in.

revolutionary momentum. Our attention is directed

ing our social identity and, as the case be, our political

and an abstract, symbolic, imaginary space.[7]

towards the image-politics at play in the reciprocal rela-

stand.

Which politics are at play when history becomes

In the context of violent oppression, each camera

image? And which roles do the images of other,

is also a potential witness representing a theoretically

similar histories play in the construction of such

unlimited number of onlookers and potentially proac-

an image? Might the icons of past events that

televised revolution ever”[4], nicknamed after various

tive sympathizers once the footage is made accessible

fit the formal category of ‘revolution’ construct a

social media, and connected to the former Eastern

online, a step which is being executed with increas-

quasi-universal iconographic gallery informing the

Bloc uprisings and the ongoing Occupy movement

ing proximity to the moment of recording. A field of

representation of new events in the same category?

as expressing a global cry for democracy. It remains

camera phones rose from the crowds at Midan Tahrir

questionable whether this mirroring in popular protest

and other places of public gathering, multiplying the

dardized image-search functions of Internet search

movements of the Western hemisphere is fruitful, as

collective body of protestors in as many fragments

engines like Google, that promote the dominance

Phillip Rizk points out in his “Letter to an Onlooker.”

and perspectives as posed by the number of its single

of an image as soon as its relative relevance has

Equally questionable is the description of web related

members.

been (mathematically) established – said image will

tionship between the political process and its visual representation. The Egyptian revolution has been called “the most

16

meta-image tahrir

If so, the process would be supported by stan-

[5] See also Rebecca Suzanne Fox Media Darlings: The Egyptian Revolution and American Media Coverage MA Thesis AUC 2012 [6] Susan Sontag On Photography published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux New York 1977 and Roland Barthes Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography published by Hill and Wang New York 1981 [7] Compare Laura Gribbon and Sarah Hawas in Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir AUC Press 2012

Google image search: "Tahrir" January 1, 2013

18

meta-image tahrir

important; but as we now know, the country was unplugged for six days, from Jan. 28 through Feb. 5, during which period the protests actually grew larger and the protestors became even more determined not merely to express popular dissent but ultimately to overthrow the regime. Indeed, in the past few weeks Tahrir has became a truly public square. Before it was merely a big and busy traffic circle – and again, its limitations were the result of political design, of policies that not only disPostcard of Midan Tahrir from the 1960s

Undated photo of construction site for an alleged underground parking lot at Midan Tahrir

couraged but also prohibited public assembly. Under emergency law – established from the moment Mubarak took office in 1981 and yet to be lifted – a gathering of even a few adults in a public square

mohammad el shahed

TahrirSquare: SocialMedia, Public Space & Revolution inEgypt 20

meta-image tahrir

would constitute cause for arrest. Like all autocracies,

February 27, 2011

private parks, golf courses and luxury shopping malls,

the Mubarak government understood the power of

A few months ago I moved from Brooklyn back to

and in doing so facilitated the exodus of Cairo’s

a true public square, of a place where citizens meet,

Cairo for what I anticipated would be a quiet year of

middle and upper classes into the desert at the city’s

mingle, promenade, gather, protest, perform and

research on my dissertation. My topic is mid-20th-

periphery. At the same time the government ignored

share ideas; it understood that a true midan – Arabic

century architecture and urban planning in Egypt;

the city’s center; its ongoing mismanagement of

for public square – is a physical manifestation of

my focus is the 1952 coup d’état that swept away

housing development has resulted in the extensive

democracy. A truly public Midan al-Tahrir would have

the monarchy of King Farouk, and the period of pan-

zone of informal housing, mostly unfinished brick

been feared as a threat to regime security, and so

Arab socialism that followed under the presidency of

shanties, that rings Cairo. And Mubarak worked to

over the years the state deployed the physical design

Gamal Abdel Nasser – a period during which the new

effectively dismantle and depopulate Cairo’s much-

of urban space as one of its chief means of discourag-

republic deployed a modernist, international style

admired public squares and parks, including not just

ing democracy.

design for state building projects.

Tahrir Square but also Ramses Square and Azbakiyya

In Tahrir this meant erecting fences and subdi-

Gardens. For decades, in fact, public policy and urban

viding open areas into manageable plots of grass

on the eastern bank of the Nile, just a short walk from

planning, like most governmental matters, were fil-

and sidewalks. To cite one prominent example: the

Tahrir Square. Almost daily I walked to Tahrir to catch

tered through the harsh lens of state security. Urban

large portion of the square that fronts the Egyptian

a bus for the hour-long ride to the new suburban

open spaces – anywhere citizens might congregate

museum was, until the 1960s, a grassy plaza with

campus of the American University. My routine was

and stage political demonstrations – were system-

crisscrossing paths and a grand fountain. Here fami-

not unusual. Tahrir Square is part of daily life for many

atically subdivided or fenced off or given over to

lies and students would gather throughout the day;

people: it’s a major downtown square surrounded by

vehicular traffic and flyovers, and thus made chal-

it was also a notorious meeting point for lovers

important government headquarters and major cul-

lenging and even scary for pedestrians. Collectively

on a date in the heart of the city. But in the 1970s,

tural institutions, and it’s a busy crossroads jammed

such policies have led not only to the decline of public

the government fenced off the area – and more, it

with honking cars and buses. For tourists Tahrir is

space but also to the inexorable deterioration of cities

never offered any clear explanation of what was to

the locale of the famed Egyptian Museum; for some

and the erosion of civic pride.

be the fate of this favorite meeting spot. Cairenes

I’ve been living in Garden City, a leafy neighborhood

Cairenes it is the destination for official state busi-

The January 25 Revolution has had a dramatic,

speculated that perhaps it was closed to allow for

ness, for many others it is one of the over-congested

immediate effect on how Egyptians occupy Cairo

construction of the Cairo Metro or other infrastruc-

places of downtown Cairo to be avoided. For me –

and interact with one another. Commentators in the

ture projects. Sometime in the past decade a sign

even before the latest revolution – Tahrir Square had

West have been quick to credit online social network-

appeared, announcing that a multi-level underground

come to symbolize the failure of the urban planning

ing with empowering the protests. But the revolution

parking garage was being built. During the protests

policies carried out during the three-decade rule of

that started in January 2011 in Cairo has provided

in Tahrir Square, activists took down the fence and

Hosni Mubarak.

powerful evidence that the virtual is not enough: in

used it to build barricades to protect themselves from

the course of several historic days in Tahrir Square it

the attacks of pro-Mubarak thugs – and the removal

policies initiated under Anwar Sadat. The regime

became decisively clear that the occupation of physi-

of the fence revealed that none of the promised con-

supported laws and actions that sharply limited

cal urban space was, and continues to be, crucial

struction had ever taken place. The area had been

Egyptians’ access to public space – to places where

to the success and continuity of the revolution. No

taken away from the public sphere precisely to avoid

citizens could congregate, meet, talk, interact. It pro-

doubt the initial rush of online exhortations, including

the possibility of large crowds congregating in Tahrir.

moted the development of gated communities with

the Jan. 25 call to protest police brutality, was vitally

Such was Mubarak’s urban planning legacy.

The Mubarak government extended a series of

activity and artistic creativity. People sold food and

blank walls: “Welcome to the new Egypt,” “From

drinks, set up recycling bins and portable toilets,

Egypt with love,” and “25 January Revolution.”

organized the logistics of daily life. Protest signs

Construction companies dispatched volunteers to

were humorous and creative. One said, “Step down,

move mounds of trash to landfills. A true sense of

my wife is about to have a baby and he doesn’t

civic pride, suppressed for decades, has blossomed.

want to see you.” Another said, “Thanks for bring-

Tahrir, 2011

helped activists organize an official celebration in

aloft by a stoic young man: “Step down already, my

Tahrir Square; an estimated 1.5 million citizens turned

arms hurt.” Throughout the square bloggers were

out. Such a gesture would have been unthinkable

streaming comments and images onto the Internet.

before the events of January 25. Egyptians know

Doctors and nurses were providing free healthcare

that the real revolution has just begun, and they are

in impromptu clinics. Filmmakers were interview-

building on their newfound, hard-won knowledge

ing protesters and creating an instant archive, a

– that their fight for democracy is inseparably linked

visual and oral record of history as it was unfolding.

to their ability to assemble in urban space. The mili-

Musicians, professional and amateur, wrote songs

tary understands this too, which is why it is tolerating

When protests erupted on January 25, peaceful

and tested them on eager audiences. There were

public calls for mass demonstrations to take place

demonstrators from all over the city started marching

unteers who checked for weapons and identification

poets, puppeteers and comedians. Art teachers pro-

every Tuesday and Friday across the country. These

toward Tahrir Square. The square was a magnet partly

– denying entry to anyone employed by the Interior

vided supplies and then displayed the artworks that

demonstrations are meant to maintain pressure on

because of its central location and symbolic name –

Ministry. Outside the checkpoints, long cues formed

resulted on a public wall. There was even an artist

the military to release political prisoners, oversee

Tahrir means “liberation” – and partly because of its

and people waited patiently for hours. Once inside,

who painted a large canvas that invited protestors

the amendment of the constitution, and lift emer-

history as the scene of dissent. Earlier demonstra-

past the checkpoints, new arrivals walked through

to participate in its making. Tahrir Square had been

gency law, among other demands. And even as Tahrir

tions, however, such as those against the Iraq War,

long rows of men and women who welcomed them

transformed not only into a social and public space

Square has captured the attention of international

were much smaller, and quickly quashed by police.

with cheers. By this point the military were stand-

but also into the biggest spontaneous event of com-

media and became a symbol of popular revolution,

This time demonstrators were determined to occupy

ing by, at the entrances, helping to secure the area.

munity-organizing and nation-building the country had

people around the country have taken to the streets,

and hold the square – to symbolically reclaim it.

The square now belonged to the people who had

ever seen. With the protection of the army, as the

occupying squares and avenues as they continue to

Violence between the security forces of the Interior

defeated the regime’s efforts to disperse and defuse

security threat abated, Tahrir took on the atmosphere

protest and demand the resignation of local gover-

Ministry and protesters broke out on the evening

the young revolution; the crowds had grown to an

of a carnival.

nors, as Egypt transitions to democracy.

of Jan. 25, and the square began to empty; but the

estimated 400,000. And for the next two weeks,

use of excessive force then made Tahrir an even

what happened in Tahrir was more than a demonstra-

night, by mass numbers of peaceful protestors,

Addendum – December 15, 2012

more potent symbol, and spurred the larger protests

tion; it was the creation of a dynamic and resourceful

had an over-arching purpose: to bring international

Since February 2011 when the text above was

that started on Jan. 28; by this point an estimated

community of citizens brought together by the shared

attention to the demands of the people, to force

posted on Places @ Design Observer the politi-

30,000 people had gathered. State security, too, rec-

goal of bringing true democracy to Egypt.

the government to step down, and to pressure the

cal uses of public space and the negotiations over

But the occupation of Tahrir Square, day and

The mood in Tahrir ranged from cautious and

military – constitutionally obligated to protect the

its uses have continued to develop. Perhaps the

took still more vigorous measures to fortify the area,

depressed to celebratory and jubilant, depending

people not the regime – to take action and topple

most dramatic development following the fall of

using water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets and

mostly on the developments of the day (and to some

Mubarak. And ultimately it was this peaceful occupa-

Mubarak is that the amount of violence and acts of

live ammunition against crowds of people equipped

extent on the weather). There were some who dug

tion of an important urban space in the nation’s major

public beatings, harassment, and physical abuse

mostly with cameras and cell phones. And so on Jan.

in and set up tents, making Tahrir their new address.

city that brought down a repressive and tenacious

have all increased. At times street battles, such as

28 the battle shifted yet again; now the goal was not

There were many more, like myself, who were daily

government.

at Mohamed Mahmoud Street, went on for days.

only to defeat state security forces and to topple the

visitors – spending hours in the square chatting with

regime but also to claim the square as the main stage

strangers, strolling around and taking in the creative

sands took to the streets with cleaning supplies,

civilians in streets and public squares attacking

of events and to transform it into the epicenter of the

signs, listening to music and making on the inventive

brooms and trash bags; they were responding to

them with clubs with no attempt to be discreet. At

revolution.

protest chants, and then returning home at the end of

spontaneous nationwide calls by activists and con-

other times public squares and streets transformed

In the days following Mubarak’s resignation, thou-

At other times men in military uniform chased after

During the next few days, as the state police

the day. And always there was an amazing cross-sec-

cerned citizens. Cleaning efforts had begun in Tahrir

into surreal experiences where rubber bullets were

retreated and protesters gained control, Mubarak

tion of Egyptian society – a mix of class, gender, age,

just days after the start of the revolution, but with

responded to with fireworks and where military men

sent paid thugs to attack citizens with sticks, knives

sexual orientation, dress code, ethnicity and religion

Mubarak truly gone, Egyptians wanted to clean – to

in uniform threw tea cups and urinated on protestors

and Molotov cocktails, and in a desperate and surreal

– strangers who under normal circumstances would

cleanse – the entire country, to rid it of trash, of the

from above the buildings of the government. While

move, he also sent plainclothes officers on horseback

never have met. The revolutionary spirit seemed to

old regime. Cairenes scoured their city, and many

the initial 18 days have been often remembered with

and camelback. There were violent moments, we

break down the longstanding barriers, and to imbue a

give Tahrir special attention. Streets were swept,

a great deal of romanticism and naïveté, perhaps as

know; but once these ended what remained was a

new sense of solidarity and acceptance.

anti-regime graffiti removed, statues were washed.

I have done above, the subsequent 18 months have

Artists and students painted patriotic slogans on

been explosive.

new Tahrir Square, quickly dubbed the “free people’s

meta-image tahrir

ing us together. Now leave.” And yet another, held

republic of Tahrir.” Entry points were manned by vol-

ognized the growing symbolism of the place and

22

A week after Mubarak stepped down, the military

During these days Tahrir became a hub for social

As protesters took their politics to the streets

then, new forms of public activity beyond protest

and transformed public space, particularly Tahrir

have evolved ranging from street festivals such as

Square, into a political space, so did the forces of

Fann al Midan to impromptu performances and an

the counter-revolution. In addition to scenes of vio-

active street art scene. Mohamed Mahmoud Street,

lence unprecedented in Egyptian streets and squares,

the scene of violent clashes in the fall of 2011, has

there has been a tug of war between various political

become a grassroots memorial space with a con-

forces all claiming to speak in the name of al-sha3b

stantly changing mural wall that responds to political

(the people) and measuring their right to represent

events sometimes immediately. The conversations

the masses by the size of their protests. This meant

that accompany the various forms of artistic expres-

that Tahrir Square was no longer a sufficient space

sion have been an integral part of developing a more

to handle various and conflicting political groups, so

democratic public space. The state however has not

other squares have opened up as spaces of protest

recognized these 'organic' developments in how

and public politics.

space and politics are evolving in Egypt since 2011.

From Mustafa Mahmoud Square in Mohandeseen

Instead repeatedly the state has erased street art and

to Abbaseya and later Itihadiya and Nahdet Masr

erected barrier walls that interrupt the flow of the city

Squares, the geography of politically activated public

and disrupt public space. Yet the public has subverted

spaces has expanded. Routes of demonstrations

such actions, transforming every freshly painted wall

with set beginning and end points have also varied

into a new canvas, and walls blocking streets have

depending on many variables. What has emerged

created cul-de-sacs where pedestrians can socialize

since February 2011 is a new map of the city, one

or during busy times cars can be parked. The city, its

that is articulated by sites of protest, scenes of politi-

streets and public spaces, continue to be essential

cal clashes, and routes of demonstration. Despite the

tools for the transformation of Egyptian politics.

flawed political process that has been taking place, the various referendums and elections have added

Mohamed Elshahed is a doctoral candidate in the

new layers of information to the new emerging map

Middle East and Islamic Studies Department at New

of Cairo. Districts can now be identified by the way

York University. In 2011 he founded the Internet plat-

they vote. Dualities such as formal/informal, which

form Cairobserver, to initiate a conversation about the

have long dominated the discourse of the city, can

city's architecture, urban fabric and life.

now be replaced by another set of categories reflecting voting patterns. The many processes of public politics that began in Tahrir Square have morphed into multiple phenomena that be traced across the city and in fact across the country. From the start, during the 18 days, artistic expression in public space was a visible change. Ever since

24

meta-image tahrir

THETAIN OF TAHRIR

kaya behkalam

tain "refers to the tinfoil, the silver lining, the lusterless back of the mirror… without which no reflection and no specular and speculative activity would be possible, but which at the same time has no place and no part in reflection’s scintillating play."[1] The curfew was the desperate attempt to regain control over the visual regime of the city; annihilating both presence and vision it was a countermeasure to the intensely mediated visual feedback circuits employed by protesters in the square. Whoever dared to defy the curfew witnessed a city that appeared as a stage in standby mode, a theater in between performances, waiting to be filled with action. The sudden absence of people brought other protagonists into the spotlight: The architecture, the lighting, and the

Video stills from the experimental documentary Excursions in the Dark by Kaya Behkalam

On January 28, 2011, three days after the protests

remains of the day. What was this stage waiting to

had started to unravel the streets of Cairo, and until

be filled with? During daytime the now absent actors

June 15, the Egyptian authorities imposed a nightly

had been negotiating their proposition for a post-revo-

curfew over the inner city. Under the pretense of

lutionary society on these very streets and places. At

securing the city and its inhabitants, the sites of politi-

night, lying in bed, they were countering the military’s

cal confrontations were expected to empty out after

restriction of public space with the unbounded realm

midnight, sometimes already in the early evening

of their imaginations, guided by the structures of their

hours. After a while the area between Tahrir Square

collective unconscious.

and Ramses Station, from Maspero to the High Court, usually sites of pulsating vibrancy throughout

through downtown Cairo during the curfew for

the night, changed drastically, entering instead a state

several nights in February and March 2011, docu-

of emptiness, stillness and silence, foreign to the

menting the image that had been produced to not

capital.

be seen. During the days following my nightly excur-

In the same way that every story told silences

The curfew, the state-of-exceptionbecome-image, was an attempt to replace another image, the dominant image of the day

26

meta-image tahrir

Fascinated by the sudden emptiness, I walked

sions I browsed through Walter Benjamin’s massive

others beneath it, every new image dispels or super-

Passagenwerk (Arcades Project) that had rather acci-

sedes other images. The insurmountable paradox

dentally found its way to the suitcase

innate to every iconoclastic act reveals itself.

I had brought with me to post-revolutionary Cairo.

Essentially a gesture of violence and annihilation, the

The intricate relationship between collective dreams-

iconoclastic act never succeeds in entirely eradicat-

capes, architecture and political agency runs through

ing the image it wants to replace. The substituted

the Passagenwerk as a connecting thread. For

image lives on as a trace, in the form of a present

Benjamin the connection between past and present

absence of the new image that has taken its place.

reflects the relation between the dream and the

Both images, the displaced and the displacing, remain

waking world. In this reading the study of history

conflated; one is bound to the other, similar to the

takes the form of dream interpretation that initiates a

way the tarnished rear side of a mirror, the tain, con-

process of political awakening.

stitutes the base of the visible reflection of the front.

Benjamin’s reflections on the subliminal desires

The events on the streets since January 25, 2011,

and aspirations enciphered into architecture and other

followed the dialectic of the front- and backside of a

“wish images”[2] in which “each epoch entertains

mirror. The curfew, the state-of-exception-become-

images of its successor” were based on the city life

image, was an attempt to replace the dominant

in Paris in the 19th century. To my surprise the area

image of the day. Instead, what happened was that

around me, the stretch of streets between Tahrir and

the night-image functioned as the tain of the day,

Attaba Square, with its decayed Rococo-like build-

offering the onlooker a possible understanding of the

ings, wide squares and alleys, proved to be quite

nature of the daytime events: The curfew at night

an appropriate setting for this reading. Downtown

rendered the uprising at day reflective. The notion of

Cairo, in colloquial Arabic wust al-balad, literally: the

[1] Rodolphe Gasché, The Tain of the Mirror - Derrida and the philosophy of reflection, Harvard University Press 1986, p.6

heart of the country, was modernized under the

positioned outside of the subject. Vilém Flusser rec-

influence and consultation of the same city planner

ognizes: "When we start to project, then we are no

who had restructured the French capital in the

longer subjects of objects, but projects for objects

second half of the 19th century: Baron Haussmann.

(Entwürfe für Gegenstände), which are not subju-

[3] Haussmann’s concept utilized architecture as

gated by objects anymore."[5]

a means of gaining sovereign control [4] over citi-

Once encountering this space of simultaneous

zens and had a massive impact on many modern

experience and projection, the Deleuzian "crystal

cities, a politic that is subjected to harsh criticism in

image," in which actual and potential presences

Benjamin’s writings. As the French revolution had

and possibilities conflate and multiply, there is no

taken place in the narrow, medieval streets of old

turning back.

Paris, where it was easy to set up and hold make-

From this moment on any image produced, includ-

shift barricades and thus control large areas of the

ing the iconoclasms of the curfew, the blackout or

city without extensive military equipment, Napoleon

the blinding of eyesight, cannot be perceived only as

III had commissioned Haussmann to design a city

intimidating signs of authoritarian politics, but as con-

more easily controllable by authorities. The new

stituents of the very projection surface that offers the

Paris with its linear perspectives became the para-

basis, the tain, of an emancipatory visual reflection.

digm for downtown Cairo, on the orders of the occidentalist Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt. As the main political confrontations took place within this highly ideologized part of the city, the events of the Egyptian revolution can also be read as a visual inversion of the surveillance architecture of Michel Foucault's idea of the "panoptical regime" to which the modern metropolis had been subjected. In the mediated feedback space, that surface resulting from the synchronicity of producing, perceiving and distributing images, the protesting subject reappropriates the power of control and interpretation of his own image in urban space. In the terminology of the Stage, the once subjugated 'extra' becomes a character actor, an active agent and observer; the striated urban space evolves into an open stage, ready for his employment. What surfaces here might not be a new kind of subjectivity, but rather an intersubjective space of projection, a field of experience

28

meta-image tahrir

Kaya Behkalam is an experimental filmmaker and practice-based PhD candidate at Weimar University living in Egypt.

[2] In his Passagenwerk exposé Benjamin speaks of “images in which the new is intermingled with the old. These images are wish images, and in them the collective attempts to transcend as well as to illumine the incompletedness of the social order of production…In the dream in which every epoch sees in images the epoch that follows, the latter appears wedded to elements of ur-history, that is, of a classless society. Its experiences, which have their storage place in the unconscious of the collective, produce, in their interpenetration with the new, the utopia that has left its trace behind in a thousand configurations of life from permanent buildings to ephemeral fashions.”, W.B. Paris, the Capital of the 19th Century, in: Gesammelte Schriften V, p. 497 [3] Nezar AlSayyad, Cairo Histories of a City, Harvard University Press 2011, p.206 [4] cf. Howard Saalman, Haussmann: Paris Transformed, George Braziller Inc, 1971, p. 26 [5] Vilém Flusser: Kommunikologie weiter denken, Frankfurt Main 2009, p.180f, translation by the author

Media feedback Opposite page top A protestor streams a live Internet broadcast in front of the Israeli embassy (August 2011) Bottom Cinema Tahrir organized screenings of footage related to the revolution, on Tahrir and other public places (July 2011) This page right A protestor with a poster print of Newsday magazine; his portrait covers the front page from January 25, 2011 (July 2011) Bottom A protestor displays the cover page of Tahrir newspaper from February 2, 2012, the day after the Port Said massacre (February 2, 2012) Photographs by Mosa'ab Elshamy

The eye as target Opposite page top left "February 25" inscribed over the eye of a protestor, to mark the day he was blinded by police snipers (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy, September 2011) Right Stencil of protestor Ahmed Harara with an eye-patch reading "January 28," referring to the date when Harara lost his right eye. On November 19 another bullet claimed Harara's left eye (October 2012) Bottom left Stencil at Mohamed Mahmoud Street, depicting the piercing of an eye by a bullet (Photo by Andreas Sicklinger, June 2012)

This page top left The logo of street art group Mona Lisa Brigade features da Vinci's Mona Lisa with an eye patch (Cairo Images/ C.I.A., April 2013) Above A stone lion at Qasr El Nil bridge with an eye patch (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy, November 2011) Left Stencil calling for the prosecution of a police eyesniper who was caught on camera (Photo by Joscelyn Jurich, July 2012)

Injured eye of protester Video still from the archive of Mosireen Video Collective

blind spots Unfinished manuscript for a stage play

Various contributors Unorganized notes for scenes: A white canvas is installed between the bodies that constitute The Protesters A spotlight signals Camera Action; having delivered her text The Anchor Woman steps aside to clear the view to The Roaring Crowd Below the canvas, a laptop accesses the live stream of the televized broadcast from the camera on the balcony above The laptop is connected to a projector, which is directed at the canvas; The Protestors turn to see the screen fill with images of themselves Propositions: 1) The canvas is no longer a screen, it is a mirror 2) The Protestors are no longer Protestors; they are Actors 3) The Public Square is no longer a place, It is A Stage Thousands of Camera Phones rise from The Crowd The Artist asks “where do these images go? What kind of life do they lead in the data storage of a thousand pockets?” The Artist talks about work she did not produce. She tells us “Images serve Narratives.” She tells us “We mold the present to fit the past, echoing what we know and recognize.” The Writer is witnessing A Catastrophe and feels less appalled about The Event itself, than about how much it resembles its own representation

36

meta-image tahrir

The artist talks about his work. He tells us “Our hands are dirty.” He tells us “Documentation is not Art." He tells us “Genre films are inacceptable.” Homs, Syria. The face of the man is falling off in flakes; he is heavily disfigured by an explosion. The ruthless working of A Cameraman who is recording this moment of passage to death at a point blank range further unsettles our position as Viewers. The Documentation is disrupted by a fall as the camera escapes the hand of the faceless man: In his process of dying The Protestor turned the camera towards his own image letting the device become a witness to his passing After the camera has come to a rest on the pavement, someone picks it up. The data-storage continuous uninterrupted Kassel, Germany. The artist screens YouTube footage of Rebel Citizens armed with Camera Phones and pierced by bullets as "The Pixelated Revolution" in thumb-sized flipbooks. Printed with a special ink, the images are designed to leave traces on the visitors’ hands as they animate the stills into moving images The Artist says "the terminology of epidemics and revolutions are similar." She tells us “the moment one embraces her own death is a point of absolute sovereignty."

Tehran, Iran. The Protestors form a green line connecting the North with the South. The Artist explains "in this performative act, the revolution becomes Image, becomes Icon" In a plea for the collective abandoning of the Central Perspective in all liberal arts The Writer states “Visibility is a trap” The Artist labels 9.11 as an iconoclast artwork of epic proportions. He tells us "crystal images and diamonds disrupt our vision in the same manner" I saw an image of the selfimmolation of a Tibetan monk on the cover of a CD when I was eleven years old. I did not understand the physical reality of the image; but I understood that it was An Image That winter a list of Revolutionary Survival Kit circulated, addressed to The Egyptian Revolutionaries, courtesy of The Liberated Tunisians. A central component is a can of black spray-paint for the purpose of darkening the peephole of military tanks Waking up he finds a dark spot in the corner of his right eye. Weeks later the spot has spread to his left eye. He is not blind but his irises are no longer detectable Syria, sometime in June. It could be Damascus. A state TV camera crew is reporting on An Attack by Rebel Terrorists. The camera assistant places shopping bags around the blood stains to insinuate Civilian Casualties Berlin, Germany. No photos

are allowed into the premises of the old factory that is saturated with sound. Windows are blocked, lights are off. The doorman tells us “Only The Undocumented can become myth; modern magic relies on blindness” Documenta Ophthalmologica Byzantium 7th Century AD. For the incapacitation of political antagonists or the punishment of heretics I. The destruction or removal of the eyes by mechanical means II. The destruction or removal of the eyes by liquids and acids III. Disruption of sight by exposure to extreme brightness Blinding. Used to reduce information bias. Single blind: the patient is unaware of the treatment assignment but the physician is aware. Double blind: both the patient and the physician are unaware of the treatment assignment of the patient. Triple blind: the patient, the physician and the person analyzing the results of the study are all unaware of the treatment assignments

Further scenes:

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The Language ofTahrir samia mehrez

Working Together on Translating Egypt’s Revolution Contextualizing the Project:

not quite clear then perhaps what exactly such a per-

ered bodies in public space exercising their right

closer to that of a mediator and facilitator rather than

On February 12, 2011, one day after Mubarak was

ilous project might entail.

to linguistic, symbolic, and performative freedom

an authority figure, or at least I would like to think

despite the enormous cost in human life that contin-

so. I tried to inform the choices made by the partici-

ues to be paid.

pants for their projects through selected theoretical

forced to step down, the American University in Cairo re-opened its gates for the spring session to

Why Translate Egypt’s Revolution?

the great dismay of many members of its commu-

One of the most remarkable accomplishments of

nity who felt that their daily involvement in the raw,

the revolutionary spirit in Egypt has manifested itself

ing with its initial mesmerizing 18 days in Tahrir have

broaden, re-define, and relocate the very notion of

unfolding historic events in Egypt and in Tahrir in

in an unprecedented production and proliferation of

had a dramatic, immediate, and continuing impact

translation and its (dis)contents. The participants in

particular would be substantially impacted, diverted,

revolutionary cultural materials, whether written, oral,

on Egyptians and their relationship to space (both

the seminar selected, read, and collectively trans-

perhaps even severed. Fortunately, faculty members

visual, or performative, all of which have decidedly

public and private; real and virtual), as has been wit-

lated material ranging from chants, banners, slogans,

were invited to design courses that would address

remapped and redefined the contours and mean-

nessed in unprecedented online social networking,

jokes, poems, and street art to media coverage, inter-

various aspects of the Egyptian revolution and

ings of both public culture and public space. Since

campaigns, and solidarities, as well as mass demon-

views, vlogs, as well as presidential speeches and

strations, repeated sit-ins, and persistent protests.

military communiqués. Given the scope of the mate-

This newfound power of ownership of one’s space,

rial and its different linguistic registers and referential

one’s body, and one’s language is, in and of itself,

worlds, these cultural, visual, and performative revo-

a revolution. Actually, I would say that this is the

lutionary documents and manifestations presented

revolution given the general political landscape and

a great challenge to any translator, not just at the

prospects today.

immediate linguistic level but more importantly – and

sustain the AUC community’s involvement in and interaction with developing events. Many of the courses proposed for this initiative were last-minute but intuitively crucial courses that were meant to respond to an urgent collective need on the ground. “Translating Revolution,” the course I proposed, was one of them. The seminar attracted Egyptian and non-Egyptian students whose linguistic abilities and cultural competencies and experiences complemented each other in ways that were vitally important for the establishing of an informed comparative perspective on their task as translators and

the revolutionary spirit in Egypt has manifested itself in an unprecedented production and proliferation of revolutionary cultural materials whether written, oral,visual, or performative

The successive waves of the January 2011 upris-

readings in the field of translation studies in order to

The seminar therefore provided a communal plat-

herein lay the real challenge – at the discursive, semi-

form to continue to engage the layers of revolutionary

otic and symbolic meanings of revolution at both the

narratives and to translate these fields of meaning

local and global levels and contexts.

to each other and for each other in an attempt to

Hence, at the core of our conversation lay the

understand, situate, and contextualize the historic

understanding that translation is not simply a linguis-

events that envelop us. I believe we also came to

tic process of exchange or transfer between two

the task of translation with a thorough understand-

individual texts but rather a contextual operation that

cal, and cultural power relations. The participants

January 2011 there has been a radical transforma-

ing of both the openness of the revolutionary cultural

requires mediation and negotiation between texts

have come to the task of translation with their

tion of the relationship between people, their bodies,

narrative(s) and the complexity of their references,

within their cultural contexts. Translation is therefore

own histories, understanding, and perspectives on

their language, and space; a transformation that has

meanings and significations, all of which defy unitary

engaged and undertaken as a perpetual process of

translation, all of which intersected throughout the

enabled sustained mass convergence, conversation,

reading or framing.

decoding and recoding in which the translator, as a

course: there was the poet, the musician, the tech-

and agency for new publics whose access to and

nical translator, the journalist, the photographer, the

participation in public space has for decades been

How to Translate Revolution:

transcends the purely linguistic level to one of cre-

security translator, the activist, the creative writer,

controlled by an oppressive, authoritarian regime.

Given the revolutionary context of the seminar itself,

ative transposition. This liberating understanding of

and the teacher. They had all experienced and lived

Like other uprisings and revolutionary moments

the content and pedagogical format of “Translating

the processes that lie at the heart of translation has

through the revolutionary moment in Egypt and

whose histories have first been written in great public

Revolution” as well as the projects undertaken by

unsettled notions of full equivalence between lan-

were all motivated by a desire to translate it – as the

spaces, people in Egypt, and the Arab World at large,

the participants were decided upon collectively at the

guage systems, informed by what Roman Jacobson

title of the seminar promised – even though it was

have reclaimed the right to be together as empow-

beginning of the semester. My role as instructor was

argued more than half a century ago: synonymy

a collective awareness of global linguistic, geopoliti-

38

meta-image tahrir

traveler in perpetual migration between locations,

between languages is never possible, for significa-

labor among participants in each group and how,

liantly animated as a group. The book is a testimony

politics of selection that implicate us (as individuals

tion and meanings are always culture-bound; hence

in working together, they had developed an aware-

to collective work in what I have described as thick

and as a group) in a very particular 'version' of the

the impossibility of sameness in any translation. The

ness of the translator’s subjectivity, an appreciation

translations (to borrow Clifford Geertz’ formulation

revolutionary text in translation. Given developments

centrality of the politics of difference not sameness in

of their difference and diversity that lay at the fore-

of thick description in ethnography) of the open revo-

on the ground, and the discourses surrounding the

translation allowed us to go beyond arguments about

front of decision-making, and the interactive process

lutionary text. Here, the task of the translator(s) is to

very naming and framing of this historic moment in

loss and gain, and fidelity and betrayal, to come to

of translation that remained incomplete without a

'carry across' the different narratives and layers of

Egypt not to mention the ongoing contest over public

think differently about the task and role of the transla-

profound appreciation and navigation of audience.

the revolution as part of a complex set of dialectical

space, freedom of expression, public culture, and

tor and the very meaning and urgency of translation

They did all this with the full conviction that they had

relationships with other texts (political, economic,

cultural production, there is no doubt that this early

itself, specifically within this revolutionary context.

collective ownership of the translated text and that

social, and religious) that exist outside its immedi-

collective and selective effort represents but the

Given the participants’ collective pluri-lingual,

their collaborative endeavor was not at all final, but,

ate 'readable' boundaries. The commitment to thick

beginning of many more 'versions' of the revolution-

pluri-cultural, and interlocational backgrounds and

like the revolution itself, open to more conversation

translation not only compelled the contributors to the

ary text that have yet to be translated.

experiences, it was obvious to them that the chal-

and more reflection about the processes that govern

volume to re-think the limits of their own disciplines

lenge for any translator was not just to operate within

translation. More importantly, they came to confront

but it equally empowered them in their role as transla-

Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language

and negotiate a space in-between as they carried

their task of translation as one that implicated them

tors re-writing across boundaries and beyond borders

of Tahrir was published by AUC Press in 2012.

across a text from a source to a target language,

in an ethics of selection: what gets left out, what

whether these be linguistic, cultural, or disciplinary.

Contributors to the volume: Amira Taha, Chris

culture, history, and context, but rather in understand-

is brought in, and why; how does one justify such

ing and coming to terms with the very politics of that

choices; and how one's 'visibility' as translator impli-

The Revolution Continues:

Lewis Sanders, Mark Visona, Menna Khalil, Sahar

“space-in-between” that is determined by power

cate one in the politics of translation?

One of the basic rules of translation is to read the text

Kreitim, Sarah Hawas, Samia Mehrez.

Combs, Heba Salem, Kantaro Taira, Laura Gribbon,

As they continued to work as groups they came

to the end before embarking on its translation. If we

of which pre-date the act of translation. It is with this

to realize that behind each text they were translating

seem to stand in violation of this basic rule because

Samia Mehrez is a Professor of Modern Arabic

awareness that they have worked together to identify

(including chants, jokes, street art, banners, slogans,

we have embarked on translating the revolution, as

Literature and director of the Center for Translation

a third space from which to translate beyond binary

speeches, etc) lay a myriad of other texts that had to

text, when it continues to be written, it is precisely

Studies at the American University in Cairo.

oppositions of here and there, self and other, original

be translated before that singular text in the source

because, to use Roland Barthes’s terminology, it is

and copy.

relations between texts and cultural contexts, both

language could be carried across to the target lan-

a “writerly” text rather than a “readerly” one with

They predominantly worked in groups and as

guage. In other words they came to understand that

a predetermined beginning and end. Readers of the

partners, not as individuals. This is to say that their

there is no single truth enshrined in a text, no single

various chapters in Translating Egypt’s Revolution

translations, even in the chapters undertaken by a

meaning that can be elucidated but rather a multiplic-

will therefore sense that the thick translations pre-

single author, are the outcome of this collective and

ity of meanings that in turn produce other meanings

sented in the chapters offer a parallel text, one

perpetual conversation and understanding. Their

in translation that not only ensure an 'afterlife' for the

that has been produced alongside and not after the

class blog, http://translatingrev.wordpress.com/,

source text but also a new life for itself, as transla-

writing of the text of the revolution as it developed

chronicles the processes of translation in which they

tion, in the target language.

over the two years.

were collectively engaged, the myriad of problems,

The eight chapters of Translating Egypt’s

issues and challenges they encountered, how they

Revolution: The Language of Tahrir (AUC Press, 2012)

Through the very choices of topics and texts, as well

resolved them, and why they chose such solutions.

constitute the final outcome of the work undertaken

as our conscious 'visibility' and location as trans-

Some of their comments addressed the division of

by the participants in the seminar that they so bril-

lators, these chapters also bear testimony to the

40

meta-image tahrir

2011 is not 1968: philip rizk

An open letter to an onlooker

On January 25, 2011, Egyptians started marching

collective uprising we were far from representative

through the streets of their country’s cities in a pow-

of. Our faces reflected your own. Our voices were

erful force of protest. You gazed at the spectacle

comprehensible. We served to make this revolution

developing before your eyes, on your TV screens,

seem accessible. The intonation in our words gave

across various international news channels. A fixation,

meaning to what was, for you, an unfamiliar territory.

an intrigue emerged toward the images projected par-

Our explanations also satisfied the practical require-

ticularly from one site: Midan al-Tahrir – the Square of

ments and standards of a media industry with a target

Liberation. The fascination with the constant stream

audience accustomed to an interlocutor with a par-

of images opened your imagination. The imagina-

ticular profile using a specific political discourse. This

tion ran wild. Egyptians had been inspired, as well

process drowned out the voices of the majority. No

as shamed, into movement by their North African

matter how hard we tried to argue otherwise, we fit

neighbors in Tunisia. Our uprising in turn triggered

the part – middle class, Internet-savvy, young, and

movements in your cities around the world, from the

thus revolutionary.

meta-image tahrir

When both eyes are used the cortical area representing the blind spot for the eye with the missing data is filled in with data from the other eye. When one eye is used the phenomenal experience contains the color of the background.

Take the Square movement in Europe, to a city center occupation in Madison, Wisconsin, to the Occupy

Did you hear the voices of the underclass? Did you

movement, not to mention an array of uprisings

see the family members of the martyrs clad in black

around the region and still ongoing today in Bahrain,

mourning in their homes? Did you see images of

Syria and Sudan, only to name a few.

unnamed civilians gunned down by snipers on the

To make sense of the unfurling scenes, media

42

"Filling in" of the blind spot Concentrate on the cross with the left eye while the right eye is closed. At some distances and tilts of the head the black circle disappears (similarly, focusing on the black circle with the right eye makes the cross disappear).

roofs of police stations? Did you see police officers

outlets turned to a group of individuals who have

opening prison doors in order to undermine this

come to represent the revolution for many. These

revolutionary moment and wreak havoc on nearby

news agencies interviewed political commentators

communities? Did you see protesters storming

or activists – increasingly becoming celebrities in

police stations on January 28, seeking vengeance

their own right – to decipher the actions behind the

for years of unaccounted-for torture, violence and

images seen. As interpretation and then meaning

psychological domination? Did you see the Molotov

were layered onto the images, a significant dis-

cocktails prepared by women and lowered from their

youth subject, the revolutionary artist, the woman,

familiar. By channeling the outrage on the streets

tortion took place to the acts behind the scenes.

balconies to avenge the maiming of their sons and

the non-violent protestor, the Internet user. All this

through a medium that you recognized, the narrative

Non-Arabic language media outlets relied primarily

neighbors? This was not non-violent. Only the fixa-

took place in the undercurrent of an unrelenting need

presented on news channels diluted the mystery in

on English-speaking activists – many of us middle

tion through the lens of a camera on Tahrir Square

to identify, validate and valorize the role of the familiar.

the events and chained your imagination to what is

class, many of us already politicized before January

in daylight could appease you with that impression.

Revolution became unimaginable without the imagery

familiar. The layers of interpretation painted over the

25. Arabic-language news stations similarly relied

Other industries soon followed suit: right after journal-

of a model demonstrator who protected you from the

images diminished your fear of the unknown. “This

heavily on middle-class activists to speak on behalf

ism, academia, film, art and the world of NGOs relied

potential of being faced with the unknown: a collec-

is only an act against dictatorship.” “This is the indi-

of the revolution, each of whom interpreted every

on us as the ideal interpreter of the extraordinary.

tivist uprising against a global system of domination

vidual cry for freedom.” “This is a demonstration for

moment according to their respective ideological

They all eventually bought into and further fueled

within which there is no place for an onlooker.

democracy.” “This revolution is non-violent.”

perspectives. Thus, we became the translators of a

the hyper-glorification of the individual, the actor, the

The Internet helped create the aura that all this was

The Internet replaced the Kalashnikov. These dis-

Youth activists were by no means representative of the protests, but they were the dominant voice presented

courses silenced the structural dimensions of

the upsurge in protests there was a strong horizon-

as well as through Internet-based groups like Kolina

demands. There is no one reason why people started

injustice and concealed the role of neo-liberal policies

tal inclination, a non-centralized decision-making

Khaled Said ("We are all Khaled Said") came about in

flooding streets and public squares across Egypt on

promoted by the likes of the IMF, the EU and the USA

process, a leaderless movement that could not be

direct reaction to the political ruling class's ongoing

January 28th, different people rejected different faces

in deepening the stratification between poor and rich.

represented to a centralized, individual-focused media

repression of an entire population. By 1968 conflict

of the same system of power that dominated our

They made you forget that it is out of these structures

apparatus, through a penned article, given speech,

had spread everywhere, where as leading up to 2011

everyday lives. As observers, it was your obsession

of injustice that the desire for social justice is born

authored artwork, or character-driven documentary

the seeds of revolt had only just become ready to

to comprehend the uprising that fed the media indus-

in the first place. These dominating narratives – the

film. Such a process of representation falsifies reality.

sprout. In Egypt there wasn't a movement, but there

try's raison d'être, which sought to quench those

narratives of domination – localized the problematic,

In this letter I too fall into this same logic.

was movement, and there was momentum, an unde-

desires. In the dominant Western standpoint, it was

fined force that was much more powerful than any

your gaze that incited references to the common, to

for instance, to that of a homegrown dictatorship. By isolating the crime, and highlighting the corruption of

2011 is not 1968

organization could be. Under Mubarak’s regime, the

the familiar, to what you already knew, making 2011

individuals, these accounts helped set the post-colo-

The 1960s were pregnant with the political: battles

repression of even the seedling of opposition group-

seem as if it was akin to 1968.

nial stage for the now empty shells of the old regime

for racial equality, Vietnam, the Cold War, the final

ings had meant that there was hardly a 'left' to speak

2011 is not 1968. 2011 was not the 'classic' revo-

to be replaced by another that maintains the same

throws of overt imperialism. 1968 rose out of this

of. The universities were, and still are, a place of theft

lution of the socialists: students and workers taking

logic of governance.

moment, a young generation confronted with distant

of public funds, not a place of critical thought. The

to the street to replace a regime with their own. No

scenes of occupation and colonization, a student gen-

year 2011 witnessed fast-track political radicalization

matter how hard people tried, there were no political

are commercial news agencies run by corporations

eration, zealous with ideology, and radicalized by the

in the face of years of fast-track neo-liberalization. The

parties with revolutionary blueprints prior to January

that support or are supported by the very systems of

social and political reality of the times. Over 40 years

street was the academy, where we exchanged rocks

25 nor have any emerged since. A united voice that

domination against which we revolted. The images

later the effects of imperialism through the cloak of

for fire with the regime’s security forces and military

rang loud and clear from the start, "the people want

taken without cost by the cameras of the BBC, the

post-colonialism provoked people yet again into mass

personnel, while exchanging ideas among ourselves.

the fall of the system," entailed a cacophony of

CNN or Aljazeera become the private property of

protest. Under these new conditions, as Frantz Fanon

This is how radical politicization occurred among the

dissent that translated into a desire to put an end to

these institutions that then use them to tell their nar-

recounted so clearly, the former colonizers succeeded

Egyptians that carried the revolution. The uprising that

the status quo: change was necessary, some kind of

ratives, to celebrate what they desire, to promote

at hiding their economic interests behind partnerships

began in Egypt in the early days of 2011 was pushed

change, but how that change looked was uncertain.

and silence what they want to suppress. The framing

with the ruling elites of post-colonial states. Thus,

by an unprecedented amount of protesters. Similar

This was no weakness of an uprising that revealed

and broadcasting of an image is a practice of power.

2011 is not 1968. 2011 was an uprising of discontent

to the uprising in Argentina in 2001, street protests

a global crisis to imagine alternative forms of social

These images circulate in the name of freedom, but

against the political reality within the post-colonial

in Egypt were marked by widespread participation

organization to the neo-liberal state with its self-

by utilizing the captured images for the ends of a

condition. 2011 was no intellectual revolution; there

across class, generational and gender divides. Like in

perpetuating, self-destructive stratification. But this

profit-driven enterprise, the dominance of the nar-

was no burgeoning of ideas. In Egypt, no radicaliza-

1968, students and workers both participated but in

leaderless form of protest free of pre-packaged ideol-

rative provided has the potential to misinterpret and

tion of the population had taken place, nor was the

Egypt never as workers and students, but rather, and

ogy allowed for the emergence of ideas in process, a

ultimately undermine the very acts of resistance.

nation tangled up in a cross-border conflict. There

simply, as part of a collective and popular movement.

process of resistance that is only beginning.

It is no surprise that the owners of these images

was no ideology but the ideology of desperation,

The protests remained significantly leaderless; we

the protests, but they were the dominant voice pre-

the unbearable weight of hypocrisy and the limits

confronted a repressive hierarchical and hegemonic

Workers and Revolution

sented. We were but a handful of individuals among a

of a people living in denial of it. The rising militancy

state apparatus using horizontal tactics. It was the

A significant moment that made the January 25

cacophony of shouts calling for change, each person

among organized workers, and the growing oppo-

vastness of numbers of protesters that, even if only

revolution thinkable was the rising wave of worker

with their own concerns, complaints, desires, causes

sition through small middle-class movements like

temporarily, brought the centralized state structure

protests that started in 2006. The 27,000 textile

for action, and reasons for revenge. Throughout

Kefaya – "Enough" – and the 6th of April movement,

to its knees. Demonstrators held a wide variance of

workers that went on strike in the industrial city of

Youth activists were by no means representative of

44

meta-image tahrir

Glaucoma (Gaze Grid Growth)

Mahalla al-Kobra in Egypt's Nile Delta in December

that 2011 is not 1968. 1968 would have been impos-

social protection, thus making precarious the working

2006 enabled countless Egyptians that caught a

sible without the waves of worker strikes and factory

conditions of the traditional working class. Those

glimpse of that mighty act, or of the multitude of

occupations in parallel with student protests. In the

most suppressed, most exploited and most desperate

protests that followed, to begin to imagine revolu-

case of the January 25 revolution, rather than the

under the former regime’s political system were the

tion. Inevitably, strikes and demonstrations started

traditional working class, participants were made up –

underclass without the luxury to attain an education,

spreading across the country. On April 6 2008 the

with the exception of peak moments prior to February

with no fixed jobs and thus vulnerable to the reality

independent worker leaders of the same public sector

11th 2011 – primarily of precarious workers and not

that police officers and employers existed above the

textile mill called for another strike but this time the

by Egypt's traditional working class. This may sound

law. Precarious workers often maintain two or three

government succeeded in deterring the action by set-

like a trivial differentiation but it is at the crux of the

jobs in order to make ends meet. Compared to them,

tling with a select group of workers ahead of time.

distinction between 2011 and 1968.

Egypt's traditional working class lives in more secure

The demand for increased wages was tied to rising

From 2006 through to January 25 2011 and ever

conditions. Though for usually pitiful pay, outrageous

Iris (Image Information Inversion)

Cornea (Copyright Camera Chaos) Pupil (Photograph Photon Phantom)

food prices and as almost every home in Mahalla has

since, workers of organized workspaces never

hours in the private sector, poor working conditions

a family member employed at the massive textile

stopped demonstrating for better wages, against

and minimal benefits, the traditional working-class

factory the strike was anticipated by more than just

privatization, corruption and injustice. The wave of

has fixed contracts and steady incomes which gives

the workers. On that day, Mahalla’s citizens antici-

protests that began on January 25 included a vast

them a luxury standing within a working class milieu

pated a confrontation. The insults of a police officer

number of precarious workers primarily from Egypt's

with few guarantees. Consequently, the working class

have proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned

towards an elderly woman on the street sparked an

many eshwa'eyat or informal neighborhoods. This

mimics the middle class’ cautious lifestyle, unwilling

with. The taking root of deep economic stratification in

uprising. April 6th was significant in that the protest

needs some clarification. Starting in 2006 workers

to risk losing their jobs. While the working class will

this neo-liberal era has provoked new forms of resis-

moved beyond the geographical lines of one industrial

protested the effects of the intense neo-liberaliza-

fight for better work conditions and speak out against

tance; it is this condition that brought Egyptians to the

site and was carried out by an entire community. In

tion process that Mubarak’s final government was

corruption and abuse at the worksite, their struggles

brink of revolution, and it is this condition that will con-

2006 workers had broken the social rules of conduct

exercising. Workers reacted directly – even if rarely

are limited to these because they are not willing –

tinue to determine future lines of protest.

through their public protest. In 2008, the boundar-

specifically articulated in these terms – to the imple-

and understandably so – to take their battles beyond

ies of possible resistance were pushed further still

mentation of the Western economic paradigm of

the boundaries of their workplaces. Participating in

supporters gathered outside a military hospital on the

beyond the limits set by the ruling class. The govern-

neo-liberalism. This meant the government eased the

the revolution meant taking to the streets and risking

shores of the Nile after reports of the former dicta-

ment used all their wit and force and managed to

entry of foreign capitalists into Egyptian industry, they

giving their employers the justification to fire them for

tor’s death emerged. One of demonstrators held a

prevent April 6 2008 from turning into what became

privatized factories and public sector enterprises and

being 'troublemakers'. The lines of the unemployed

sign for drivers-by to see: “January 25 Revolution:

January 25 2011. In 2008 the government succeeded

reduced subsidies while strongly encouraging pro-

ready to take their jobs were they to be fired limited

History will judge.”

in preventing the spreading of dissent from one indus-

duction for export markets. Backed by international

their participation in the revolution. Losing the luxury

You decide how January 25 goes down in your

trial town to the rest of the region – let alone the

financial institutions, this system enabled foreign

of employment was a risk many contracted workers

annals of history. Is it another 1968, a revolution of

country – by ordering security forces from across six

investors to access Egypt’s natural resources with

were not usually willing to take.

your kind? Or is it a movement that goes beyond the

governorates to descend on the city. In April 2008 the

fewer restrictions and to exploit its working class with

conditions were not yet ripe for what would emerge

more freedom. This process included the intense

since 1968 has further concentrated capital in the

less than three years later. On January 28 of 2011

downsizing of the traditional workforce. It forced

hands of the rich while reducing the livelihoods of

demonstrators spread all over the country prevailed

workers into what is sometimes termed casualized

everyone else. These policies may have succeeded at

Philip Rizk lives in Cairo, Egypt where he films, pro-

over those same security forces in a matter of hours.

work, or the 'informal sector', which meant working

replacing the revolutionary potential of the traditional

tests and writes. Rizk is a member of the Mosireen

Again at this juncture there is a need to emphasize

without contracts, without guarantees and without

working class with that of a Lumpenproletariat who

Video collective.

46

meta-image tahrir

The implementation of new economic paradigms

On Saturday June 19 2012, a group of Mubarak-

meaning you’ve given to the few images you’ve seen, and may one day soon confront you at your front door?

Mosireen Video Collective is a group of filmmakers and citizen journalists documenting and archiving defining events of revolutionary Egypt. Their records are publicly assessable on various online platforms and at their project space in Adly Street, downtown Cairo.

Poster by Mona Amr, graphic design student, GUC

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 5 MARCH 2011

Friday Prayer and Demonstrations AT Tahrir

At 9:30pm I left the house and

People gathered around me with huge posters which lamented the

started walking towards Tahrir

decease of martyrs, promoted change and freedom and attacked cor-

Square. The streets were

ruption. Some of them carried newspapers and pointed at articles which

still quite empty. The people

talked about the revolution. Still, the Egyptians not only seemed to worry

selling patriotic emblems and

about their own future but already showed solidarity with their neigh-

souvenirs started to set up their

bors who are desperately fighting for freedom at the moment. This is the

posts and young men where

reason why quite a lot of Libyan flags and posters against Gadaffi’s iron

offering bunches of red-white-

regime could be seen at Tahrir Square today.

black colored flags to the cars passing by. By the end of the streets

All classes of Egyptian society were present. A group of women in black and wearing niqab loudly screamed on one side while the protectors of the “core utopian city” in jeans and with Palestinian scarves

leading to the square, the civil

around their heads where watching. Children were happily dancing,

control, which the Egyptian

playing with flags and singing nationalistic songs. Elderly people were

Youth of the Revolution is orga-

sitting on the small stone walls or leaning against the green iron fences

nizing by their own initiative,

which border Tahrir.

was already performing body-

Today, I had the privilege of being offered two balconies to film for free.

checks of those who attempted

Both of the apartments belong to people who have been giving support

to access Midan at-Tahrir. The

to the demonstrators since the beginning of the revolution.

young lady with her blue, glit-

The view of thousands of people lined up in rows, side by side, women

tery headscarf who was in charge of me took a glimpse into my bags,

and men, poor and rich, old and young following simultaneously with the

smiled at me and let me pass.

movement of their bodies the prayer of the Imam was astonishing. I held

The square looked again like at the beginning of a huge festival. People were selling nuts, drinks, T-shirts, flags, bags, badges, hats and all kinds

my breath and scarcely noticed the sun burning my face. After the solemn prayer had come to an end, music started and people

of other gadgets with nationalistic logos. The men painting Egyptian flags

chanted nationalistic slogans anew. Suddenly, the new Prime Minster

on people’s faces were loudly advertising their service while holding

Essam Sharaf appeared among the masses, only protected by a few sol-

three glass bottles in their hands with the colors needed.

diers and constantly interrupted by the demonstrators. He started his

Men and women went to deposit flowers in front of different mem-

talk by regretting having been unable to attend the Friday prayer on the

ory-walls dedicated to the martyrs which consist of big white blankets

square. He then remembered the families of the martyrs of the revolu-

decorated with pictures, spread out around the “utopian perfect city” of

tion. In the middle of the crowd he confessed to his people that his task

the steady revolutionary front, in the middle of the square.

will not be easy. He further assured them that whenever he feels that

Different stages were set up. Music was playing loudly from all direc-

he cannot master his duty, he will come back to them in the square.

tions. People started to line up for the prayer and men who were selling

According to him, a free and secure Egypt is the highest of his goals and

“one-use” prayer carpets were busily passing through the masses.

he therefore promised that the security forces will back up the Egyptians.

Wherever people saw me film, they came along and wanted to tell

Essam Sharaf solemnly concluded his first speech to the nation by saying

their story. Some of them said jokingly: “Ah you are from Switzerland,

that the Egyptians had just won a small Jihad but that the most difficult

so you have got all Hosni’s money at the moment!”“I will bring it back to

Jihad was still to come: the reconstruction of the Egyptian state.

you, tomorrow!” I replied with a smile. This was obviously not the only

I left the square when the sun was starting to set. Some blocks away,

joke which was told on the square. The Egyptian taste for satire is omni-

when the streets had become less crowded, I passed a father who was

present.

holding an approximately three-year-old child by his hand. The small boy,

A puppet-player carried on shoulders was holding-up a Mubarak-

who had the Egyptian national colors painted on his cheek, was waving

marionette and making it move pleasingly while a teenager was calling

with a tiny flag and happily chanting all to himself in perfect rhythm: “The

out the rhymed lines which people had to scream at the puppet.

people will change the system!”

48

meta-image tahrir

The former headquarters of the National Democratic Party photographed by Guston SondinKung January 2012

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 7 MARCH 2011

WHAT COMES AFTER THE FALL OF THE SYSTEM?

Who is “the People”?

– about political change. One professor insisted that the current situation

What Comes After the Fall of

can neither be compared to the May 68 movement in France, nor to the

the System?

post-soviet changes of the Eastern European republics. Another professor

In the “core utopian city” which

energetically inquired why the breakdown of the system had not occurred

has become the symbol of the

earlier; how can a system continue to operate when the vast majority

revolution, interestingly enough,

is against it; why is the legislative backbone of the old regime not com-

no real headquarters, no explicit

pletely replaced? The professor was the only one to get a spontaneous

party structures and no general

applause from the audience after her dedicated intervention. A dignitary

councils can be found. A lot of

in his seventies added that one should keep in mind that the Western

different sociopolitical demands

democracies are far from being as perfect as they pretend to look. The

came to be the spirit of this

English hate their prime minister, according to him, and the European

heterogeneous but pacifist

populations do not get to vote on whether they want to have troops in

community. The youth who are

Afghanistan or not. He concluded that the USA cannot be taken seriously

gathering under the plastic tents

as an advocate of democracy given their fascist foreign policy.

insist that they are only representing themselves and do not belong to any defined party. IT engineer Ahmad (the name is changed) told me the following when

In whatever surrounding, whether in formal conference-rooms – from which Mubarak’s pictures disappeared with a hush – or in coffeehouses, people eagerly read the newspapers, discuss and reconstruct the country

I asked him about the organization of the revolution and of Tahrir Square:

in their minds and conversations. What kind of political system they will

“There are people who organize committees. Many will state: “I am the

eventually establish remains open. Will the poetry-reciting intellectu-

one who made the revolution come true! I am the president of the orga-

als with their Palestinian scarves and ripped T-shirts, the justice-seeking

nizing committee! The revolution belongs to me!” However, you cannot

injured from precarious social levels, the crying mothers of martyrs, the

take those people seriously. There are thousands who were and are still

furiously preaching bearded sheikhs with their long galabiyas, the women

demonstrating. Fifteen parties promoted the revolution together. There

who are wearing the Egyptian flag as a niqab and the lawyers, doctors and

are a lot of communities, organizations, movements and Internet plat-

professors who are discussing different political systems and constitu-

forms that organize gatherings and articulate ideas and demands. Still, we

tions be able to tolerantly coexist in a new Egyptian democracy?

are all talking for ourselves. There have been no elections for representatives who might talk in our name. I will help and ally with anyone who shares the same demands and ideas that I have. I am also truly thankful and indebted to the people who come here and take care of the sick, cook food or bring covers to for us. May God protect them and their children! But nobody has the right to talk in the name of the revolution! The guys you see on the television, with nice suits, who wear ties and look clean, are not the ones who fought for the revolution. If their eyes are not red and swollen, they have not been exhausted by the revolution. We have a lot of demands: a constitution and the rule of law. I think that there should be a supreme [constitutional] council of five to seven deputies. As soon as we have a political organ like this, a new constitution can be drafted and we are a good step further on our way.” Similar statements were made at the meeting of the High Council of Culture, which I attended some hours later. Here the nicely dressed doctors and professors of constitutional law talked no less revolutionarily – but this time mostly in classical Arabic and not in colloquial dialect

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Close up of the logo of the Marriot Hotel, located close to Tahrir. During times of protest, life tends to go on as usual inside the hotel premises. Photograph by Daniel Rode

Protesters and police Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy, February 2012

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Protesters: "I would wear my burial gown for your love, Egypt. Down with the regime, Leave, it is time. Signed: A disabled person" (Translation)

"Tomorrow, the revolution of one million. Share the word. 100% Egyptian! Not an American franchise. Our first goal is the trial of all the regime's criminals, we start with the worst of all: Mubarak" Photos are acquired at the media tent at Tahrir, March 2011. Credits Mohamed Saad

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A pro-Mubarak demonstration in front of the court on the day the former president was sentenced to life imprisonment. Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy June 1, 2012, New Cairo

Protesters mutilating an image of Hosni Mubarak, using their shoes as an expression of contempt. Photograph by Mosa'ab Elshamy June 1 2012, New Cairo Courthouse

Police officers form a blockade, at their feet martyr portraits. Photograph by Mosa'ab Elshamy June 1, 2012, New Cairo Courthouse

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Memorial Image banner in front of the Maspero television building, installed by citizens who have lost family members in the revolution.

Displaying an image of her son: "Think not of those, who are slain following the way of Allah, as dead. Nay, they are living. With their Lord they have provision." (Ali Imran: 169, translated by Pickthall) "The martyr Moaz El Sayed Mohamed Kamel, martyr of the 25 January revolution, Friday 28/1/2011" (Translation) Photographs by Mosa'ab Elshamy June 2012

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Displaying an image of his son: "Every soul will taste death, Egypt loves you Oh youth, The martyr Shehab Hassan Shehab." (Translation) Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy November 2011, Tahrir Opposite "Mohamed Morsi Mubarak" (Translation) October 2012, Tahrir

Protesters "Revolutionaries are not thugs – No to military trials for civilians" "I love you my country" "In the name of Allah the merciful, There is no God but Allah and Mohamed is his Messenger." (Translation) Photograph by Mosa'ab Elshamy November 2011, Tahrir

Beneath the Egyptian flag at a protest in front of the Ministry of Defence, Abasseya, Cairo. Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy May 2012

Alexandra Stock Warnmeldungen/ Security reports part 1 How do the embassies, as official representatives of Egypt, address the 2011 uprisings? In which terms are the recurring uprisings framed? Is there any mention of former President Mubarak? How is President Morsi introduced on these virtual platforms? How are the relations between Egypt and its diplomatic partners described? These word-clouds are based on the most commonly used terms describing the situation in Egypt in spring 2012 on the websites of Egyptian embassies in different countries around the world.

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In my research I found that the vocabulary at play varied greatly from country to country; in my drawings the geographical outlines of the countries are used as frames for the related word clouds. Opposite page: Word cloud from the Egyptian embassy in USA. This page, from the top: The Vatican, Colombia, Switzerland Alexandra Stock is a curator currently residing in the Netherlands, she lived in Cairo from 2008 – 2012, where she worked as an assistant curator at Townhouse Gallery.

Broken Bones Video still from the archive of Mosireen Video Collective

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 9 MARCH 2011

9th of March 2011The End of tahrir?

March 9 is an important date in Egyptian history. On this day in 1938, the first President of Cairo University, Ahmad Lutfi as-Sayyid, resigned in order to protest against the governmental decision to dismiss Taha Hussein from his position as dean of the Faculty of Arts. Freedom of thought and expression were effectively banished from the campus of Cairo university, a situation that has lasted until the present day.

During the last three days, students and professors have been openly protesting against their superiors, demanding that the university president and the deans – representatives of Mubarak’s regime – resign. As a response the management is keeping the University grounds closed in the hope perhaps that stalling will lead the protestors to forget about the issue… When I came back from the campus, at around 8pm, Midan at-Tahrir was empty. Soldiers with machine guns were patrolling the square and a group of around sixty men had gathered in a corner of Qasr al-Nil Street. They were gazing to the center of the circle where the “inner-circle of the revolution” had been operating just a few hours earlier. Traffic police officers in black winter uniforms, and armed soldiers were circling around them. The “utopian city of liberation” had completely vanished. The core building of the Kafkaesque authoritarian administration – the Mogamma – had recuperated its totalitarian dominance. It had suddenly reappeared out of the shadow of the tents under which freedom had been born. Was this a dream? Are we to wake up all of a sudden from this short ecstasy of liberation? The traffic police seem to have recuperated their former positions and are to be seen everywhere in downtown. Curfew is – starting from tomorrow – back on at 8pm. The reason why? The baltagiyya (paid thugs) as usual…

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Andrew Ellis Johnson & Susanne Slavick Pace is a video loop that inverts the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Washington Monument to reveal the precarious nature of power and the tenuous relationship between the two countries. Their fluctuating rhythm echoes the erratic pace of change before, during, and after the January 25 Revolution.

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Susanne Slavick and Andrew Ellis Johnson are artists and professors at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.In February 2011 they participated in a cultural exchange program in Alexandria.

Springtime in Alexandria Susanne Slavick Arriving shortly before curfew, our eyes were eager

personnel. Given that we were the only tourists

for visible signs of the revolution. We found them

around, we had a proud staff archeologist at our

everywhere. Shopkeepers pasted mocking portraits

exclusive disposal.

of Mubarak and his wife in their storefront windows.

Across the street, freshly painted walls sported

Passersby gleefully recorded them with their cell

happy graffiti in both Arabic and English: “We Love

phones, still in disbelief of such open ridicule. Tanks

Egypt,” “Freedom,” and “25 January 2011.” It was

were stationed at intersections; we hoisted Calder,

hard to reconcile the spirit of celebration with the

a blond baby traveling with us, to the welcoming

high level of visible security.

arms of a soldier. The tank was flanked by a bou-

Though access to cultural landmarks and trea-

tique named ‘Believe’ and a smiling man wearing

sures was limited, sites not present on any tourist

a HILFIGER sweatshirt. Everyone was happy to

map were telling nonetheless. We walked past

accommodate our cameras as long as we did not

backhoes and jack hammering men demolishing the

photograph the tank number. No one seemed wary.

remains of Alexandria’s former main government

In daylight, we saw children painting street curbs

building. Built in 1890, the premise had housed the

in black and white, demonstrating civic pride in the

provincial governor’s office, valuable paintings by

“new Egypt.” Directing traffic, civilians assumed

Egyptian artists including Adham Wanly, Seif Wanly,

the role of the absent or invisible police, now widely

Mahmoud Said, Mohamed Nagy and Hussein Bikar,

unpopular for their history of extortion and abuse.

and a library containing rare books, maps, letters and

Slick posters boasting the national colors lined

documents related to the city’s history. Our Egyptian

subway walls and hung from lampposts. “Future

contact Ahmed Shaker, an articulate computer sci-

Builders” labeled oversize portraits of people draped

entist, informed us that the building also had housed

or painted in the national flag. Advertisements for

a control room surveying the city’s main roads;

Lord razor blades blazoned “My Lord, make this

therefore, it was likely to have contained records of

a safe country.” In the euphoria of the new day, a

police brutality conducted against peaceful protes-

“Youth: Revolution of Change” banner spanned the

tors on those same roads during the first days of the

entrance to the sparkling Alexandria Library. Opposite

revolution.

stood a makeshift monument to the young martyrs of January 25, 2011. Six guards clustered at the gate of the Alexandria

On January 28, 2011 the building was set afire by Molotov cocktails and subsequently looted. Newspaper accounts state that the premises were

National Museum told us that the museum was

allowed to burn and smolder for several days. Given

closed because of security concerns. The Roman

the value of the building and its contents, many won-

Amphitheater was open, though tanks and explo-

dered why. Ahmed surmised that the authorities did

sion-proof shields were still installed at the entrance.

not intervene for several reasons: One was to leave

Concerned by looting attempts around the country,

ample evidence that might promote public percep-

this protection was apparently requested by museum

tion (and rejection) of revolutionaries as hooligans and

THE BUILDING WAS ALLOWED TO BURN AND SMOLDER FOR DAYS, MANY WONDERED WHY

Mountains of debris were all that was left of the building when we visited the site. Receptive through my work as an artist and author of Out of Rubble (Charta, 2011), a book examining the aftermath of war through contemporary art, I began to photograph. Amidst mangled metal and chunks of cement, stone and brick, a huge cracked egg structure rested in the mounds, covered in mosaic of a floral design. Some workers struck poses. One offered a fresh date to Calder’s twin brother Max, who happily devoured it. The hospitality was soon overshadowed by suspicion as some thought we might be spies. Despite Ahmed’s assurances, it was difficult to com-

thugs. Another was that ignoring the fire would result

prehend that I, that anyone, would be interested

in the convenient destruction of records of the local

in photographing rubble. As the workers became

authorities’ own abuse and corruption.

increasingly agitated, we moved on.

Esmat Dawestashy, an artist and former direc-

The photographs I took became the basis for the

tor of the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria who is

Springtime in Alexandria series. As in my prior work,

now head of the Alexandria Creativity Center, pro-

I first manipulated the images digitally. Using

posed another theory in the newspaper Al-Ahram:

gouache I hand-painted scenes of cultivation, con-

not responding to the fire and the looting provided

struction, flora or fauna into the photographed scenes

cover for one of the biggest art heists in Alexandria's

of destruction.

modern history.* Security’s apparent laissez-faire approach to the incident became even more suspi-

the photographic record. Photographs might docu-

cious considering that the adjacent Greco-Roman

ment but art can transform. Combining painting with

Museum, with its 27 halls of ancient treasures,

photography is one way for the real and the imaginary

was left untouched. Speculation on all these fronts

to coexist. Painted interventions can reveal what has

seemed typical of the shifting narratives that occurred

survived or been lost, or pose the possibility of rebirth

during and after the Revolution.(In June 2011, Esmat

and recovery. For this series, I chose to paint the ibis,

Dawestashy exhibited a painting in Zamalek of his

a bird that appears in ancient Egyptian artworks and

son, Abdallah, who was injured with a bullet to his

thrives as a natural species today.

chest earlier that year. The painting shows him recov-

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I wanted the human touch to intrude upon and alter

Often mummified and venerated, the ibis head

ered, in front of Alexandria’s State Security building

is honored as a symbol of Thoth, who was the per-

as protestors stormed in on March 4, after clashing

sonification of the universal order, the 'heart and

with security forces.)

tongue' of the sun god Ra who 'spoke the words'

The promise of the Revolution is a long-term proposition

that resulted in the creation of the heavens and the

in stripes of red, white and black, fathers carrying

earth. In ancient Egypt, the ‘heart’ was the seat of

kids on their shoulders, puppeteers, flag-wavers,

intelligence and mind. Standing for the universal

and vendors selling treats and souvenirs of all kinds.

order, Thoth later became associated with arbitrating

At the center stood a traffic light with a saddle dan-

godly disputes, magic arts, the system of writing,

gling from it. Below a derisive sign read: “Signed by

the development of science, and the judgment of

Gamal,” which means “camel,” a succinct street

the dead. In historical and mythological accounts,

version of the David and Goliath narrative, the 'little

his symbol, the ibis, was credited with devouring

guy' vs. the giant.

invasions of winged serpents, and thus regarded as

Springtime in Alexandria aims to invoke a season

a protector. Today, the high numbers of the bird are

of hope in a climate of bitter realities. What sus-

pushing out other species. To supplement its natural

tenance might a bird or any living being, ordinary

diet, the species often scavenges at landfills and

or sacred, derive from a ransacked economy, from

dumps.

rubble of an order that was far from universal, from

In the Springtime in Alexandria series, the ibis

justice twisted and denied? The promise of the rev-

struts and pecks amidst piles of rubble destined for

olution is a long-term proposition. Building on the

landfill. Returning to its mythological powers, its

logic and intelligence of Thoth, it must be rooted in

presence might suggest the logic and intelligence

ground realities. Embodied as the ibis, it must not

necessary to build a new nation, acting as a 'protec-

forget to soar.

tor' against backsliding, a substitute tyranny, or other kinds of invasions. It may offer a promising sign of vitality and hope. Numerous signs and images have experienced an unwitting and perhaps arbitrary linkage with the Revolution — through propaganda, satirical response or proximity to real trauma. The new circuits are signs of how meanings become mutable, even in our dreams. Those placid camels that hover on sandy horizons in the western imagination are not immune to this mutability: their image was displaced on February 2, 2011, as television and YouTube coverage showed us pro-Mubarak thugs riding into Tahrir Square on camelback, bearing down on protestors. Four weeks later, we entered a more festive square, thronging with families with faces painted

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Shrouds II (Cairo)

Shrouds II (Cairo) is part of an ongoing series of

Monika Weiss

cuted in the public domain may also be considered

projects which explore the notion of public lament

in the context of Giorgio Agamben’s “mediality” and

as a form of expression outside language: time-

Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s “visibility”:

less expression of lament is juxtaposed with the

“The gesture is the exhibition of a mediality; it is the

archive of historical events. Sited within the space

process of making a means visible as such. It allows

of historical memory and contemporary urban land-

the emergence of the being-in-the-medium of human

scape, lament is an emotional reaction and affective

beings and thus it opens the ethical dimension for

response. It seems to be stigmatized by an associa-

them (...) the gesture is communication of communi-

tion with the private sphere, and is thus considered

cability. It has precisely nothing to say because what

inappropriate or shameful in public. The language of

it shows is the being-in-language of human being as

public and choreographed group lamentation (the

pure mediality. However, because being-in-language

embodied gesture of postmemory [4]) could offer a

is not something that could be said in sentences, the

possibility for expanding our awareness of coexis-

gesture is essentially always a gesture of not being

It is the freedom of a life that does not give itself

tence and responsibility for the Other. As part of this

able to figure something out in language.”[8]

to separate, differentiated forms of existence, the

series of public projects executed internationally,

freedom of a people for which art is the same as reli-

Shrouds II (Cairo) considers contemporary contexts of

tion of thought, where the body sees itself seeing, is

apathy, indifference, invisibility, and historical amnesia

visible and sensitive to itself. In The Visible and the

within the public forum and polis.

Invisible, Merleau-Ponty writes about the “strange

gion, which is the same as politics, which is the same [1] Rancière, Jacques The Politics of Aesthetics, Continuum Publishing Group, 2006

as ethics: a way of being together… I am referring to the more modest, almost imperceptible way in which the collections of objects, images and signs… are logic of the mystery, of a testimony of co-presence.[1]

Maps of cities are flat, yet their histories contain vertical strata of events. Where in the topography and consciousness of a city can we locate its memory? The body of a city may be compared symbolically to our body and its memory. One of the manifestations of

underlines their political power achieved through the

a city’s memory is its architecture and how it is inhab-

public, collective, transnational, repetitive, and perfor-

ited and occupied by the citizens, such as in the case

mative action. Ancient rituals of lamentation offer a

of Tahrir Square. To paraphrase Saskia Sassen, cities

ground for contemporary reflection, evoking the poten-

are potential spaces of resistance to military power:

tiality for interconnectedness through transformative

they are “weak regimes.” While cities cannot destroy

acts of inscription and becoming, which erase fixed

power, they can contest it.[2]

boundaries. Overcoming language, the self multiplies

The space of city is negotiated between unknown elements through “ethical and political relations between strange, foreign, irreducible elements of

and dissipates as lament becomes a site of exchange, co-disappearance and co-emerging. Shrouds II (Cairo) employs the poetic enactment of

otherness in our encounters with human and even

ancient rituals of lamentation combined with site-spe-

non-human events in the world.”[3] Bracha Ettinger

cific and performative acts of drawing and inhabiting

invites us to understand aspects of subjectivity

space for long intervals of time by large groups of

as encounters occurring at shared border spaces

participants. Mark-making becomes a poetic and politi-

between several partial-subjects, never entirely united

cal gesture of enunciation within the public domain.

nor totally lost, but sharing and processing, within dif-

Marks and lines resulting from such inhabitations

ference, elements of each unknown other.

are dispersed, irregular, broken, hard to execute, and

Performed and inhabited, lament responds to loss

impossible to control. The archive appears in the act

and historical trauma. Lament is both real and imag-

of mark-making and the resulting traces of embodied

ined, a conversation conducted through the fragile

presence, the disjunction inside the fragile membrane

veil dividing our immanent being from its disappear-

of the shroud. It emerges as located between the living

ance. The collapse of language in rituals of lamentation

being and the speaking being that marks its presence.

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touch, when a certain visible, a certain tangible, turns

a sense of political community of a complex order,

back upon the whole of the visible, the whole of the

and it does this first of all by bringing to the fore the

tangible, of which it is a part, or when suddenly it

relational ties that have implications for theorizing

finds itself surrounded by them, or when between it

fundamental dependency and ethical responsibil-

and them, and through their commerce, is formed a

ity.”[5] Group mourning is an act of political force,

Visibility, a Tangible in itself, which belong properly

and not only a response to individual grief. We should

neither to the body qua fact nor to the world qua fact

ask then, whose life is or is not worthy of grief? In

- as upon two mirrors facing one another where two

[4] I employ this term after Marianne Hirsh, however extending its scope beyond the notion of “second generation” as defined by Hirsh in her seminal The Generation of Postmemory essay in Poetics Today 29:1 (Spring 2008) – I think of postmemory as communal memory and historical trauma that concerns large populations across generational and cultural divides.

the context of war and revolution, loss is often about

indefinite series of images set in one another arise

the loss of the Other, but in reality the Other is also

which belong really to neither of the two surfaces,

a part of oneself. Empathy and collective mourn-

since each is only the rejoinder of the other, and

ing, including mourning the loss of others who are

which therefore form a couple, a couple more real

supposed to be our enemies, can become a power-

then either of them.”[9]

[3] Ettinger, Bracha Art as the Transport-Station of Trauma In: Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger: Artworking 19851999, Ghent-Amsterdam: Ludion & Brussels: Palais des Beaux-Arts, 2000

Lament and The Pollution of Polis

Monika Weiss, Shrouds II (Cairo), 2013. Photographic collage, courtesy the artist.

adhesion” of seer and visible: “There is vision,

Ultimately, as Judith Butler wrote, “grief furnishes

[2] For further discussion, see Saskia Sassen, Territory, Authority, Rights, Princeton University Press, 2006

increasingly shifting from the logic of dissensus to the

Lament is extreme expression in the face of loss.

Merleau-Ponty considered vision to be an opera-

ful political tool, in opposition to heroic, "masculine fantasies of conquest and power." [6] Public space

Shrouds [Całuny]

needs to remain unresolved and fluid, continuously

The shroud is usually made of thin fabric such as

exposing the penetrability of its existing structures

cotton, often almost translucent. It connotes touch-

[5] Butler, Judith Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence, Verso, 2004

of power. It needs to be wounded, drawn upon, and

ing and veiling the body and refers to mourning its

rebuilt time and time again into a transparent and

loss. In Polish “całun” (shroud) has an additional

[6] Deutsche, Rosalyn Hiroshima After Iraq: Three Studies in Art and War (The Wellek Library Lectures), Columbia University Press, 2011

dialogical forum, performed and negotiated through

etymology in its connection to “pocałunek” (kiss).

questioning presence and absence. The question

The gesture of covering someone’s corpse with

of “others” is best resolved by shifting focus from

sheets of canvas has an equally intimate resonance.

“I” to Emanuel Levinas’ notion of “reponse-ability”.

We assume the proximity to the body. We carefully

[7] Levinas, Emmanuel On Escape/De l’evasion, Stanford University Press, 2003

Levinas’ subjectivity is formed in and through our

touch its skin, wash it as part of a ritual cleansing,

subjected-ness to the other. Levinas’ call for “non-

and cover it with the ultimate caress of a shroud.

indifference” is closely related to his critique of

Enshrouding implies also remembering, holding onto

vision, where ethics is considered “an optics” but

something fragile and ephemeral.

[8] Agamben, Giorgio Means without Ends: Notes on Politics, University of Minnesota Press, 2000 [9] Merleau-Ponty, Maurice Eye and Mind, Paris: Gallimard 1961

without image, “bereft of the synoptic and totaliz-

The title Shrouds II (Cairo) refers to an earlier

ing, objectifying virtues of vision” [7] – vision without

public project Shrouds I (Całuny) that took place last

image, signifying non-indifferent ways of seeing

year in Zielona Góra, Poland. In that project I flew on

others. The agency of performative gestures exe-

an airplane above the site of a former concentration

ible), offers a continuum of sense, from one sense

women in 1942. About 1,000 prisoners worked and

to the other. Yet it seems impossible to observe or

perished there in one of the many infamous Death

capture the precise moment or experience of tran-

Marches that took place in 1945. I invited a group of

sition from pre-sign to signification, image, and

local women to inhabit this site and perform choreo-

meaning. Through the immediacy and proximity that,

graphed gestures of lamentation, through their own

more than any other medium, it appears to offer,

presence evoking the absence of the women prison-

drawing becomes an event, or as Levinas would say

ers. Located centrally within the Zielona Góra, the site

the dramatic event of “being immersed in being.”

is now a ruin, abandoned and composed of mostly of

But it is also a thing, in its materiality, the event of its

debris. It resembles an open yet forgotten wound in

happening is laid and preserved in charcoal and graph-

the body of the city. [10]

ite on the white sheets of Shrouds. The drawing’s

For Shrouds II (Cairo) I will invite women from Cairo

relation to language lies not in language as a goal, but

[10] Upon my arrival its history remained largely unknown to Zielona Gora’s citizens. Today the story of the site is being discussed and negotiated more and more, despite the fact that it was sold by the city to a private developer, and despite the officially and administratively supported urban and historical amnesia.

to enact slow silent gestures of lamentation, choreo-

in exposing its mediality, which is the condition of

graphed in sequences of time and space, in Tahrir

language. We seem to conceive of language as not

Square. The performance will be filmed from an air-

evolving, not coming to being gradually; it is there all

[13] Kristeva, Ibid.

plane circling above over several hours. This footage

at once, catastrophically, or not at all. Communication

will later become a poetic film. The participants will

as exposure breaks with this ontology. Drawing as

cover Tahrir Square with hundreds of sheets of white

trace becomes lament.

[14] Rutherford, Ian When You Go to the Meadow… The Lament of the TaptaraWomen in the Hittite Sallis Wastais Ritual in Lament: Studies in the Ancient Mediterranean and Beyond, ed. Ann Suter, Oxford University Press, 2008

canvas, stitching them together with white thread

The way we experience the repetition and accumu-

and placing stones to prevent them from flying away

lation of drawn marks (irrespective of what is being

with the wind. On the day of the performance, in the

drawn) bears a close resemblance to the "intonations,

early morning, groups of women dressed in black

hesitations, and inflections of speech",[11] akin to

will gather in Tahrir Square. They will gradually place

enunciation. Both seem to occur independently of

long sheets of white fabric on the ground. In Part I of

sight, as generated by the mind and mediated by per-

the performance they will stitch the sheets together,

ception. Both fail to express yet through this attempt

enshrouding the entire square. They will proceed

something occurs, other than the meaning, the true

to lie down, one by one, at irregular intervals. With

“non-meaning of the Thing.”[12] Gestural acts of

their eyes closed and using large chunks of charcoal

drawing are essentially melancholic, perhaps due to

and graphite, they will draw around their bodies (Part

their predominant lack of color and the predominance

II). The white sheets will become darker as they are

of line over surface or the often unbounded, incon-

covered with layers of charcoal marks.

stant edge. Perhaps the act of leaving a trace is by its

Flying above on a small airplane, I will film the per-

nature a “melancholy moment, an actual or imaginary

Parts of this text have been inspired by and are related to my earlier writings and lectures, including Performing the Drawing, lecture at Harvard University, Boston, 2012; Anamnesis, published in Technoetic Arts, Intellect, Bristol, UK, 2006 [ed. Roy Ascott]; and SostenutoTransforming Intervals published in Presence in the Mindfield: Art, Identity and the Technology of the Transformation, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal, 2011 [eds. Roy Ascott and Luis Miguel Girão].

position in society was more public, “were thus left

as an evolution in time or as a depository of gradual

comparatively free of death pollution.”[14]

accession and accretion, but rather as a flat, non-lin-

[11] Newman, Avis The Stage of Drawing: Gesture and Act, edited by Catherine de Zegher, Tate, London, 2003 [12] Kristeva, Julia Black Sun. Depression and Melancholia, Columbia University Press, 1992

cal experience, the archive appears in my work not

John Cage reminds us that absence of sound is

ear, layered surface, composed of multiple narratives,

never entirely possible or complete. Ultimately, it is

which offer the potential to overcome the structures of

the non-hierarchical, uncompromised attention given

power. Fragmentary and non-hierarchical, the database

to seemingly opposite structures of composition and

of the archive is traversed in a search for meaning.

chance that I take as the greatest inspiration from

Lament assumes a form of expression that is excluded

Cage’s work. Extending the symbolic meaning of this

or expelled from language – the latter understood as

“impossible silence” into a political realm, I work with

a system or design of meaning in relation to event.

the voices of people who were damaged by their

As a loss of language (leros), lament traverses the flat

abrupt encounter with power. Focusing on the moment

surface of the archive.

when language collapses in face of the loss of the

In the oldest examples of lament, intercourse between

ability to signify, I compose sound from testimonies,

the living world and the world of the dead is performed

recitations, laments, and sounds of the environment. I transform and layer the recorded tracks to build new

Monika Weiss, Shrouds 1 (Całuny), 2012. Color photography, still from selfshot film. Public project, performance, sound composition. Courtesy the artist.

camp [Gruenberg], which was built for young Jewish

fluctuating harmonies while preserving the original event of speech—the act of enunciation. In Shrouds II (Cairo) I plan to record the voices of local women, including possibly those who were part of Tahrir Square demonstrations and those who were abused, assaulted and tortured. Their voices will be incorporated into the new sound composition accompanying the film. Epilogue as a dialogue either between two beings, one present

The city is a place of contamination by the flesh of the

and one absent, on the other side, or between two

body, the blood of the memory, and the affect of the

antiphonal groups of mourners.

empathy. It is exposed and polluted by lamentation and

The imagined dialogue between a traveller and a

reveals itself as an open wound, as an ultimate state

tomb was full of austere brevity characteristic of the

of fluidity, as finally belonging to all, a fundamentally

archaic style, which later developed into a refrain, the

public domain. Politically acknowledged and publicly

choral ephymnia, incantation, repetition, and echoing.

inhabited Otherness is the very fabric of the city. Cairo,

ABA – a ternary form of lament – is a recurring expres-

as any other city today, becomes fully itself through the

sive form that has possibly influenced certain forms

porosity of doubt - through our questioning, arguing,

of European music, among others, for example the

voting, debating, marking, erasing, mourning, commemorating, negotiating and re-drawing.

formance. The hovering and circling airplane will be

loss of meaning.”[13] Drawing retains its prehistoric

my drawing tool. The act of flying and filming will

qualities, is coextensive with the human. It becomes

correspond to outlining Tahrir Square’s vulnerable

archaic in the age of mechanical reproduction and

sonata with its earlier structure, allegro-adagio-allegro.

territory, its shifting histories and unknown futures.

virtual reality, yet this makes contact with the tactility

In traditions of lament, the address (opening) would be

The movement of the airplane will provide a specific

of the most up-to-date mediums. In an act of recla-

followed by an appeal (intervening narrative/recollec-

Monika Weiss, October-November, 2012

rhythm for the resulting cinematic image sequencing.

mation – of the visual – in the registration of actions

tion of past events) and finally reiteration of the initial

Monika Weiss is a New York-based artist and professor

Later, one by one, the women will gradually lift them-

something can be seen, retrieved from the depths of

address. Epode means “after-song” but also “after-

at Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington

selves up and slowly proceed to remove black scarfs

the mind, brought into existence and only just named.

someone,” a magic incantation, designed to bring

University in St. Louis, USA.

from their heads, placing them on the ground (Part

someone back, if only in imagination, in the moment of

III). As the performers gradually leave the area, the

Antiphonal Structures

black squares of fabric remain scattered amongst the

Language is a sovereign system that signifies and

white sheets, adding another layer of pattern to the

coincides with denotation. It maintains itself in rela-

entation is seen by the anthropologist Maurice Bloch as

emerging and ever-changing drawing-shroud covering

tion to what it describes but withdraws from it

part of a more general association of women with death

the square.

into 'pure' language. In my work lament questions

by early tribal societies, who tended to perceive death

language.

as analogous to birth, both fundamental biological pro-

Drawing, because of its status as becoming (blot becoming mark, mark becoming line, line becoming

An expression that arises from speech, lament rep-

incantation, of enunciation. The strong tendency for women to be agents of lam-

cesses, and both seemingly controlled by women, who

border, border becoming body, body becoming sign ...

resents the moment of breaking speech and facing

by the act of giving birth, were already “contaminated“

the direction of this movement being always revers-

loss of meaning. A recording of phenomenologi-

or anointed by the “other side” while men, whose

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Today we are all Egyptians

Jane Jin kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung

Diary Notes November 29, 2011

educate our children to become like young Egyptian

A rotary dial phone is ringing and no one is picking

people,” while his own people became further divided

it up. Its distinctly analogue tone has been echoing

economically, and Italian Silvio Berlusconi’s “There is

through the halls of the completely empty Egyptian

nothing new in Egypt. Egyptians are making history as

Museum for at least ten minutes. It comes from

usual” were some of the slogans now greeting airport

a hall exhibiting artifacts from the time of Pharaoh

arrivals from large-scale banners. The whole world

Ramses. The phone is placed on the top of a partially

desired Egyptian independence because it brought a

broken glass vitrine. The vitrine contains a mummi-

sense of renewed hope to the notion of the people as

fied corpse, haphazardly wrapped in plastic; its mouth

a victorious and democratic force in itself. Everyone

is open, its scull covered with fine red hair that has

seemed to feel what Austrian President Heinz Fische

endured countless years. A small device next to the

felt when he announced: "The people of Egypt are the

exhibit is measuring humidity levels for the books.

greatest people on earth, and they deserve a Nobel

The phone continues to ring. Who is on the other

Prize for Peace." Perhaps though, this sense of trans-

line? And does the caller has any idea of where her

national pride and ownership of the Egyptian people’s

call is being directed to? The phone looks as if it was

revolution was most directly expressed by Norwegian

placed atop this vitrine thirty years ago and has not

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who announced:

been answered since. Its primary function appears

”Today we are all Egyptians.”

to be the collection of dust in the thick accumulating

An orientalist desire persists in these quotes. There

layers. But surely it can’t have been ringing for thirty

was a deep-seated desire to see the Egyptian civili-

years? Maybe after a while one becomes acclimated

zation re-awaken, it having spellbound the world for

to one's surroundings and ceases to listen. Perhaps, if

centuries, facilitated by the picturesque 'discoveries'

no one recalls who brought the phone and why it was

of British and the French colonialist treasure hunters.

placed in this particular setting, then there is no need

The selectiveness of the gaze hungry for images of

to attend to its incessant and unending ringing.

revolution and democratic agency was not unlike the

You are a belated spectator. You weren’t here for what was coined

postcard gaze that turned the Pyramids of Giza into picture-perfect, time-transgressive

“The Arab Spring,” bringing new hope

tokens of men’s greatness, unob-

to the world by marking the end of the

structed by camel herders, fences,

dark decade beginning with the crush-

the tourist police and relentless sales-

ing of two towers on September 11

men. You wonder if that persistent

a decade earlier. You witnessed the

image of Egypt, as the civilization that

inflated euphoria during last year's

created the ancient Pyramids, the

announcement of the Arab revolutions

Valley of the Kings, the death mask of

from a distance. US President Barack

Tutankhamun, along with America's

Obama’s announcement: “We must

geopolitical stakes in its long-term

"Building the Future" Mobinil ad in Sadat Metro station, covered with bypassers' notes and signatures. (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A., September 2012)

ally, might be the reason why the Egyptian Revolution

for the fall. You arrived on the first day of the parlia-

reappears on television while the Tunisian revolution

mentary elections that many deemed illegitimate and

another one. You want to believe that the hands

and the massacres in Bahrain are largely forgotten.

fraudulent even before the votes were counted and

that grope you ended up there because of the lack

it turned out that the religious parties won the vast

of space to move. You would have preferred not to

February 10, 2012

December 16, 2011

majority. On the first anniversary of the overthrow of

believe what you later read in the newspapers that

It feels as if the street is perspiring and every step you

A volley of gunshots in the middle of the night wakes

Mubarak, you are reminded of the significance of the

numerous incidents of sexual harassment happened

take envelopes you in warm sweat. The buildings are

me up. A limited number of shots are usual but this

date January 25 not by cheering crowds but by street

on that day and that those were not committed by

broken and burnt. The black traces of smoke seem

time they don’t stop. I lay awake in my bed, reminded

vendors who have swiftly renewed their inventory

the military but by the crowd itself, that the protest

to be damp and heavy, the barbed wire that has been

that the city is always lit. An illuminated haze of smog

from fake papyrus to national flags and T-shirts testi-

was infiltrated by political parties and that the Muslim

torn down and rolled into a ball, collecting hundreds

fills the sky and streams in through the window. The

fying: “January 25th – I was here.” The anniversary,

Brotherhood and the Salafis had their candidates out

of plastic bags, is moist. Each step you take is sub-

walls look as if they are glowing. The shots continue

which marked the beginning of the 18 days of protests

in thousands to quell the protests and change the

merged in the residue of the events that have recently

and are accompanied by sirens.

leading to the fall of Mubarak, is not a day of cheer-

anniversary of the revolution into a day of national cel-

occurred and become a painful reminder of the horror that has been unleashed.

You want to correct your story and replace it with

fulness but a day of tension. You are there among

ebration, while the military government which does

January 8, 2012

the crowds advocating the continuance of the revo-

not hesitate to randomly kill civilians is still in power all

There is a sense of fear that slowly creeps in on you

lution due to the thousands of civilians still awaiting

the while Mubarak is receiving protection by the law.

however much you try to resist it because you experi-

military trials and the hundreds of martyrs remaining

ence realities that do not easily wash away when you

unavenged.

close your eyes at night. Somehow during the killings,

Later you learn from the newspapers that on this

Your suspicion that things are not as transparent as

stand that there is a very thin line between fear and paranoia and that each feed the other.

As you continue down the street, one step after the other, you realize that you are alone except for a single man standing in front of an adjacent wall. He seems

they seemed at first glance has been confirmed but

to be contemplating how a wall of this size could have

this doesn’t translate into fear yet. The fear comes a

been built, or perhaps, how to tear down such a huge

bloodshed and gendered violence of December you

day, the anniversary, more people entered the square

few days later and has to do with the fact that the vio-

wall. As you approach him he is silent and you can see

managed to restrain yourself. The battles seemed con-

than ever before. You want to say that it was a power-

lence is no longer isolated to the square but grows as

that he is peering though a small crack in between

tained to the square and you thought you had learned

ful re-awakening of last spring and that the revolution

a tension amongst people until it is too large to contain

the concrete blocks that form the barrier. You peak

and explodes at unpredictable moments. From your

through the crack as well. Hundreds of military sol-

is alive. You want to

You want to say that there is still hope for change because you, too, wish to witness a process of empowerment rather than one of despair

believe in a victory of the people; you want to save your set of beliefs. You want to say that there is still hope for change because you, too, wish to witness a process of empowerment rather than one of despair. You want to say that people were gath-

None of them are moving. They stand silently, anticipating what will come from your side of the wall

diers are in position beside rows of tanks, personnel carriers and demolished cars. None of them are moving. They stand silently, anticipating what will come from your side of the wall. You direct your eyes toward the man beside you and note that his stare is unflinching. You thought that the wall marked the end of the street but come to understand that it is its beginning. Maybe the street doesn’t end at all but continues, increasingly dark, towards what cannot be imagined and ceases to exist.

ered in unison to fight to decipher the cultural codes that would keep you

for a common belief in

safe. You knew that after Friday prayers when tear

civil society. But what

window you see a large group of young people con-

mainly with time-based media. They are based in

gas responded to angry protesters outside the Interior

you experience is dif-

glomerating on the street below you beating a man to

Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2012 they participated in

Ministry it was time for you to retire. The turning point

ferent. You are pushed

death. You keep seeing the repeated motion of hands

the artist-in-residence program at Townhouse gallery

was January 2012 when not only your mind, but also

into a sea of men and

lifting and smashing down and you hear the sound of

in Cairo.

your body began to understand that the revolution is

the crowd swallows you

large pieces of concrete confronting a much softer

not the birds-eye view presented by countless broad-

and you can no longer back out but are carried with the

matter a long time after the event has passed. The fol-

cast, circulating 24/7 on the news channels of the

waves of shoulders, hips, arms and hands until you are

lowing day you see the next-door neighbor washing

world. The revolution is not Tahrir Square from above,

no longer a separate entity. You are pushed towards a

thick clusters of blood off the rusty old hood of a blue-

it does not play out from the safe elevated distance of

stage where someone is screaming into a microphone

and-white 1970s Chevrolet that was the scene. On

international journalists using with wide-angle lenses.

and the voice comes out piercingly loud and distorted

the balcony across from you, you see the contour of

The revolution up close is everything but that. It is

to your right. You start feeling hands on places of your

an unmoving body. You are wondering. The body is

the chaos on the ground, a process much slower and

body that you wish were your own but which in the

too still. You cannot see clearly and you take a picture

more complicated, compromised, and conflicted than

crowd becomes the property of the mass. You realize

of the scene so as to be able to magnify the image for

anyone desires it to be.

that you, like everyone else, is unable to decipher who

closer inspection. You realize that it is a mannequin

is who and what is what. You feel suffocated.

that was used for a protest and you begin to under-

You were not here for the spring. Instead you came

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Jin Kaisen and Sondin-Kung are visual artists working

Eliane Ettmueller

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 14 march 2012

blogGED 31 march 2011

La vache qui rit

The Relation between the Valkyrie and Mubarak – a Wordplay turns into an Aesopian Symbol At the Opera Square a somewhat useless sign meant to direct the attention of drivers to (non-existing) traffic lights was turned into the frame for a logo by the Mubarak opposition: a crossed-out picture of la

vache qui rit, the laughing cow. Thanks to globalization, the image of a red laughing cow is beaming from the wrapping of soft French cheese in over 120 countries. Jules Bel invented the popular milk product in the end of the 19th century and organized a competition for a product label. Benjamin Rabier won with the laughing cow. The name “la vache qui rit” derives from a French wordplay mocking the food transport of the German army during World War I – called

Visual Propaganda: Hazim Abu Isma'il and the Army

After Mubarak’s demission,

understood this fact very fast: the army and the presidential candidate

which marked an end to the

Hazim Abu Isma'il.

first phase of the Egyptian

European children might be reminiscent of Santa Claus, appeared on buses

people celebrated the victory

and cars all over Cairo. Instead of a religious garment he wore a modern

together. Egyptians of all gen-

suit with a blue tie, and promoted “a decent state” (dawla muhtarama) and

erations posed for photographs

“modest people” (sha'b massun). In Arabic both attributes are directly to

in front of the tanks that had

patriarchal honor-codes and their relation to women’s (chaste) conduct. In

surrounded Tahrir Square,

other words: as a dominant, religiously immaculate male, Abu Isma'il

allegedly in order to protect

is metaphorically proposing to penetrate the state in order to make it

the demonstrators. Against

become decent.

what the army has come to protect them against remained undefined… The initial euphoric glorification of the soldiers as the

Walküre (i.e. “Valkyrie” in French). The divine heroine of the Norse

“guardians of the revolution” came to an end after multiple scandals. As

mythology was turned into a dumbly laughing cow and exposed to glee in

early as on March 9 2011, “virginity tests” were perpetrated on the alleg-

hostile countries.

edly “protected” female protesters in order to “protect” them even more;

Egyptian Aesopian speech was developed as a tool of resistance to

namely against the accusation of prostitution. Then claims for civil trials

Mubarak’s authoritarian regime, and integrated the laughing cow into its

for the demonstrators who had been sent to prison at the beginning of

vocabulary. “La vache qui rit” in written satire and caricature came to rep-

the revolution after military sentencing (most probably to “protect” these

resent ex-president Mubarak.

young people against themselves?!) were articulated. Later on, the mas-

The lines of migration at play in our inconspicuous little sticker thus

sacre in the stadium of Port Said and the brutally disrupted demonstrations

include: the Nordic myth of the Valkyrie turning into a laughing cow and

in Mohamed Mahmoud Street (next to Tahrir Square), made people doubt

– 100 years later – coming to represent the Egyptian president. A logo

about the honesty of the army and Anti-SCAF graffiti started marking the

designed as a parody of a popular etymology was employed anew as an

streets. Regardless of the constant reminders issued by the army on how

Aesopian emblem of resistance against oppression on another continent.

they protected the people during the revolution, graffiti artists have long

In the first step a symbol of enemy strength was mocked, while in the

stopped depicting kind soldiers who distribute flowers to smiling little

second step, the outcome and commercialization of this very parody was

girls. In the same spots where, one year ago demonstrators had written:

used to degrade the most prominent representative of a corrupt regime.

“the people want the fall of the system” all the tanks now carry the fol-

This is how the happy red cow out-laughed two menacing powers.

lowing caption, in yellow on purple: “the people and the army, hand in hand!” For the ones who are not able to read – and this is still a big portion of the people who are roaming the Egyptian streets night and day – big posters were produced, depicting a gentle soldier cradling a baby in his arms. The spectator targeted on an emotional level is prone to dismiss the Kalashnikov dangling from the soldier’s left shoulder. Not only the army has started to use visual propaganda posters on the streets in order to win over the huge off-line part of the population. Although these millions of people might easily be forgotten from an economical point of view, in democratic elections the vote of the most disadvantaged analphabetic counts as much as the elitist’s. Two parties

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About three weeks ago, the happily smiling face of a man, who for

revolution, the army and the

Nele Broenner Caption of the revolution How did Western media frame the Image of Egyptian women during the revolution?

photo is dependent on its written contextualization; the written account of what the image shows directs our eyes to see just that.

William John Thomas Mitchell states that the display of war photography positively affirms the living conditions of an on-looker observing from afar. The depiction of humanitarian tragedies 'elsewhere' reassures us of the safety and comfort of our lives. The images of a violent revolution provide proof of our freedom, our superiority, our emancipation, and the validity of our political system. Furthermore the existence of a photo functions as a witness: We assume that what we see is true – that the depicted moment really happened.

This visual essay examines what happens if we detach the caption from its host: What if there is only text and no image? Will the text offer a framework for an alternative image? Will the gap of the missing image offer space for the viewer’s individual version of truth? Might hidden agendas reveal themselves to us?

In the case of news media the context is not conveyed just by the image: A text caption accompanies the image, providing information of place and time and a brief description of the situation. Thus the virtue of a documentary

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The collection of photographs I based this work on depicts women in the Egyptian revolution as they were represented by major western newspapers during 2011-2012. Nele Broenner is a comicartist, Illustrator, and founding member of EUROZENTRIKA an interdisciplinary artistic research initiative based in Berlin.

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Mashrabiya Recension of Al-Ahram Newspaper, Cairo Feb 12, 2011 By Kaya Behkalam

Crop

Johanna Domke & Marouan Omara Talking about images Voice Over/2. Version 11.01.2013

SCENE I: Black screen, voices in different

I had tried to avoid political events. I always felt my

did not need any posing in front of the camera. Even

states of confusion

pictures were used to show something unreal.

if he was photographed from the back he looked strong and powerful. He kissed and hugged the

A

S

crowd and even people visiting Egypt, like Nixon and

My name is Ahmed but it could also be Amr – what

The situation in the country remained unstable – not

Che Guevara, would get a big bear hug from him.

I remember is, that I am a photographer. They told me

much later, I had to cover a demonstration in front

that I am in hospital, recovering from a heart attack.

of the Ministry of Interior… I could get up to a roof,

S

where I was out of reach for rocks and tear gas.

As children we learned to be proud of our country.

H

I put up my tripod and had made some good shots.

We wanted our leader to be strong – like the pha-

It is the 19 of January 2011: My name is Hossam,

I looked up from the viewer and started to watch the

raohs of ancient times. Our industry was growing

I have a wife and two daughters… It is difficult to keep

people... I could not describe what it was, but

and everybody took part in building this great nation.

order of my thoughts and memory… everything is

I packed my camera and I knew this was the last

In this time there was a very popular song by our

floating without direction.

time I would ever take a picture.

great national singer Abdel Halim Hafez, called Sura.

M

SCENE III: Al Ahram: Newspaper - Entrance hall

Egypt – being worker or doctor, man or women… all

It is the 24 of January 2011: I'm lying in bed,

(Background noise)

being part of the image of Egypt. Sura is the revolu-

It means “image” and it talks about the people of

tion of the worker, the Arab, the human!”

listening to the sound of Cairo. The sun is setting… I can see the shadows and light coming from the

S

window…

I have been working as a photojournalist for about

A

30 years. My father had been the head of the photo

Everybody remembers Nasser, if he experienced

S

department of Al Ahram, Egypt’s oldest and most

his time or not. His successor Anwar Sadat wanted

It is 28 January 2011: My name is Serif, I'm a photog-

important state newspaper. He started his posi-

to have the same closeness to the people. But

rapher at Al Ahram newspaper… I can now walk to

tion under Egypt's first, or actually second president

Sadat was playing this role like an actor – he staged

the window. My wife called me today. She told me

Gamal Abdel Nasser, who nationalized the media

himself in big media events. Farouk Ibrahim, the

Tahrir Square is full of people demonstrating… the

in the 1960s. Nasser had ordered to build this big

well-known private photographer of Sadat, was

revolution broke out.

complex for the newspaper. It gathered all depart-

a friend of my father and visited our house often.

ments of production under one roof. Until today Al

I remember many of his pictures. You would see

Ahram engages over 16,000 workers.

Sadat as a pharaonic leader with a pole in his hand,

SCENE II: 6th of October Bridge, Cairo (With a more assured voice)

as a simple man from the country side with tradiS

tional clothes, as a family man with his beautiful wife

A

Nasser knew about the importance of images. He

and kids on the villa lawn, or as an ordinary person

I had spent the entire 18 days of the revolution in hos-

was aware that the right message could communi-

shaving in his bathroom, wearing only underwear.

pital. Everybody said I missed a great moment in my

cate to the whole country – even to the people that

This picture caused a lot of trouble. In Egypt we

country's history… I was only glad, I did not have to

could not read or write and those far away from the

were not used to showing this kind of privacy. Sadat

be out there. During all my career as a photo-journalist

capital. Nasser had a great presence as a leader. He

just loved the media.

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meta-image tahrir

S Much later I was one of about 30 photographers that

altogether. Nobody talked about the limitations we

were allowed into the presidential palace. Mubarak

felt. The control was now in the heads of everybody.

had so many photographers, so none of them could

We feared to not meet the requirements of the gov-

get close to him. It was a privilege of course to come

ernment – and one would watch the other.

to the palace, but they treated us very badly. We should always try not to be seen. When there were

There was a clear division about those not included

international visitors, we should not photograph the

in the frame of the national image anymore: People

guests crossing their legs in front of the president.

in the city of the dead in Cairo were too poor to be

This was disrespectful to Mubarak. We either had to

represented, a veiled girl can't be shown in the news-

cover the legs with a plant or a corner of a table or

paper because they should not be an example of the

they would change the legs with a different pair in

women in the country, farmers in the oasis were too

the lab. The images we took never left the presiden-

far away and too traditional and the people in Sinai

tial palace. We had to deliver the film roll, or later the

were all smugglers and thieves, an individual at work

memory card, before leaving.

was considered to be dirty and backward – you can't photograph this! All these people – they were the

A I started my career as a photographer in a time when

parade, some soldiers broke ranks and started firing

people were afraid of cameras. Photography was not

at the platform. Sadat got killed and Mubarak was

common in public and signs with “no photos” were

only injured, even though he had been right next to

all over. The country was afraid of Israeli spies and

him. In the last years of his presidency, Sadat had

people thought cameras could hurt them – hurt the

become this despotic leader. He had gotten very

image of Egypt. I used to be arrested every time I

unpopular in the whole Arab world, because of his

took a picture. They knew me in all the police stations

relation to Israel.

around and would ask me: “What kind of picture did you take now!?” But I loved the streets of Cairo and

Hosni Mubarak took over power shortly after and

the people – I could not see what was wrong with

I remember this time being very calm. There were no

photographing them.

big events celebrating the great leader, like in Sadat's

A man asked me why i wanted to present the country in a bad state. i said it is my job to show the facts and he said your job is to protect egypt

During Mubarak’s

majority of the population but they did not fit into

presidency Al Ahram

Mubarak's image of Egypt. He was only thinking

published a picture of the

about a small part of the population and these people

president on the front

were living like kings.

page almost every day.

I had declined the position as the head of the photo

You would see him with

department. I wanted to be a photographer. I felt this

a suit and his distinctive

way I could still show the beauty of things.

smile, that people started to make fun of. It got him

As photo-journalists, but most of all as Egyptians,

the nickname “la vache

we knew about the situation in the country. People

que rit” after the laugh-

were working and living in very poor conditions. The

era. He had seen what happens to eccentric leaders

ing cow of the famous

majority could not make a living, even if they were

A

and kept a distance to the public. In the newspaper

cheese brand. The only

working hard. There were shortages of gas and fuel

But it was very popular to go to studio photog-

we would see pictures of Mubarak at official ceremo-

thing that changed in the run of time was, that he was

and even bread. Mubarak had followed Sadat's model

raphers in this time. I had started to work in Mr.

nies, when he opened a school or a bridge in very

getting older. The photo department reacted to that

of foreign investments and privatization. Corruption

Antro's studio, a quite famous Greek photographer.

controlled environments. In the 1980s, I was working

by retouching his face to give him his dignity. It was a

was enormous and he had accepted huge interna-

He took pictures of celebrities… singers and actors

in the lab of Al Ahram, developing film rolls. The

scandal when Al Ahram photoshopped a picture of the

tional funds that got Egypt into debt and poverty.

and even of our president Sadat. Until today I have a

images of that time were not very interesting – just

Middle East Peace talks in the White House, where

Many people – even academics – started to leave the

photo that I shot by accident: Mr. Antro is standing

very official.

all the world leaders were filing on a red carpet. The

country, to find work in the Gulf. There were a lot of

newspaper put Mubarak in front of the line, while in

protests since 2006 but none of them were covered

Sadat with his nice-looking uniform is in full pose,

During the victory day parade in 1981 Sadat, sitting

reality he was at the back of the group. They wanted

in the official media. Since there was satellite TV

even while we were setting up the picture. I was so

next to Mubarak, was assassinated in front of running

to present him as a pharaonic God – young and mus-

and later Internet there was an independent press

nervous and pulled the trigger by mistake. It was a

cameras.

cular, not sick and old.

growing. They tried to draw attention to facts that the

old negatives it surprised me. The photo shows this

There were no big events celebrating the greatness

SCENE IV: Other

accuracy of Sadat – always perfectly in pose of a

of the leader, like in Sadat's era. He had seen what

S

even be sent out to cover any political unrest. Only if

hero.

happens to eccentric leaders and kept a distance to

In the end of the 1990s I was offered the position of

they wanted to present the strike as something bad

next to Sadat, still with his light meter in his hands.

governmental press ignored.

shame back then but when I found it among some

We, as photo-journalists from Al Ahram, would not

the public. In the newspaper we would see pictures

the head of the photo department. When my father

for the economy or the country. We were never there

During the victory day parade in 1981 Sadat, sitting

of Mubarak at official ceremonies, when he opened

was in charge of this office, there had been a person

for the people fighting for better wages or better life

next to Mubarak, was assassinated in front of running

a school or a bridge in very controlled environments.

controlling form and content of the newspaper. I

conditions. It did not matter what kind of pictures we

cameras. During the victory day parade in 1981 he

In the 1980s, I was working in the lab of Al Ahram,

remember my father coming home, telling about the

took. They were either not published or used to prove

was sitting on the platform next to Mubarak, who

developing film rolls. The images of that time were

fights he had with this man – he knew nothing about

something totally different. It did not make sense to

was his vice president. They were both wearing

not very interesting – just very official.

photography and was just a stupid military guy! This

get involved.

matching suits, that had been tailored especially for

direct form of censorship had disappeared in Al

the occasion, inspired by Nazi uniforms. During the

Alhram, but so had the discussions on censorship

110

meta-image tahrir

There was an incident in Mahalla in 2008, things went out of control. We were sent to cover a work-

er's strike in a factory. When we arrived, the place

looked calm. From far you could hear the roaring of

was full of secret police, to give the impression that

masses and sometimes the dull sound of tear gas

everything was very calm. Obviously this was what

bombs. Later guns, sirens and ambulances.

we had to photograph. But the workers started to

I got Al Ahram delivered everyday and found no

fight the police and we as photographers were sud-

coverage on the proceedings on Tahrir Square. The

denly in line with the demonstrators. The police was

newspaper would address business as usual, talking

now directly attacking us with our cameras. This

about state housing and some events in Lebanon.

they did not want to have taken pictures of. I knew

When they could no longer deny that people were

that photographers from the independent press got

demonstrating, they even published a headline saying:

arrested in similar protests, some of them beaten up

thousands marching on the streets for Mubarak!

or tortured. Others lost their eyes to rubber bullets

There was a TV in the room: Egypt TV was showing

fired by the police.

the Nile corniche, where the city was shown in its

If you see the same images in the newspaper

lovely light, as if everything was completely calm.

every day over years and decades of a president

They were sending this romantic touristy image, while

opening roads and bridges in nice-looking ceremo-

people were killed on Tahrir Square. SCENE V: Same

tion to the details. I saw a lot of people capturing

different way – the hospital

A

the scene with their mobile phones. But it was not

started to fill up with injured

In the time after the revolution Al Ahram was oper-

only photographing, their cameras were recording

people. Next to me lay a young

ating without direction. They had been loyal to

without stopping. It felt like people were fight-

man, who had been shot in

Mubarak's government until the very end. Now

ing the images that had betrayed them for so long

the face with a scatter gun,

they had to follow a new leadership but they did

– with their own images. The fear of cameras had

while he was taking pictures

not know how to position themselves: should

disappeared completely and they were now the

with his mobile phone. With

The facts reached us in a

we now had to face a new idealized image of ourselves

they support the people on the street or the newly

instrument to learn what was going on. People

nies, you believe that everything is fine… and it will

his swollen face he was telling me about the violence

acclaimed military rule? Whatever they did – they

were about to create something magnificent out of

always be like this. These images had taken over

by the police. But he was even more amazed about

were from the old regime and nobody trusted them

nothing – with these pictures and with their voices.

people's minds. They even wanted to believe that

the community in Tahrir Square. People supported

anymore.

Even if a lot of this footage will remain unseen, it

this was the only truth… And they protected this

each other by all means in the protest. He had filmed

image! If you wanted to take pictures in local neigh-

everything with his mobile phone – even the moment

Tahrir Square. The international press was celebrat-

borhoods, people would tell you not to photograph.

he was shot. He showed me all of his videos: people

ing the image of a heroic nation that had defeated

They felt that they were not worth taking pictures of

staying in tents, passing the nights playing guitar, the

their leader on their march to freedom. It was all

SCENE VI: The image is overexposed, hardly

– or even would harm the image of Egypt! People felt

street hospitals that were built to treat the injured

about massive flags carried by thousands of people

detectable, white.

bad for their own life, but they thought it was their

and masses of people chanting. I was feeling proud

and nice-looking young boys and girls with their

Me

own fault. Nobody blamed the wealthy people that

of all these men and women that finally could speak

faces painted red, white and black. It made me

People had come to a point where they were

everybody saw on TV or in the newspaper – even if

their minds! One video impressed me: he was filming

proud but sad at the same time – we now had to

actively shaping this image by being in it or making

everybody could see this was wrong.

a police brigade with one hand, while he must have

face a new idealized image of ourselves – this time

it. They finally accepted the unfiltered reality – that

thrown rocks with the other hand. He was shouting

on the international arena.

they had denied for so long.

When I tried to cover a shortage of bread in a

The world had been overloaded with images from

was the source of understanding – of our condition, of our life, of what we want and of who we are.

I had packed away my camera. I was too old and

district of Cairo, a man asked me why I wanted to

at the police: “bread, freedom, social justice!” (3esh,

present the country in a bad state. I said it was my job

Horaya, 3adala Agtma3aya). The video was all shaky

A

too afraid to be among the crowd. Nobody needed

to show the facts and he said, your job is to protect

but it did not matter – he was recording this message

I had recovered from the heart attack and was back

nice-looking images of what was going on. What

Egypt. My intention had been to show how the neigh-

for himself and for his future.

at work when Al Ahram sent me to cover the upris-

was happening around me was more valuable then

ing in front of the Ministry of Interior. There was no

any picture I could make. Whatever might happen to

I guess I had not enough courage to express what I

back to life. The government had cut communica-

police to protect me, like before. I had gotten up

the country from this point on, this moment of self-

really saw – I could not afford to loose my job. I had

tion services to prevent the spreading of information

to this roof, from where I could watch everything

expression will never be taken away from the people

always tried to make a bad scene look nice – but still

and footage from the square. Now his little screen

safely. The image in front of me felt like the replay

of Egypt.

show something real. This way a lot of my images had

was constantly sending and receiving messages,

of the scenes I had seen from the revolution times:

made it to the front page – even if they showed some-

tweets, images and videos that were forwarded and

protesters throwing rocks and the military pushing

Johanna Domke and Marouan Omara are

thing different.

borhood stood together, sharing what they had left.

Suddenly the telephone of my bed neighbor came

commented on. I was surprised that he could even

back, pumping teargas at the masses. After I had

experimental filmmakers; they have collaborated on

I was following the 18 days of the revolution from

continue his battle from the bed of the hospital – I felt

taken some shots I stopped for a moment and only

several projects. The above transcript of the voice

my bed in hospital in Qasr al Aini Hospital. From the

I had not been able to ever make a difference walking

watched the people.

over from their documentary Crop has been edited

window I could see clouds of tear gas but everything

out there.

112

meta-image tahrir

It took me some time until I could draw atten-

for the purpose of this book.

daniel rode Work is our only solution I am intrigued by the large light billboards placed alongside traffic veins throughout the city of Cairo. The billboards are used for large-scale advertising and are lit from within by numerous fluorescent light tubes. Many of them are switched on even though the advertisements which they are designed to promote are missing; this makes the inner structure of the billboards visible, displaying irregular patterns of fluorescent lights. I see an unexpected beauty in this bond of errors: The patterns are full of little errors and irregularities due to their manual installment; single or even groups of light elements might be broken and form dark gaps and pattern breaks. This aesthetic error is accompanied by a program error: A huge billboard is switched on without fulfilling its purpose. Instead of being a carrier of information, the installation becomes an object of structural aesthetic. The title of the series Work is our only solution refers to a campaign launched by an anonymous organization shortly after the revolution proclaiming: “From Egyptian to Egyptian: Work is our only solution” on billboards throughout the city. I took this strange and oddly misplaced slogan as title for a series of art pieces. Daniel Rode is a visual artist working mainly with light installations. Rode has been living in Cairo since 2009.

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 24 september 2011

From Egyptian to Egyptian: Work Is Our Only Solution!

In the past eight months

Arbeit macht Frei! (Work will set you free) placed on the top of a gate that

since the revolution 220

knowingly led to death.

political parties were

Which is the audience that the slogan “Work Is Our Only Solution” is

prematurely delivered

supposed to target? Who is it coming from? From an English-speaking

out of the void. The

Egyptian to an English-speaking Egyptian who both have cars and use the

revolutionary slogans

Alexandria desert road? Yes, those might be the ones who should start

on the walls of Egyptian

to work in order to change the country! But will they remember and want

cities are giving way to

to share with the 90% of their countrymen who do not talk English, the

posters for candidates

80% who do not have cars and the 60% who do not have work? Will they

and parties at play in the

be willing to let them partake in power? And if they are, will the Supreme

approaching elections.

Council of Armed Forces let them do so? If they do not, this is no social

In Abu Kabir (Sharqiyya) the Muslim

Brotherhood have marked their headquarters with slogans and logos, for the first time in history visible from the outside. They now form an official political party: the Freedom and Justice Party. And the Muslim Brothers are not the only ones advocating for their candidates in public. It is as if a hurricane of political activism has swept through the cities exchanging the Ramadan decoration with all kinds of painted and printed banderoles and posters carrying the names and faces of people who are sharing the new experience of democracy. Not all of the gatherings are peaceful. Some days ago, when I drove by the children’s hospital in Old Cairo, I saw a group of men who were decidedly and proudly marching in the opposite direction, armed with two Kalashnikovs in full daylight. Later on, when I mentioned this incident to an Egyptian friend, he laughed and told me that this was completely normal, that everybody had always worn arms in that quarter, but that only now “after the revolution” they could do so openly. In the shadow of the emergency law (which was immediately reintroduced after the destruction of the Israeli embassy on September 9 civil servants are struggling for fair elections. The struggle is difficult and abstruse, as the newcomers have to fight against a Kafkaesque, stagnant bureaucratic apparatus full of people who in some way or the other were collaborating with the former regime and are not planning to step down just because their patriarch did so. As a matter of fact, today even the latter was rehabilitated as General Tantawi proclaimed Mubarak not guilty … There is one curious anonymous political group, which has started to mark the desert road from Cairo to Alexandria with huge publicity billboards reading: “From Egyptian to Egyptian: Work Is Our Only Solution!” Standing in the middle of the desert, written in English, white and red on black, the whole of it awkwardly reminded me of the Nazi propaganda

revolution and there will be no democracy!

Mubarak in a Cornfield Billboard at the road to Cairo International Airport photographed in February 2011 and again in March 2011 by Steve Double

120

meta-image tahrir

Photographer Mohamed Saad catches his own reflection in front of the Parliament February 2011 (Tahrir media tent, archive)

122

urban transformations

Tahrir, July 2011 Photograph by Mosa'ab Elshamy

2 the politics of representation

(work notes) democratic process referenda parliamentary presidential elections Segments movements ideologies visual communication in/visibility Il/literacy Posters banners flyers Form language graphic styles pictorial techniques artistic appropriations portrait gallery election symbols statistics design / political education female representation rose outline logo Un/Sub/Conscious image speech (Zoom-in)

Politics of Representation: introduction

In the fall of 2011 every remotely accessible surface

from photographic representations to info-graphical

overwhelming task of defining and ascribing election

(Formsprache) and the associative subtexts of the

of Cairo’s public space was hijacked by the visual

illustrations to handmade line-drawings.

symbols to a record number of candidates. Around

election symbols on the perception of candidates and

ephemera of the numerous elections that followed

The estimated 50 million eligible voters participat-

300 images were compiled and recycled between the

political messaging is the subject of several entries in

January 25. During the referenda, the parliamentary

ing in Egypt’s first democratic elections were offered

46 electoral districts. Explicitly religious symbols were

this chapter.

and the presidential elections of 2011–2012, por-

a choice between more than 8,000 candidates and

banned from the selection but besides this taboo the

The election posters generally featured relatively

traits, pictograms, and slogans competed for the

over 50 political parties, many of which were newly

nature of the objects covered a wide spectrum rang-

lengthy text blocks specifying both ideological stance

attention of citizens from a multitude of posters,

formed, in the race for the two houses of parliament

ing from fruits and vegetables to military equipment.

and practical information such as email addresses,

banners, and large-scale prints, collaged throughout

in November 2011 to February 2012.

the city like a second skin.

As a consequence of socialist policies under Gamal

Pondering the logic behind the selection of images,

phone numbers, and postal address along with work-

one wonders if standardized Internet search engines

place and professional affiliations. A simultaneous

Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s Constitution proscribes that at

had any role to play in the process, as the images

usage of a variety of font-types, colors, shadings,

ever two structures came close enough to render

least half of the listed candidates must be either of

generally seemed rather detached from the regional

and outline-effects, as well as an extensive use of

themselves mutually mountable, election materials

‘worker or peasant’ background, while an additional

context and included objects like medieval cannons

photoshopping (digital image processing) on the can-

would compile to form three-dimensional clusters

decree, issued under Mubarak, obliges all parties to

and umbrellas that have little function in Egypt.

didates’ portraits are also common. As is a reluctance

that generated temporary architectures spanning

include female candidates. This latter clause caused

Cairo’s urban space and adding thousands of square

Islamist parties such as the Nour Party to take consid-

uted corresponding to the chronology with which

to a coherent grid structure, which creates a geomet-

meters to its (intra)structure.

rical system of non-alignment.

At roundabouts and across narrow streets, wher-

The symbols were listed numerically and distrib-

to constrain the individual components of the posters

erable trouble to keep their female candidates hidden

candidates officially registered. The first individual to

“Meta-Image Tahrir” also found its way onto

from the public eye. Some female candidates were

register his or her candidacy in a given district would

the election posters. The bird’s-eye view of Tahrir

depicted as flowers, in the form of graphic outlines,

be assigned with the first election symbol on the

campaigns included elements from traditional Arabic

served as a backdrop on numerous posters, and

or represented by party logos or spouses, as Fred

list, the second with number two and so forth. This

form-language and Western commercial design, and

candidates transformed their revolutionary ties into

Meier-Menzel describes in this chapter.

chance principle was meant to obstruct the favor-

perhaps reflected the transitory situation of the coun-

ing of any contesters. However the consistency with

try at large.

election slogans, like Azza Abed who declared to be

The usage of election symbols, in the sense of an

The polyphony of visual lexicons applied in the

assigned image-object used to identify the candidate,

which the policy was upheld is questionable, as the

Not surprisingly, given their long history of social

is an integral part of the election process in Egypt.

two most powerful parties managed to obtain sym-

engagement under a regime that consistently favored

besieging cosmopolis Cairo ranged from high-gloss

The system, which dates back to the 19th century in

bols that directly reflects their identity: The Freedom

the elite, the parliamentary elections showed a mas-

commercial quality to pixilated, blurry snapshots.

the US, was introduced in Egypt in the 1950s for the

and Justice party was assigned with a scale, while

sive support for the political wing of the Muslim

The puzzling collection of election symbols, distrib-

benefit of its considerable number of illiterate voters

the Nour (Light) Party received a religiously connoted

Brotherhood. The Democratic Alliance dominated by

uted by the High Elections Commission to ease the

(estimates range from 25–40%).

Ramadan lantern.

the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won

“Born from the uterus of Tahrir.” The visuality of this vast amount of information

reading-process for illiterate voters, ranged from

The method is widespread throughout Africa

The functional usage of visual components in the

44% of the votes for the lower house. The Islamist

clear-cut pictograms of household units to detailed

and Asia, where a depictive symbol appears on the

voting process, the high number of illiterate vot-

Bloc led by the Nour Party won 25%. These results

photographs to hand-painted objects as diverse as

election ballot next to the written name of each can-

ers, and the fact that many candidates and parties

were mirrored in the Shura Council (upper house)

guns and mangos. The election symbols offered a

didate. In Nasser’s case the image reference was

appeared in public for the first time, meaning that

where the Freedom and Justice Party won 58% of

feast of semiotic associations, which were multi-

an eagle, and Mubarak’s was the Islamic half-moon

their political messages were unknown to the broader

the seats and the Nour Party 25%.

plied by the variation of illustrative techniques used

– both strong symbols, referring respectively to the

population, resulted in visual communication and

in their depiction. Across the posters one could

pan-Arabic project and to Islamic religious identity.

imagery playing a pivotal role in the election process.

14, 2012, a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling

The influence of the photo/graphic language of forms

declared the parliamentary elections invalid, as seats

observe the same election symbols transforming

126

politics of representation

In 2011 the High Elections Commission faced the

Less than six months after the elections, on June

constitutionally reserved for independent candidates

Shortly after the victory of the Freedom and Justice

from increasing the minimum salary and the number

had been contested by party-affiliates. Parliamentary

Party became apparent, the Supreme Council of the

of parliamentarians below 25 years of age, to free

re-elections were scheduled for March 2013, but as

Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a number of constitu-

healthcare and the introduction of sex education in

of writing in June 2013, they have not taken place.

tional articles aimed to limit presidential powers. In

schools, thus pinpointing a number of structural defi-

November 2012 Morsi in turn issued a constitutional

cits in the existing system.

In June 2012 the presidential elections made the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi, the

declaration granting him supreme powers in what

Hamdy Reda, in his function as manager of the

first democratically elected Islamic head of state in

would have in effect returned the beginning demo-

independent art space Artellewa, which is located in

Egypt, after a close run-off with Ahmed Shafiq, for-

cratic state to autocracy – until widespread protests

the populous, low-infrastructural area of Ard El-Lewa,

mer prime minister of the disposed regime. Shafiq’s

forced him to pull back the decree in the following

Cairo, launched a poster campaign that featured

near-success was surprising for many, in light of the

December. The intensity of the unrest caused by

anonymous citizens and promoted abstract dem-

revolutionary uprisings proceeding the elections. In

both of these actions led many to fear that the coun-

ocratic values such as participation, equality, and

the first round the 'revolutionary candidate' Hamdeen

try would be thrown back into chaos – a scenario that

openness to the world.

Sabbahi came in third.

perhaps indeed was only avoided by a hair’s breadth,

The election communication and related artistic

and one that has remained just below the surface

appropriations appeared in the varied forms of cheap

tions were clearly distinguishable from that of the

during the repeated crises and numerous casualties

copy-shop printouts, rough canvases from traditional

parliamentary race. Several candidates were able

that have followed.

sign painters and high-end professional off-set prints.

The visual communication of the presidential elec-

to raise substantial campaign funds and hired pro-

However, the time of the election campaigns were

The question of how transmutations caused by vary-

fessional advertising agencies. The difference was

also marked by an empowered sense of personal

ing representative techniques and dynamic urban

perhaps most notable in Shafiq’s campaign, which

agency in the public sphere which expressed itself as

contexts affected the readability of political messag-

was conducted by the office of leading commercial

a popular co-writing of unfolding events.

ing on functional, aesthetic and semiotic levels runs

strategist Tarek Nour. Hundreds of large-scale bill-

The election campaigns sparked a number of artis-

boards in central positions throughout Cairo were

tic interventions in the form of e.g. informal poster

occupied with a simple yet cryptic message: “The

campaigns mimicking the official campaign formats.

President,” smoothly placed in white on blue. After

Amado Fadni distributed “If I Were President…”

the race officially kicked off on April 30, 2012, the

posters on the streets: The blank spaces of the

posters were replaced by Shafiq’s portrait, per associ-

posters filled up with statements, questions and

ation thus linked with the highest office.

suggestions to the future president. Messages

In the presidential campaigns election symbols

were edited, subverted or supported by other writ-

were not obtained by chance, but chosen by the

ers in dynamic cycles. The accumulation of text over

candidates, who generally favored strong symbols

the timespan of the project rendered each poster a

such as the proud eagle (Sabbahi), the virile horse

unique copy.

(Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh), or the progressive

Nini Ayach organized a rally for the fictive presiden-

ladder (Shafiq). Morsi had but to keep the scale of

tial candidate Bakaboza, after having formulated his

justice, already acquired in his party’s parliamentary

political program in a workshop series. The stated

campaigns.

aims of the friendly papier maché candidate ranged

128

politics of representation

through this chapter as a continuous thread.

Temporary Architectures Photographed by Mahmoud Khaled in Fayoum, November 2011

The Muslim Brotherhood, Vote Yes to the Constitutional amendments. A new constitution for the country, renewal of the presidential term, Legal supervision on elections, No illegal imprisonments On the 19th of March participate in building the future Egypt (Translation) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A., January and May 2012)

136

politics of representation

Born from the womb of the midan [Tahrir] Azza Kamal, general manager of education, president of the republic. (Translation) Opposite We will make our dream come true Khaled Ali, president of Egypt 2012. (Translation) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A., May 2012)

Top Left Hand in hand we build the new Egypt, [category] professional independent, number 35,symbol [depicted as image] [scissors] to cut corruption, Fayez Shalbaya, appeal lawyer, (for parliament membership), category professional, from Heliopolis district, free legal consultancy 0122515635. (Translation) Top Right Number: 76, symbol: Orange, Mohamed Wahab Allah. (Translation)

Bottom Left (Translation) Doctor Faysal Aly, PHD in Law, your parliamentary candidate, from El Zaytoun district, number: 86, symbol: nail, [category] individual, professional [middle text headlines:] CV, election program, how the program will be applied Bottom right (Translation) Your vote, your dignity, your change, number: 120, [category] professional independent, symbol: knife, Nasser Salah, known as Nasser 56, your parliamentary candidate for the district: Maadi (Images from Cairo Images/C.I.A., May 2012)

Vote, The Nasserist Arab Democratic Party, symbol: Gun (Translation) (Image from Cairo Images/C.I.A., November 2011)

3rd district, [category] professional individual independent, symbol: Rifle, Ashgan Abdel Latif, number: ( ) [no number entered] (Translation)

Symbol: Key, Your sister Fadeya the lawyer, parliamentary candidate 2012 (Translation) (Images from Cairo Images/C.I.A., December 2011, April 2012)

This page and opposite Two posters for the candidate Taysir Fahmy, the same text is used on both. Translation: From the Midan to the parliament, list of Revolution Continues Party, [category] professional, symbol: Pyramids, Taysir Fahmy, your parliamentary candidate from the 3rd district, Qasr El Nil (Images from Cairo Images/C.I.A., December 2011)

The Politics of Representation - Notes on an Exhibition at Townhouse Gallery

ing political programs and get online access to the new, often haphazardly structured, websites listing information on the political parties and candidates. Did the textual information provided parallel to the images pose a better representation of the party or candidate’s political aims? Were visual strategies sometimes used to conceal their actual position in the political spectrum? These are some of the questions that came to mind as one tried to avoid confusion while absorbing thousands of images representing the country’s political representatives – who for the most part ‘looked’ the same. Despite the importance of first impressions during

Dina Kafafi

a fledgling democratic process, the visual languages used by the majority of candidates didn’t seem

Cairo, November 2011: The political climate is com-

tion in visual identity or language, made it difficult

free at all. Each remained within the bounds of tra-

posed of a whirlwind of tear-gas bombs fogging

for the public to link candidates or parties to their

ditional commercial language, with little creative

over political images. Some depict comic-book

political intentions. Various initiatives proactively

input – quite unlike the immense creativity of politi-

style illustrations of security forces in combat

designed websites aimed at furnishing voters with

cal communication observed in the streets. Were

with masses of people beside slogans of cam-

information on the political players, but this only

the candidates representative of the people? Did

paigns against injustice. Others, plastered all over

made it more difficult to follow as none offered a

the people know what they were voting for, or was

the walls of the cityscape, are portraits of political

comprehensive listing of all 46 parties.

the popular vote dependent on bribery, as during

candidates posing beside odd symbols, all aiming

change brought into power the Muslim Brotherhood

people killed and over 1000 injured in battles on

Representation, a collection of the ephemera being

– the Democratic Alliance it dominated won 44%

Mohamed Mahmoud Street, yet the race for parlia-

produced at the time. It took the form of a live

of parliamentary seats, followed by the Salafi-led

mentary seats continues. Around 42 new political

accumulation of archival material concerning the

Islamist Bloc with the second largest number of

parties have registered since 25 January, reflecting

visuality of Egypt’s first official ‘attempt’ at a demo-

seats. Looking over the material collected for The

the people’s newly gained right to political involve-

cratic system. This was the gallery’s response to the

Politics of Representation one can observe that the

ment, potentially nurturing a depth and openness

process leading up to the parliamentary elections

Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party was the

in political discussion and a collective understand-

and its sense of duty towards its public. The main

most visually consistent group represented in the

ing of the importance of having a representative in

aims in curating The Politics of Representation were

piles of printed posters. They managed to brand the

government.

to provide the public with a space where they could

city with their logo, and through stickers, booklets,

Suddenly Egypt’s political spectrum had

investigate and discuss the roles and goals of these

and other giveaways instilled the memory of their

expanded, and in theory many gaps had been

new political parties, and to encourage the concept

stance of ‘freedom’ and ‘justice’ in every district.

filled – but was this reality? It was a very confus-

of active and politically involved citizenship. A collab-

ing time for the Egyptian voter, not knowing who

orative community project, it allowed participants to

the public’s engagement with public space.

to affiliate with, believe in, and trust to represent

contribute to the creation of an archive related to the

Prolonging the exhibition’s duration until after the

his or her voice. Simultaneously, individuals’ sub-

beginnings of a history in the making. Together they

parliamentary election results were announced gave

conscious minds were bombarded with repetitious

strove to compose a comprehensive display of the

analysts a chance to compare expected results with

posters and banners, billboards and television ads,

ephemera, allowing spectators to analyze the visual

the final numbers in simplified infographic maps

following them throughout the city. Most posters

languages used to represent political aims and invei-

offering an objective and easily assessable over-

displayed over-sized portraits of political candi-

gle the masses into voting one way or the other.

view. Our aim was to support the popular political

dates beside the occasional hand-written banner.

Was the public given the correct impression of can-

participation the country had earned through its new

Series of ten flyers carelessly pasted one after the

didates through their visual representation? Did the

direction of political discourse.

other, just occupying space. Layers upon layers

use of images help make an informed choice? Were

of disorganized images overlapped on the city’s

these questions considered in the design process of

Dina Kafafi is the Residency Program Manager and

walls, lampposts, and cars. The irrelevant symbols

the printed material?

Program Coordinator at Townhouse Gallery, Cairo,

Elections Commission, as well as little differentia-

politics of representation

Hosni Mubarak’s time? The people’s hunger for

its doors to the public for The Politics of

assigned to parties and candidates by the High

146

On 20 November Townhouse Gallery opened

to gain the highest number of votes. Chaos: 45

A reading room in the gallery gave visitors the opportunity to browse through pamphlets contain-

The display of these election materials informed

and co-organized the exhibition The Politics of Representation 2011.

Top right and left: Two posters for Hossam Gabran showing the candidate dressed in traditional and 'modern' clothing, respectively. Translation: Your vote, your future, number: 67, symbol: Photo frame, Hossam El Din Abdel Dayem, known as Hossam Gabran, your parliamentary candidate, [category] worker - individual - district of Aswan Right The Nour Party, Together we build Egypt, [category] worker individual, symbol: Traffic light, number: 46, Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed Yousif (Translation) Opposite number: 63, symbol: Hat, Together we will build a new Egypt, your parliamentary candidate, [category] professional independent, 9th district (Maadi district), Saeed Ramdan (Translation) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A., December 2011)

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politics of representation

Reform and Development Party, symbol: Key, Foad Hamed, parliamentary candidate (Translation)

Azza Fahmy, parliamentary candidate 2011, [category] worker - independent, the 9th district, Our Hope is in Work, symbol: Hoopoe number (26) (Translation) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A., November 2011)

Under 15 years, [number] 2, Ibrahim Aref (Translation)

Cairo 1st district, Hagar Shaker, the list of the New Egypt Assembly, candidate number: 9, symbol: Sphinx, As I participated in the revolution, so will I participate in parliament (Translation) (Images from Cairo Images/C.I.A., November 2011)

List of the Ghad Party [Tomorrow Party], 2nd district, 1st zone of Nasr City (Translation)

Visual Election Campaigning in Egypt

Fred Meier-Menzel

format (head and shoulders) or (less frequently) in

liamentary elections and distributed arbitrarily

three-quarter body format, ending above the knee.

to candidates and parties by the High Elections

The photos typically seem to have been prepared

Commission. For people who cannot read and write,

by semi-professional photographers and are often

the ascribed symbol is the only ‘readable’ informa-

heavily photoshopped.

tion on the poster besides the candidate’s photo, and

(Clockwise from the upper left corner):

the only reference for locating their candidates on the

2. The election symbol is a picture logo which is

election ballot.

assigned to every candidate to help illiterate voters

Basketball, basketball net (assigned separately),

identify them on the ballot paper, where the logo is

traffic lights (of little consequence in Cairo’s traffic),

placed next to the candidate’s written name.

bouquet, calculator, gold bullion, knife, the holy

3. The number has a similar function to the symbol.

Ramadan lantern (fanous), megaphone, diamond

4. Personal details include name and professional title

ring, wardrobe, shirt, tennis racket, comb, matches,

of the candidate (e.g. doctor or engineer).

and globe. These are examples of the identification

5. The name of the party to which the candidate is

symbols assigned to parties or candidates. They are very helpful, in the opinion of many voters: it proves

The Egyptian revolution of January 25, 2011 brought

and changed shape. They became part of daily life in

changes to the metropolis of Cairo that will have long-

Egypt. Some were transformed into a tablecloth by a

term effects for the entire world.

street vendor selling chickpea soup by the Nile, some

During the first free elections, which began November 30, 2011 and concluded with the Freedom and Justice Party candidate Mohamed Morsi

were used as canvas for new statements, some for wrapping transported goods. experienced the posters much like an illiterate person

als took over the streets. Posters, digitally printed

would, and was thus in a similar position as a major

vinyl banners, flags, and cotton rags promoted the

segment of the Egyptian population.[1] Posters,

candidates of the parliamentary and presidential

digital banners and hand-drawn cotton sheets were

elections. The energy, the involvement in public dis-

talking to me mainly through their pictorial messages.

high emotions all found their pictorial counterpart in

The icon

The written part I could not decode.

easier to identify the symbol on the ballot-paper than the written name of the candidate.[2] The design blog OpenIDEO, however, has said the election symbol

The icon's name (here it is a radio)

principle can facilitate corruption. The inexperienced voter may easily be manipulated into choosing another, perhaps similar image; on several occasions

As my ability to read Arabic is still inadequate I

becoming president in June 2012, election materi-

cussions, the questions, uncertainties, hopes, and

The number: this has the same function as the icon

Doctor

The council she is running for and date

Her name

The name of her voting area Her profession and job position

In this discussion, I would like to distinguish

voters are said to have received money to vote for a certain symbol. A pineapple for consumption – the symbol as portrait Signs cannot be understood universally.[3] Gestures

The party she belongs to

Individual

Her category, meaning worker or nonworker. In this case the latter.

are also interpreted differently according to their cultural context.[4] Stuart Hall points out that mean-

the campaigns for the parliamentary and presidential

between two campaigns: the parliamentary elections

elections. The posters and banners that were literally

and the subsequent presidential elections, including

ings of any kind are formed through processes of

spread overnight on the city’s walls looked expres-

the runoff.

social production. As soon as a form is described or named, it already has a sense and is continuously and

sive as I observed them through the windows of the Handling self-representation

affiliated. Sometimes the party logo is shown along

automatically assigned meaning. An author with the

The posters and banners used to advertise candi-

with the individual logo. In the case of the Muslim

username Dina shares this view on the design blog

signs, cotton sheets, mounted stakes, skillfully

dacy looked improvised and missed the touch of

Brotherhood and the Nour Party, we found that the

OpenIDEO with regard to the non-neutrality of elec-

extended streetlights, and tight cords changed

trained graphic designers. In past elections advertis-

logo was always present.

tion symbols used in Egypt: The symbol, originally

public squares, posing an architecture of their own.

ing did not have much significance in Egypt: Hosni

6. The category: “Worker/Farmer” or “Professional”

connected neither to the person nor to her or his

Even official road signs were incorporated into the

Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) routinely

The Egyptian constitution prescribes that 50% of the

identity, unintentionally serves as a ‘portrayal’ of that

transformation. Fights for the best spots to display

secured most parliamentary seats. It is therefore not

representatives in the parliament must be common

person.[5]

promotional material and the improvisational skills

surprising that the election posters did not have much

workers or farmers. The clause was introduced by

of night-shift installation workers were parts of a

of a tradition to draw from. One of the only parties

president Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s; every

nor write interpret the symbols. I will answer with a

new ritual, a new achievement: free elections in

that had previous experiences and something like

party must put forward one worker/farmer candidate

story from the 2011 elections in Nigeria: An older lady

Egypt. With great physical effort posters, banners,

a corporate identity was the Muslim Brotherhood.

per electoral district.

said to a party representative from whom she had

and panels were hung, stabilized, wind corners cut,

What do the posters of the parliamentary elections,

7. The name of the electoral district.

just accepted N200 (about US$1.27): “My son, did

climbed, passed, tailored; with greater or lesser skill

carried out from November 21, 2011 until March 4,

8. Image background, often with the Egyptian flag

you say you want me to vote for the umbrella?” He

they were plotted, printed, cut, stamped, painted,

2012, tell us now? Let’s start by looking at the basic

(black, white, and red stripes) tied into the composi-

nodded. “But N200 cannot buy me one umbrella, so I

marked out, stuck. Paper was soaked with water,

structure of a typical campaign poster. The informa-

tional context.

will vote for the pineapple which I will eat and keep in

scraped, swept, washed, painted over, replaced,

tion categories on the election posters and banners

and painted over again. The image carriers were

are as follows:

The election symbols

bodies with short life cycles, bodies that travelled

1. The candidate’s photograph appears in bust

Around 300 symbols were allocated for the par-

university bus on my way to work. Installations using numerous elements such as

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politics of representation

The question is how citizens who can neither read

my body.” Cackling, she took her ballot paper and put her thumbprint next to the image of a pineapple.[6] Involuntarily the candidate assumes a symbiosis

with his or her symbol. Election chances can be deci-

selves, are reminiscent of picture books for pre-school

sively influenced by one’s symbol. An umbrella is no

children. They seem happy in their variety.

symbol for a country in which it hardly ever rains; the

I mentioned earlier the improvisational talent of

symbol traffic lights, an object which is rarely seen

those entrusted with installing election advertising.

and almost never followed in Egypt isn't a lucky strike

Inventiveness was also asserted by candidates with

either. Better is an object that plays a role in every-

insufficient funds to cover printed posters or costly

day life, and symbolizes a value that can be identified

vinyl banners: traditional signmakers were hired to

with by the candidate and his potential voters. These

inscribe huge cotton sheets by hand. The problem

include common fruits such as the strawberry, grape,

here was that a candidate’s photo could not be trans-

orange, date, apple, and banana. Household objects

ferred and the photographic or vector-graphic election

like the coffee cup, teapot, and electrical appliances

symbol was altered in the process of being drawn by

like the blender, vacuum cleaner, continuous-flow

hand. Some symbols are more suitable to be trans-

water heater, stove, and color TV, also enjoy great

ferred into a line drawing: a palm tree remains a palm

popularity. The promotional material of the candidate

tree, an umbrella remains an umbrella – their forms

Ayman Sadek, whose symbol was the blender, and

are formally easy to reconstruct. But how about an

Amr Darag, whose symbol was the stove, shows

orange on a white sheet if the painter only has black,

how symbol representation works. A big vinyl banner

and possibly red as a second color at his disposal?

was prominently stretched over the street in the con-

How about a DVD player? Can I distinguish it from

stituency that includes Agouza, Dokki, and Embaba in

the radio or air conditioner when drawn by hand on a

Cairo. Sadek and Darag ran on behalf of the Muslim

white sheet? On the posters many icons were pho-

Brotherhood as a team (party logo in the middle).

tographs of real objects. Only very seldom would you

Sadek (blender) was in the worker/farmer category

find a formally reduced vector drawing correspond-

and Darag (stove) was nominated as a professional.

ing to how a trained graphic designer would transfer

Nearby other banners hung in the trees, with con-

a symbol.

densed information: Sadek and Darag were here represented entirely by mixer and stove. Then there are the luxury goods and sports accessories (sports that are especially popular in America),

The election posters of the candidate Osama Ibrahim Darwish featured the shirt as a symbol. In some depictions the shirt is folded while in others it is shown in full size.

to which the people may form a positive opinion or association. They include gold bars, sports cars, and

Presidential elections

tennis rackets.

The first democratic presidential election in Egypt

The once popular symbols of the camel and

initiated a professionalization of election campaigns

crescent moon were blocked in the 2011/2012 par-

towards multimedia marketing. Unlike in Mubarak’s

liamentary elections as they had been utilized by the

time, funding for election advertising was not derived

NDP for decades. Minor advantageous associations

from public funds but had to be raised by the support-

are connected to symbols like the axe, ship’s wheel,

ers of the thirteen approved presidential candidates.

toothbrush, ruler, and nail at first sight. How can iden-

Only four or five candidates were able to launch large-

tity be built up with a cupboard?

scale campaigns designed by professional agencies;

[1] Gabriele Habashi Das neue Ägypten: Wege zur Demokratie p. 78. Vienna: Ed. Steinbauer 2012

of political posters in post-revolutionary Egypt were largely not-present: While male candidates sometimes displayed prayer chains, crossed their arms confidently,

[2] Zainab Al Hassani “From a toothbrush to a rocket ship, symbols guide Egyptian voters” in The National November 28 2011 (http://www.thenational.ae/ news/world/middle-east/ from-a-toothbrush-to-a-rocketship-symbols-guide-egyptianvoters)

offered a view on an expensive wristwatch or presented their trained biceps to the audience, women appeared almost exclusively in portrait format. This restricted most female candidates from expressing the modalities of body language; as a result very few confident female body gestures are observable and most

[3] Schade, Sigrid, and Silke Wenk Studien zur visuellen Kultur: Einführung in ein transdisziplinäres Forschungsfeld, p. 84. Bielefeld: Transcript-Verlag 2011 [4] ibid., p. 80. [5] Dina How might we design an accessible election experience for everyone? - Inspiration - Vote for the Camel! in OpenIDEO 2012 (http://www.openideo.com/ open/voting/inspiration/votefor-the-camel/) [6] Ruona Meyer Egyptian election ballot paper symbols similar to Nigeria’s in Other News blog November 28 (http://ruonameyer.wordpress. com/2011/11/28/ballotpaper-symbols-like-nigerialike-egypt/) [7] El-Bastawisi: My Egypt presidential campaign has no funds - Presidential elections 2012 in Ahram Online 2012 (http://english.ahram.org. eg/NewsContent/36/0/40547/ Presidential-elections-/ ElBastawisi-My-Egyptpresidential-campaign-has no-.aspx) [8] Ethar Shalaby "Egyptian Elections 2011" in Hiwar Magazine Dezember 2011 [9] Noha Khater 2011. Egyptian Women in the Parliamentary Elections: 'El Mozza' versus El Warda. (http://nohakhater.blogspot. com/2011/11/egyptian-women-inparliamentary. html)

women appear handless, gestureless, bodiless. The Salafi Nour Party went further in their restrictions on the public display of female candidates. Like all parties the Nour Party had to include at least one female candidate on the party’s lists, but they did not the official start of election campaigning. As soon as the

want to show the faces of these contesters. Instead

official campaigning period started the billboard showed

they employed text or objects as pictorial represen-

Shafiq's portrait and name on the same navy blue color.

tations of female candidates. In several cases a rose

Only then could voters understand the context and

functioned as marker. In most cultures the rose stands

sophistication of the campaign idea.

as a symbol for love and affection. In the Arab world

The colorful ballots of the presidential election were

the rose is also a symbol for purity, wealth and fortune.

perceived as “cute” by some foreign press. The ballot

The rose campaign provoked mockery from the Salafi

offered orientation to the illiterate voter in two ways:

party opponents.[9] How can you vote for a candidate

the symbol assigned to the candidate along with his

that you cannot see? How can she raise her voice?

photographic portrait. In the parliamentary election the

How can she interact on an equal level with her future

voter had to rely solely on the image symbol.

male colleagues in parliament? How can she even be

Presidential candidates had another advantage that

recognized?.[10] In the opinion of many critics the con-

the parliamentary politicians did not: they could influ-

servative image policy conducted by the Nour Party

ence what symbol they were allocated. Whether horse,

was designed to silence the female voice as an active

tree, star, watch, car, eagle, ladder, or scale, candidates

participant in the political process: If you can not be

were able to build a positive relationship with their

seen, you can not be heard, and certainly not convey

symbols. Strength, skill, wealth, and justice were some

a political message, beyond the message inherent to

of the characteristics communicated.

your own non-representation.

The layout of the poster is tidier and "the photo is

In the presidential elections that followed the parlia-

uniformly portrait format" (color photos of heads, necks,

mentary election campaign women fully disappeared

and tops of shoulders). The candidates wear shirts,

from election media. Bothaina Kamel, a TV moderator

collars, and ties. Long gone is the stage in which voters

and activist, pursued candidacy but could not collect the

were irritated by symbols like roses, diamonds, or

30,000 signatures required for admission to the race.

dresses: the presidency in Egypt is male, thanks to the

Mona Prince, professor of English literature and an

images. During the election, women were active only

activist, also appointed herself as a candidate but faced

behind the male image: they were numerous on the

the same problem.

A male candidate assigned a woman’s dress was

the others lacked the means. Hisham El-Bastawisy, a

very dissatisfied. The rocket, understood ambiguously

candidate, complained to Al Ahram Online that there

in Arab culture because it has sexual connotations,

was no money available to start campaigning activities.

was perceived as incriminating by its candidate,

Candidates such as current President Mohamed Morsi,

former actress Hind Akif. The rocket as phallic object

member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ahmed

was decorated with flowers. The banana candidate

Shafiq [7] had far greater monetary means. Shafiq was

could do nothing but smile happily into the camera

able to reserve many large billboard advertising spaces

Female representation

next to his banana.

in prominent locations in Cairo. As a promotional trick

Female candidates in the parliamentary elections of

Fred Meier-Menzel is a graphic designer and practise-

[10] Abdel Rahman, Mohamed. 2011. "Effacing Women in Salafi Campaign Bid |Al Akhbar English", November 15. http://english. alakhbar. com/node/1505.

streets, offering free advertising space by posing as

The two election processes show that Egypt has

living poster columns, forming lines along main streets

some way to go before the gender equality that was

in Cairo.

one of the important claims of the January 25 revolution becomes a reality.

“The President” was written in Arabic and English on

2011-2012 presented themselves in varying degrees

based Ph.D candidate at Weimar University. 2007-2012

The different modes of a symbol’s appearance

a navy blue background – Shafiq’s name was not men-

of visibility[8]: some appeared in western clothing and

she was head of the Drawing Department at the

The graphic processing and general colorfulness of

tioned. Advertising mogul Tarek Nour and businessman

with uncovered hair, while most wore a veil revealing

Faculty for Applied Sciences & Arts, German University

the symbols, as well as the choice of symbols them-

Ahmed El-Shanwany had initiated this campaign before

only the face. The bodies of women in the landscape

in Cairo.

156

politics of representation

Top Nahla Mohamed Senousy Abbas, candidate of the Nour Party, represented by the party's logo. The text below her name reads "Teaching assistant at the Workers University, Aswan branch" Bottom Nesma Hassan Abdel Rehim Farag, candidate of the Nour Party, represented by a flower. The text next to her name reads "Seat for a woman"

Female representation Right Fayza Abdel Salam Abou Karim, candidate of the Egyptian Coalition Party, portrayed in niqab Above Mona Salah Farag, candidate of the Nour Party, represented by name and empty frame (far left) Photographs by Mahmoud Khaled December 2011

158

politics of representation

Ballot sheet from the parliamentary elections 2011

Workshop: Get a designer's viewpoint on election symbols With the aim of examining the possible subtexts of image symbols used in the 2011-2012 elections, we attempted to map out common associations sparked by the utilized images. As a group of educators we were also interested in seeing if the image connotations would differ depending on the representational techniques with which the icons were depicted. We extracted different versions of the same symbols from original election posters, and noted down our associations in Red: to respond to the photographic representation of the icon Green: to respond to the illustration/vector graphical representation of the icon Blue: to respond to the hand-drawn representation of the icon. The six large scale maps that were created as part of our exercises reveal rich associative characteristics to many of the images used to represent candidates. Workshop by Fred MeierMenzel and Mikala Hyldig Dal at Fair Trade Egypt, Cairo headquarters, November 2012. The workshop was organized by Bassant Helmi from Global Project Partners e.V. and funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IFA.

162

politics of representation

Amina Shafik Rule of icons In most cases the photographed portrait dominates the space of the posters while the election symbol and the written name of party and candidate are abandoned to the edges. This visual divide does not reflect the voting process in Egypt: Many voters need to know and recognize the visual symbol of the candidate - not what he or she looks like. I scaled the symbols up and minimized the portraits in a series of prints and collaborated with a traditional signpainter on the hand-drawn typography. In this merging of the technique of digital printing with the tradition of sign-painting we brought the two prevailing production techniques used in the election communication onto one surface.

Work your symbol To me the close proximity of a candidate to an apparently unrelated object – his or her 'election symbol' – often had a comical effect: I exaggerated this by making the candidates actively interact with their symbols.

The symbol becomes you I show how candidates and image objects merge by creating even closer relations between them.

(Original posters at the bottom row)

HAna sadek This spread and pages 166,168, 169, 170, 171 and 180-185 display samples of student works developed in the course “Campaigning Cairo" supervised by Mikala Hyldig Dal, spring semester 2011-2012, Faculty for Applied Sciences and Arts, German University in Cairo.

Alphabet I found that many of the objects used to identify candidates resembled actual letters of the Latin alphabet and used symbols extracted from the election posters to form a phonetic alphabet.

Sara Sarhan

164

politics of representation

Mina Nader

Forat Sami Skinned The political environment in Egypt has gone through drastic changes. Like chameleons adjusting to change, many politicians that were active in the old regime put on new masks for the first democratic elections in Egypt. I merged the features of different candidates into each other, creating new candidates with multiple faces and interchangeable personas.

Mostafa hedayat Practices of time politics and rejection Graphic composition based on torn portraits of politicians. Mostafa Hedayat is a graphic designer and photographer.

Nadia Wernli Psycholitics The elections left our streets filled with the ripped and torn portraits of candidates. On the walls, hanging loosely, deflating in multiple layers and rows, torn and deteriorated beyond recognition. I did an extensive photo documentation of the decay and started analyzing my footage. I became interested in the negative space of the damaged posters formed by the missing parts and framed by the remaining. Similar to the process of assembling the pieces of a puzzle, I started creating new forms based on these negative shapes. Unlike a puzzle, the number of combinations was limitless. At first I was interested in creating illustrative shapes, but when I noticed how the random figures resembled Rorschach inkblots I went with the uneven flows.

Ali Heraize Obey Walking through the city I felt the gaze of male personas fixating me: The portraits of many parliamentary candidates looked very grim and authoritarian to me. In the style of the famous "Obey" logo by graphic designer Shepard Fairey, I developed a number of stencil-logos from portraits of contesters.

rana el gohary Project 1: Islamic symbols To visualize the religious background of the numerous Islamic candidates I developed new icons for the election posters. The icons are based on well-known Islamic symbols, such as the Qur'an, the Ka'baa, a minaret and a prayer rug.

Project 2: Power pattern I The design of Power pattern I is based on an Islamic pattern which is constructed out of one main form: A military tank.  This tank was extracted from one of the actual election posters. My idea is to reflect how the military and the Muslim Brotherhood have become intertwined since the elections.  The organic shape might seem harmonious but with a closer look at the individual building blocks one notices that this isn't really the case.

170

politics of representation

The light blue color is meant to symbolize the people, while the red symbolizes the aggression and violence that the people have been suffering from as a result of the new alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military. The edges are sharp to show how the whole country is in a state of alert.

After the first elections, a certain expression domi-

via the spoken word alone. All through the history of

Elections Commission should be chaired by the presi-

used to identify an independent candidate with an

nated many discussions and media reports: “The

human development we have relied on our eyesight –

dent of the Cairo Court of Appeal and include the two

entirely different program, in another district. Also the

wrong people.” The expression came about after the

our construction of language is much younger. So, one

oldest deputies of the vice president of the court of

nature of the selected objects seemed to have little

majority of votes went to the Freedom and Justice

might deduce: Images have a much stronger switch

cassation, the two oldest deputies of the president of

relation to the context of Egypt: The umbrella might

Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

to our emotions than text does, and visual commu-

the Council of the State, and the two oldest presidents

mean protection from the elements for an inhabitant

The wrong people were the ones who caused all this

nication is thus liable to impact our behavior most

of Court of Appeal. The commission is also respon-

of the northern hemisphere, but what does it signal to

trouble and who enabled the FJP to gain the victory

directly.

sible for handling all paper work relating to the election

someone who lives in a country where it barely ever

process. The commission decides on the range of

rains? What kind of associative emotions are triggered

in the elections. The wrong people were neither edu-

Let us think about this in terms of the Egyptian elec-

cated enough nor wise enough to raise their voices

tions: Nearly half of our population is not able to read

objects, as well as the system of their distribution. In

by objects as diverse as a dress, a rocket and a military

– in the opinion of the ones who thought of them-

written text. To enable these people to cast their vote,

the past the number of symbols did not exceed 31,

tank, and how is the interpretation informed by local

selves as wise and educated.

the electable candidates are assigned with visually

however the number of candidates has increased

and regional contexts?

readable symbols, in an object-based communication

slowly to reach 100 in 2010, and peak with 310 post-

note that much scientific research about individual

that utilized easily recognizable items from every-

revolutionary candidates.

due to the troubled relationship between his party and

human decision-making processes suggests that it

day life. The object is depicted next to the portrait

In the past, candidates competed for the stronger

the enjoyment of music, also caused some confu-

is not our cognitive mind that informs our decisions

of the candidate on campaign posters and appears

Following this argument it might be interesting to

next to his or her written name on the

Old Eyes, Young Words

election ballot. At the first glance this might seem like an unproblematic solution for the facilitation of an inclusive democratic process. However, a closer

Nikolai Burger and Mona Khaled Diab

politics of representation

Objects are not neutral; images even less. Each image triggers a certain story or meaning, differing between cultures

sion. Some candidates tried embracing their symbol

The National Democratic Party monopolized electoral symbols that processed profound connotations in the hearts of the people

and from individual to individual depend-

by integrating it actively in their campaign, regardless of negative associations. Belal Nahhal, an individual candidate from Behira was dealt the symbol of the banana. Banana in Egyptian slang also refers to an attractive woman mozza, which does not match well with an honorable parliamentary candidate. For his campaign, however, Nahal distributed real bananas to the voters as part of his campaign. The independent candidate Ayman Mubarak, who was dealt the teddy bear as a symbol defined his slogan accordingly: "‫لو‬

ing on personal experiences, knowledge

symbols, aiming to 'book' certain images in advance.

‫ "مش عجبك أسلوبي رجعلي دبدوبي‬- "If you don't like my attitude,

and frames of reference (Kahnemann

The National Democratic Party monopolized electoral

give me back my teddy."

2007, Goffman 2001). When we are pre-

symbols that processed profound connotations in the

sented with an image, the subconscious

hearts of the people, like the (Islamic) crescent and

for April 2013, a group of professors from the Fine

part of our personality (Kahnemann

the camel – for this reason, the Supreme Election

Arts Faculty at Helwan University have been assigned

For the coming parliamentary elections, scheduled

most significantly, but our inner pilot – the emo-

calls it “System 1”) triggers emotions and associated

Commission of 2011-2012 decided to remove these

with refining the symbols. This initiative suggests that

tions (Kahnemann 2011, Székely, T.; Moore, Allen J.;

(mental) images. In the context of electoral campaign-

symbols from the list. The commission also decided

the High Elections Commission too, have grasped the

Komdeur, J. 2010, Chambers 2012, Brooks 2012).

ing this “subconscious subtext” of the candidate’s

to discard religious symbols as well as some of the

intrinsic symbolism and associative power of images.

The authors show how the human mind seeks to

symbol might very well be transferred to the candi-

symbols that might negatively influence the candi-

generate rational reasons for decisions that have de

date. Our mind links the feelings that a certain picture

date's image like the syringe. However, it did not

Nikolai Burger is a product designer and a Ph.D. can-

facto already been made – based on emotions. Often,

triggers in us to the person this picture is associated

exclude symbols that might have ambivalent connota-

didate at Wuppertal University. Mona Khaled Diab is a

humans project a certain desire, wish, hope, fear

with.

tions like the knife or comical ones like the banana.

teaching assistant in the department of Media Design

or the like onto an external factor; onto something

172

examination lets some concerns arise:

A Salafist candidate was assigned with a CD, which,

The High Elections Commission assigned with orga-

After deciding on the acquired 310 symbols, and

or someone. This projection informs our decision,

nizing the elections 2011 and 2012 was responsible

ordering them in a list, the commission distributed

appeals to us or repels us. In the end, what we

for selecting and ascribing visual objects to the can-

the symbols to the party candidates according to the

choose is based on our preconceptions – or the way

didates. Since 1956, after the issuing of the Political

year the party of their affiliation was established; the

external factors reflect our inner ideals. One main dif-

Rights Law Number 73, each candidate running for

distribution of symbols to the individual candidates

ference to other species is that we communicate by

a political office has been assigned with a symbol by

happened according to the order in which they submit-

language. Society as a system is both based on and

which he or she can be identified by illiterate voters.

ting the candidacy papers. In this way, the commission

defined through language (Luhmann 1987, Goffman

The Ministry of Interior was responsible for the choice

aimed to stay impartial and to avoid disputes among

1989). We define and describe our world through

and distribution of the symbols before the authority

candidates. Complicating matters somewhat is the

language; we create our own story and share it with

was passed on to the High Elections Commission,

fact that the same objects were distributed in differ-

others. Pictures are mighty tools for telling a story

the members of which are announced on a year-

ent electoral districts without regard to the diverging

because they include several layers of meaning simul-

to-year basis. According to article 3 from the Code

political orientation of contesters: the object that sig-

taneously; meanings that are often difficult to transmit

of Exercising Political Rights 73 of 1956, the High

nified a candidate of a party in one district, might be

at the German University in Cairo.

References: http://www.masress.com/ youm7/510074 http://www1.youm7.com/ News.asp?NewsID=968448& http://www.el-balad. com/418120 http://www.trakhes.com/tra/ showthread.php?t=48493 149 symbol (http://www. twsela.com/vb/showthread. php?t=42904) http://almogaz.com/news/ politics/2013/03/03/754277 http://www.egypalace.co/vb/ showthread.php?t=73260 http://www.almasryalyoum. com/node/793351

Eliane Ettmueller

blogGED 5 june 2012

Balances & Ladders

International observers of the presidential elections in Egypt may have noticed the use of pictorial symbols on the propaganda posters for the candidates. These are not mere adornments or amulets for political prosperity but have a very pragmatic function: they are meant to sustain the participation of the around 25% of citizens who are illiterate, a system introduced during the reign of Nasser.

In the presidential election each candidate was free to choose a symbol to represent his name on the lists at the polling stations. The competitors in the runoffs were Ahmad Shafiq represented by a ladder, and Mohamed Morsi associated with a scale. Whereas the former might be read as a promise of an accelerated advance of the country (straight up to the sky), the latter claims his capacity to balance the different interest down on earth. However, both options seem to convince neither the Facebook-community nor the graffiti activists who keep expressing their discontent about the election results with diverse levels of artistic accomplishment. Fearlessly they are attacking the two presidential candidates while sarcastically stating that the election might be the last for a very long period, suggesting that the winner might not be inclined to let go of power once it is obtained... Were the elections fair? May they be labeled truly democratic? Does it seem right that after a popular revolution, which had been able to overthrow a 30 year-old regime, less than 50% of the same angry and now self-confident citizens proceeded to the polling stations? Is it fair to force people living in dispersed locations of the country back to their place of origin in order to fulfill their duty as citizens of a democratic state? Is it very likely that the low-wage employee who is working in Luxor can travel all the way back to Cairo (more than 12 hours) in order to deposit his vote? What about the analphabetics? Did they truly understand where to sign and were they left to do so without any outer influence? The game of balances and ladders seems to be a losing game for the revolutionaries. This is the reason why they called for another milliuniyya (massive demonstrations) on Tahrir Square tomorrow.

174

politics of representation

nabeela akhtar & omair barkatulla Voting lines Above and below: Photostitched collages showing queues outside polling stations in Maadi. Multiple pictures shot over a minute or so are put together like a moving, developing scene.

176

politics of representation

Ink traces next to a ballot box. Fingerprints were used as a means of voter-registration across the country. Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy, Suez, May 2012, during the first round of presidential elections.

ABLA MOHAMMED Growth (fingernail) Abla Mohamed documented on a daily basis how ink traces left on her finger nail from the process of voting, only reluctantly left her body. The newspaper of the day served as a backdrop for the staging that started on June 17, 2012, the day of the second round of the presidential elections, and continued until August 17. 2012 - when her nail broke. In a 10 meter long handwritten text-strip printed on the following pages in a scaled-down version, she reflects on the process. Abla Mohamed studies Media Design at GUC.

184

politics of representation

The Fool's Journal 2012 (work in progress) This piece is a part of a series titled The fool's journal, which is still a work in progress. The series is comprised of 18 Fool's caps shaped out of newspaper cuttings from the months following the January uprisings up until the election of the new president. The newspaper clippings are organized in a way that aims to deconstruct the Egyptian news coverage. Rather than reflecting a specific analysis or interpretation, I looked for pieces and sentences, single words and images that evoked memories from the historical development.

ages, evoking superimposed memories flashing through the mind. In a democratic order The fool's journal combines media images of politicians, ordinary people, broken news headlines, political terms, cultural icons and cartoons. The present photographs present a 360 degree view of the last cap in the series. It focuses primarily on the Egyptian presidential elections and has been constructed specifically for Cairo: Images of Transition. Huda Lutfi is a visual artist. Her work often deals with notions of gender, memory and cultural identity.

The fool's journal follows no objective logic or sequence in the ordering of its data, images or events. It offers instead a fool's reading of the events experienced since January 2011. Through the seemingly chaotic juxtapositions the reader is flooded with im-

Huda Lutfi

186

politics of representation

I was fully aware that I was going to be an unlikely candidate for presidency in both senses of the word potential. Chances were that the actual run for presidency wouldn’t happen, and that I would be deemed ‘inappropriate’ by the wide section of society that refuses to give a woman the reins of power in the public sphere either because of tradition or what many religious men propagate as women’s inferiority. Men

mona el prince

who limit their female contemporaries’ role in life to giving birth and entertaining their spouses. I also knew that taking the step of announcing my unlikely run in the presidential elections would expose me to viola-

The experience of an implausible female candidate for presidency 188

politics of representation

tions of my privacy as well as mockery and ridicule in the worst possible manner. However, I decided to get out of the ivory tower of academia and take an active interest in the future of my country. I had just finished a book, My Name is Revolution, which accounts my experiences during the first 18 days in Tahrir Square. Having been part of that process I was willing to sacrifice my private life, writing, and personal interests for four years in order to participate in public work. I decided not to be intimidated by criticism or mockery, nor cry and lament over the country, which I thought would change for the better after Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Interestingly, the encouragement came from male Facebook acquaintances, whereas the ridicule came from close friends (both male and female), family, and parents. I remember my mother's comment and the movement of her lips when I announced my intention to run for presidency: "Has the presidency gone childish or what? We need an old candidate with lots of experience." Of course most of the candidates were senior in age and status, but regardless none had previous experience ruling a country. I laughed at my mum's comment and said: "Hosni Mubarak is the only one with 30 years experience ruling the country – if you want him we can bring him back." Then I created a Facebook page titled, "Dr. Mona Prince Potential Candidate for the Presidency" and uploaded a picture of myself at Tahrir Square. I invited all interested friends and supporters of the idea to work together collectively to form a primary team for discussion to reach an initial platform. What do we want for Egypt and the Egyptians and what do we want to add to the world? Many of my Facebook friends had already expressed their interest in participating, and we met for the first time face to face and started the discussion. Together we reached a certain vision, which I, later on, put into words in a statement

first and looked at me with amazement; then they

expect from the people who are trapped between this

started asking questions about the program and the

and that? Why is there a certain emphasis on specific

discussion started. Sometimes I found people oppos-

names and specific trends? Why is there a disregard

ing just because I'm a woman, but through objective

for the young men and women who took part in the

discussion – usually I referred to the ability of Egyptian

revolution? Why is the presidential post belittled?

women to run households with the least possible

Many of the ‘ordinary’ people that I've spoken to told

financial means – opposition from men turned into

me that they didn't like any of the candidates, and they

approval. Of course, I found support from women and

weren't going to vote. That's what actually happened,

many people approved of my idea just because I was

as nearly half of the people who were entitled to vote

a new face and they were tired and fed up with the

did not participate in the process.

old, helpless faces. Then came the question about my

Eventually, and before the month (dedicated to offi-

ability to collect 30,000 signatures from 15 governor-

cial nominations and collecting the 30,000 signatures

ates, a requirement I found completely impractical

or one party’s nomination) was over, I announced

and restricting. Whoever gets 30,000 signatures is

a withdrawal statement and posted it on Facebook

not necessarily qualified to be a candidate (singer

mentioning my reasons for doing this. Now I see my

on Facebook which was reported by news agen-

in the background, and my name, Mona El Prince –

Saad El Soghayer did it to prove how unprofessional

reasons as more like a vision predicting the future.

cies, newspapers, and various websites. Some were

presidential candidate. The slogan was a summary

this requirement is). I answered honestly that I did

In the absence of any clear regulations or standards

neutral while others were mocking.

of the statement I issued summed up in four words:

not have this amount of supporters nor the financial

for the candidates, and due to a continual process of

“Dreams + science + art = Egypt's Renaissance.” Of

ability to promote my campaign and travel to different

replacing candidates, which some political parties did

issues we tackled during our discussions: my looks,

course I didn't know then that the word "Renaissance"

governorates.

almost on daily basis – which leads to nothing but add

clothes, and behavior. For I seem, from my Facebook

would later be used in a way that deprives it of its

What's worth mentioning, though, is that one of

up to the confusion of citizens – I've decided to with-

photos, to be a liberated woman – something that

meaning. That poster became the profile picture for

those times while discussing my platform with pas-

draw from the so-called presidential race. Due to the

could be used against me. Some recommended that

my campaign's fan page. And it remained like that, just

sengers, a 14-year-old boy interrupted the discussion

absence of a clear vision and philosophy for Egypt's

I remove my photos and the ‘shocking’ posts I some-

a profile picture. I never printed it or hung it anywhere

and told me: "Mam, I see you a lot on Facebook. My

future in the platforms of the presidential candidates

times write. Honestly, I refused to scrutinize my

for two reasons: firstly, I did not have any financial

mum is a huge fan of you and she follows every-

and the absence of all guarantees that prevent regen-

personal profile. This is who I am, and I am not going

means, not even my salary as it was frozen for six

thing you write and post." This comment made me so

erating the previous system of government and its

to change my looks just to please those who only care

months by the college where I work as a punishment

happy. I'm not writing in vain then, I'm not talking to

spurious opposition, I also announce my boycott of the

about appearance. The surfacing of so many Islamic

for being "one of the Tahrir people." Secondly, posters

myself. There are people following and supporting me

presidential elections for the year 2012. This doesn't

trends and appeals to religious speech to convince the

of candidates who did not belong to the Islamic trend

from outside my circle. There is still hope for my idea

mean I'm quitting work in the public field, no, for the

general sector of ordinary people was the core of our

were torn apart. Besides, I wasn't a fan of printing my

to spread and for people to discuss it.

future is for us, the youth. I intend to work with all indi-

discussion. I still refuse to deal with people based on

initial program and distributing it to people at Tahrir and

Despite the fact that I am a writer and professor,

viduals and groups who share with me the dream of

their religious backgrounds. I will neither wear a mask

other public places. That the asphalt of Tahrir Square

and that the word spread about my run for presidency

Egypt's renaissance and rebuilding the Egyptian char-

to deceive people, nor speak with the language of

and all the nearby streets were covered with these

through various news websites and some magazines,

acter. We are going to work hand in hand to form an

the Holy Quran, nor will I go around saying: "God said

posters testified to the fact that people were long fed

TV totally ignored me for reasons possibly ‘normal and

inescapable influence on whoever takes authority over

this, the Prophet said that." I will introduce myself as I

up with them. Thus, I mainly depended on publishing

understandable’. With the exception of a phone call

Egypt to achieve our hopes for a better future for all

am, a young female novelist, professor, and liberalist.

my campaign's page via the Internet and Facebook,

with a program I don't recall the name of now, and

Egyptian men and women. This will be accomplished

Yes, I am a liberalist. I want to break the stereotypical

and my friends helped me by sharing it.

two minutes on air on another channel, none of the

by adopting imagination and creativity as life’s motiva-

well-known talk shows (with high viewer ratings) on

tion and science as a method for reaching that life.

However, it’s also important to mention a ‘personal’

image of the old, wise, serious, all-knowing, God-like

However, direct interaction with people remained

president. What should matter is my vision, which

the most important part of this experience. For the

Egyptian or satellite channels cared to invite me for

The revolution continues against tyranny, corruption,

sees imagination and science reviving Egypt again,

purpose was not to reach the ‘throne’ at this stage,

an interview or even announce the news about my

and oppression.

guiding the creative energy generated by millions of

though the majority of us doubted it could happen

running in the elections. Those TV shows were exclu-

Egyptians who participated in the revolution, achiev-

under military supervision, but the attempt to awaken

sive to the well-known candidates (big names) and a

Mona El Prince is a writer and a lecturer of English

ing an advancement of civilization as we did in ancient

cultural awareness (even on the most limited scale)

few others (I can't find the proper words to describe

Literature at Suez University.

Egyptian times.

to the possibility of having a young female candi-

them, all I can say is what one of them said on air: that

date who has the vision, desire, and ability to run a

Egypt wants a masculine male who is head-strong

– who followed my page – volunteered to design a

country together with a complete work team, and to

and capable). The truth is, I never understood why

poster for my presidential campaign. The poster was

fully prepare for the upcoming presidency elections

those shows offered only these two options; either

of a personal photo with my short wavy hair, wearing

four or five years later. Therefore, I invested in friendly

the old crew (most of whom are approaching retire-

a red blouse with short sleeves, the artist Mahmoud

chat on public transport with bus drivers, microbus

ment age, except for the workers’ lawyer, Khaled Ali),

Mukhtar’s famous sculpture Renaissance of Egypt

drivers, and passengers. People were surprised at

or those I can't even find words to describe. What to

The campaign started when a graphic designer

190

politics of representation

presenting khaled ali

Sarah Borger & Bogdan Vasili

blocks, symbols, names and pictures, often in a seem-

an impression all presidential candidates aspire to

ingly random visual design. Without knowing whether

give, but in the present example supported by a very

the Egyptian voter would agree with us, and what

clear layout. And whether the viewer was far away or

concrete consequences it previously had had for the

close by, the poster was easily recognizable and easily

candidates, we believed this trend created confusing

decipherable across all classes and societal groupings.

visual and political messages. We decided the most important criteria was to shape the candidate's image,

Fertile soil or dark past?

more specifically to create a connection between

The amount of hours spent on taking test pictures

the candidate and the voters, and to make him come

and debating the ways to make Khaled Ali pose

off as an accomplished and authoritative figure fully

on the poster without losing connection with the

capable of taking on the reins of power. Secondly the

crowd in the back proved to be in vain. In fact, the

poster should also be an information platform, but this

campaign team hardly looked at the draft for the seg-

information should be kept to a minimum to increase

ment-specific posters. Instead they immediately and

salience and readability.

unanimously fell for the flag poster. This could be due

One of our initial ideas was to create different

to logistic problems, since the process of finishing the

Danish scholars Sarah Borger and Bogdan Vasili

towards his lack of experience and young age, it was

posters for different segments, but with a common

segment-specific poster would have been far more

spent 2012 in Cairo doing research on political struc-

of utmost importance that he appeared as a powerful

and recognizable mold, only changing the background.

difficult and time-consuming than the flag poster.

tures emerging after the January 25 revolution. In the

and knowledgeable statesman, while maintaining a

As shown in illustration 1, replacing the background

Furthermore, we were able to give the flag poster a

course of their stay they volunteered for the presi-

sense of solidarity with the more precarious classes.

of the poster with different segment representatives

dential campaign of civil rights lawyer Khaled Ali; the

The request to us was to create the image of a can-

would have created a strong symbolic connection

following is an account of their involvement in design-

didate for and by the people, but not necessarily of

between the candidate and different supporting

ing an election poster for the candidate.

the people. Drafts of several posters were already

segments of the population. We were planning to

on the table, but in the campaign manager's opinion,

emphasize this connection by letting the supporters in

Workers hill

they lacked professional finish. The visual expression

the background carry a big sign with the candidate's

Centrally located in Cairo, the main campaign offices

should be clear, simple and salient to stand out among

slogan. Incorporating the slogan in the photo, would

for Khaled Ali did in many ways correspond to the

the vast number of posters for competing candidates,

have given an illusion of less text on the poster. We

general rumors of lacking campaign funds. But scores

and last but not least it should be readable in daylight

later came across the same idea of voters backing

of energetic feet, street-artists preparing stencils

as well as at night time, as many Egyptians take to the

candidates in some of the posters for the success-

and retired trade unionists discussing reforms, while

street after nightfall. We promised to do our best.

ful candidate, Mohamed Morsi. But our poster would have created a stronger bond between the candi-

international journalists were waiting in line, gave the sparsely furnished and deteriorated rooms a certain

Rummaging in the dark

date and the represented segments, as their physical

busy buzz. The first meeting with the campaign

After the initial meeting with the campaign office

holding of the slogan signals a more active involve-

manager in this anthill of volunteers gave us insights

the design process began by researching posters

ment. The concept would also have cemented the

into the general expectations for the poster.

from the parliamentary elections that had taken

revolutionary stance of Khaled Ali, due to the demon-

The campaign was primarily targeting fishermen

place shortly before. Not having much experience in

stration-like situation suggested by physically holding

and workers, students and women, and revolution-

applied graphic design and with a limited amount of

up the slogan. Knowing this solution might be costly

aries in general. The campaign managers wanted

photos available to us, we agreed to focus our work

and difficult to implement distribution-wise, we chose

suggestions on how to reach these segments most

on symbols of mobilization that potentially could func-

to present an alternative as well.

effectively. There had been some disagreements

tion across classes in Egyptian society. But apart from

in relation to the former campaign slogan, “We'll

revolutionary and nationalistic symbols, which we

believed the Egyptian flag after all was the most pow-

succeed,” which recently had been changed to the

thought most campaigns would use, and religious

erful and the one that most easily could represent

slogan of the revolution: “Bread, freedom and social

symbols, which were not suitable for Khaled Ali’s

broad segments of society across classes and reli-

justice.” The basic campaign idea was to link the

program, we were rummaging for effective iconic

gious boundaries. Incorporating Khaled Ali into the

revolution to the future, with Khaled Ali as the true

representations. Based on general observations from

flag, his shoulders composing its black color, gave

representative of the revolutionary ideals and the

the parliamentary elections, we had observed a trend

the poster a lighter feel while allowing space for the

much-needed political, social and economic reforms.

of placing too much information on campaign posters

remaining bundle of information. But more importantly

Khaled Ali is a well-known worker's rights lawyer and

that would often come off as visually overloaded

the candidate becomes a part of the flag, and thereby

a known revolutionary, and the aim was to present

and unclear. Visually speaking most made use of

comes to represent the country. Symbolically the

him as a strong leader, who had not forgotten who

every square inch of the poster with political slogans,

poster attempted to show Khaled Ali as being capable

the fight was for. To counter much recent criticism

contact information, party and bloc allegiances, text

of carrying the weight of the country on his shoulders,

192

politics of representation

Of the aforementioned powerful symbols, we

Below Draft 1: We juxtaposed the portrait of the candidate with representatives of different population segments, to create symbolic connections

more 'finished' look, since we had the required pic-

colour was representing the fertile, black soil of

tures, and thus it was fairly easy to imagine the final

Egypt rather than past oppressors. From there on we

result. Despite our concerns that the flag poster might

worked on the design, trying to make the poster look

come off as old-fashioned or too nationalistic the

as finished as possible. For purposes of readability the

campaign team seemed to embrace the nationalistic symbolism as an obvious common ground identifier

Below Draft 2: The Egyptian flag after all was the most powerful symbol, and the one that most easily could represent broad segments of society

Conquering space, winning the race

a candidate’s popularity and a way to increase this

In the design process we defined a set of criteria

popularity by signalling strength, resources and real

in relation to what we considered the main func-

potential for winning the political battle.

tions of an election poster. The most dominant of

The political battle was reflected in visual pres-

campaign team reluctantly agreed to exclude the

these requirements had to do with the candidate’s

ence on a street level. Posters were distributed by

campaign office address, e-mail addresses and Twitter

image and the way of presenting him to the public.

the thousands, covered by posters from competing

for all Egyptians. As a catch-all communication for a

and Facebook references, settling for the name

Since campaign posters rarely contain explicit politi-

candidates or commented on by street artists, activ-

heterogeneous population, the flag is able to give a

Khaled Ali and the slogan ”bread, freedom, social

cal messages, with the exception of short slogans,

ists or random passersby. The cooperation with the

unique sense of community and inclusion, without

justice” along with a couple of contact numbers. We

the function of the content is primarily to form and

Khaled Ali campaign team showed us that they will-

being politically specific enough to exclude anyone.

reluctantly agreed to give Khaled Ali’s face a slight

control the candidate’s appearance. This can be done

ingly compromised professional finish, the amount of

touch of colour, since he looked inanimate in the eyes

simultaneously on several levels, for example through

information, the symbols or the political connotations

mentioned, we had placed Khaled Ali in a black suit

of the campaign team. And so, compromises were

the use of symbols (like the colors of the flag and the

to get a head start in the contest of for visual domi-

(his picture was black and white) in front of a red

made, the final touch-ups where left to one of the

flag itself) photographic angle (indicating distance

nance on the streets; they would rather settle for a

and white wall creating the general illusion of the

members of the campaign team, and soon the poster

and power relations and/or authority and strength) or

draft today than a finished product tomorrow.

Egyptian flag. Surprisingly to us, this turned out to be

hit the streets.

simply retouching images to make the candidate look

But the flag poster was not without problems. As

the main point of dispute. Several of the members of

as flattering as possible. A second and highly related

Epilogue

the campaign team noted, since he was constituting

function of the election poster is the distribution of

All candidates enrolled themselves in the symbolic

the black line of the flag, it seemed as though Khaled

campaign information. This too, should be understood

battle for the spaces of Egypt. But the asymmetrical

Ali represented the dark past of Egypt, apparently

in the broadest sense. On the one hand to show

economical point of departure for the different can-

meaning anything from Mubarak to the Ottoman

people where to get further information by adding a

didates affected the campaign process in defining

or British occupation. The white color was seen as

phone number, webpage, e-mail or so. On the other

ways. According to Ibrahim Hegazy, communica-

symbolizing the bright future of the country while

hand it tells the voter something about the political

tion professor at the American University in Cairo,

the red colour was proposed to signify revolution,

stand of the candidate, which can be done through

one of Ahmed Shafiq’s centrally located campaign

both the present one and the one leading to Nasser’s

slogans or, as in our case, by putting him in front of a

signs cost approximately 250,000 Egyptian pounds,

taking of the presidency in 1952. Others believed that

crowd of protesting workers.

not including the costs of hiring the professional

the black colour represented the soil of Egypt, the

This understanding of the functionality of the elec-

advertisement agency Tarek Nour, for the cam-

working man. In this case it suited Khaled Ali’s image

tion poster was confirmed by Khaled Ali’s campaign

paign. Khaled Ali made it a principle to use volunteer

perfectly. As the discussion went on more and more

team. But there was one aspect that we had grossly

workers only and thus to keep his budget down.

interpretations of the color symbolism of the Egyptian

overlooked: the importance of entering the contest

However honorable their stand, the greatly moti-

flag were presented. Realizing we should have

of the visual space of the urban landscape. The stra-

vated and hardworking volunteers of the Khaled Ali

taken the symbolism into consideration in the design

tegic placement of posters in the visual landscape

campaign were not able to match the seemingly lim-

process, we tried to convince them that it did not

of the cities, we realized, is of outmost importance.

itless budgets of Shafiq and Morsi.

matter what the official interpretation was. As long as

Walking around Cairo in the period of the elections,

a huge amount of Egyptians saw the black color as a

you would get the impression that certain neighbor-

Sarah Borger has studied visual communication at

sign of darkness, the campaign team should probably

hoods belonged to certain candidates. The visual

Roskilde University and is currently writing for a

skip the whole flag idea and reconsider the segment

dominance of certain candidates in specific neighbor-

number of international newspapers. Bogdan Vasili is

poster instead.

hoods would reflect voters' preferences in the actual

writing a Ph.D on the formation of independent trade

race. This may or may not be a true assumption, but

unions in Egypt.

This was when the campaign manager decided to come clean. There was no time to elaborate on

the fact is that many Egyptians showed their support

ideas or take new pictures. There was not even time

for a candidate by hanging posters or pictures on

to turn the drafts into finished posters, because the

their balcony or in the window of their car. A domi-

poster were to be printed that same night and dis-

nant visual presence was either a sign of a general

tributed around the country the following days. This

support in the population, a big and hardworking

was not only a shock to us, but also to several of

group of volunteers, or potentially a budget that

the members of the campaign team, who immedi-

could cover wages for professionals to hang posters.

ately began bargaining for another day or two. The

In short: a signal of power. The important point is it

manager, however, made it clear that this was not up

gave the impression that a specific candidate was

for discussion.

a strong competitor in the race for the presidency;

So we accepted that there was no way around it, settled on the flag draft and agreed that the black

194

politics of representation

he was to be reckoned with. Thus the dominance of the visual spaces was at the same time a sign of

We enter the contest over visual space in the urban landscape

Two ears, one mouth Posts on Facebook stated that the revolution would

ent methods to speak to citizens and voters. Though

family members, already in terms of neighbors trust

the bigger problem – perceptions that relate to their

start on January 25, 2011, at 2pm. Unexpectedly,

this is complex and challenging, it is even more dif-

fell to 80%, and 66% of co-workers trusted each

respective roles in contemporary Egyptian society.

millions turned up – and 18 days later, on February

ficult for parties to understand and follow what is

other. When you get to strangers, only 11% trusted

11 at 6pm, newly appointed vice-president Omar

in the minds and hearts of the people they claim to

others – and with people from non-Arab countries

divide in Egyptian politics – seen as a fight between

Suleiman announced that president Hosni Mubarak

represent – and the first difficulty is that the politi-

only 4% felt confidence at the first meeting.

parties and components of the population that want

had stepped down – and that the Supreme Council of

cal elite leading the parties can be so preoccupied

the Armed Forces (SCAF) was now in charge.

with communicating their ideologies, programs, and

uprisings was that they were Internet revolutions,

a limited role for religion in politics. But this is not

statements that they forget to listen to the people

but in reality that seems very far from the mark. The

reflected in the preferences of the population.

political parties – and the SCAF announced that its

they represent. We should always listen much more

Internet remains a focal means of mobilization that

purpose was to be the guardian of Egypt in a phase of

than we talk, and that is especially essential for elites

was heavily used by movement organizers, yet this

and strongly wanted a state where the political

transition to a multiparty democracy.

claiming to represent others.

use didn’t branch out to include ‘ordinary’ people who

sphere and Islamic thought are integrated. There

participated in the revolution. Only in the 18-30 age

was also around 20% who wanted a clear division

A large number of initiatives took off then to form

Even though the forces that formed many of the

Since April 2011 the Danish Egyptian Dialogue

jakob erle

One of the common truisms given about the Arab

The role of religion has been mentioned as the big

an Islamic state and parts that want a civil state with

Around 20% of Egyptians surveyed consistently

parties had wished for the demise of Mubarak and

Institute has worked with the Ahram Center for

group from did the internet play a role as a source of

between religion and politics altogether. To a large

the development of democracy for a long time, they

Political and Strategic Studies to help Egyptian

political information – and even in this group only 9%

degree these groups dominate the media represen-

had not expected this to happen so soon – and were

political parties and actors listen to and understand

considered the internet the most important source.

tation, especially outside Egypt. But between these

not prepared for the task ahead. The initial surprise

citizens through opinion surveys and anthropologi-

For all groups television was the most important

two extremes 60% of the population is interested in

of the enormous numbers in the streets of Cairo and

cal research into their ideas about issues related to

source of information – i.e., for 73% and 81%.

very practical daily issues; they believe that the most

other Egyptian cities on January 25 was a sign of the

society, politics, and parties.

It was quite clear that both knowledge of the gov-

important issues are security, stability, economy,

ernment and expectation of anything good coming

inflation, employment, transportation, education,

situation and the ideas of the citizens – a challenge

Findings

from it were low. Only 3% of the adult population

and all the other things that determine daily lives and

still present when the parties emerged in the spring

A member of the anthropological research team

was able to give the name of the governor, prime

prospects for the future. This group sees religion as

of 2011, and a challenge that is still there now – and

said that the most surprising experience was people

minister, foreign minister, and interior minister – and

a natural part of life, including politics – but would opt

will continue for a very long time.

saying “We hate the revolutionaries!” The reason

66% were able to name only one or none. This prob-

for practical non-ideological solutions, including their

given was that people had expected everything to

ably has a connection to the fact that only 64% of

right to practice their religion. This is where the large

ence government policies and the development of

get better after the revolution but everything was

the population believed that the government had any

center and majority of long term politics will be.

society based on an ideology or vision. Leaders of old

worse, with fewer jobs, higher prices, and deterio-

impact on daily life, and among these 64% only 40%

and new political parties in Egypt took the initiative to

rated security.

believed that the impact was positive. So expecta-

for all political forces in Egypt, to help identify what

tions were extremely low.

the people they want to represent think and feel, to

gap between the political elites’ knowledge about the

A political party is an organization that tries to influ-

All this data is being and has been made available

establish organizations to institutionalize the revolu-

Another finding from the surveys that surprised

tion’s values; good intentions in a highly challenging

many was the extremely high level of confidence

situation. With an overwhelming transitional period

in the military – in surveys conducted in September

to know which themes are the most important for

that included two parliamentary elections, two refer-

2011, 90% of the population had high or very high

the citizens. While political parties seem to have a

Jakob Erle is the director of the Danish Egyptian

endums, and a presidential election, political parties

confidence in the SCAF. Similarly, 82% of the popu-

strong interest in themes related to the constitution,

Dialogue Institute (DEDI), Cairo. DEDI is an intergov-

had an overwhelming task and, to different degrees,

lation evaluated the SCAF’s performance as good or

election laws, national economy etc., voters had dif-

ernmental platform with a strong dialogue mandate

difficulties relating to the issues of the average voter.

very good – this confidence fell a bit in the following

ferent, very specific priorities. What Egyptian voters

under the Danish Arab Partnership Programme

Obviously it is very important for political parties

help them to listen to the needs of the people.

period, but still remained significantly high with levels

fear most is chaos and the dissolution of the struc-

(DAPP). Established in 2004,

small organizations that try to represent the inter-

around 74%. At the other end of the spectrum it was

tures that make life possible. The most important

DEDI’s core mandate is to promote political and cul-

ests of the people or their voters through policies,

found that 24% had high or very high confidence in

immediate area of concern for voters is stability and

tural understanding between Denmark and Egypt.

programs, and statements about the change they

the non-Islamist political parties.

security, an area mentioned first by 40% of voters.

Anywhere in the world political parties are relatively

are working to promote, and as such they are elite

Regarding feelings of interpersonal trust, it is

The next two issues are inflation, mentioned by 23%,

organizations. They will develop statements, present

normal that trust levels fall the further you get from

and unemployment, mentioned by 21%. Divided by

their ideas through posters, the media, speeches,

personal knowledge of people, but in Egypt this was

gender, more men saw unemployment as the bigger

and meetings with people, and use a host of differ-

very strong. It seems that while 93% trusted their

problem, whereas more women saw inflation as

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politics of representation

Qomra Digitizing Memory This integral moment in Egyptian history, this incident,

for truth and develop a clearer understanding of other-

uploaded on the server, Qomra.org intends to serve

this togetherness or rivalry that should be remem-

wise opaque political events and processes.

as an archive of the events leading up to and occur-

bered, weaves into each Egyptian’s daily thought,

Dina Kafafi

a grassroots political and historical archive and plat-

continually accessible, visually organized, and clearly

their navigation of the city. These moments are

form in digital form, first for Egypt and then for all the

categorized information about past and ongoing

recorded by high definition cameras and edited into

other Arab countries that have recently undergone

events, Qomra.org will act as an up-to-date narrative of

documentary or artist films, by mobile phone cameras

uprisings. Qomra.org’s mission is to give ordinary citi-

this historical moment through its timeline and refined

of lower quality to share immediately, and by other

zens the chance to freely document past and present

search options. This archival timeline will forever pre-

media outlets to feed into daily news reporting. And as

political and cultural events in their countries, with a

serve the official news reported alongside citizen

piles of images and documents increase and spread

particular focus on the current democratization of Arab

reports, public opinion, and material uploaded on the

drastically, control over the mediation of this informa-

countries and the electoral processes that ripple out of

Qomra server.

tion is rapidly lost. An influx of data floods our physical

this. During its pre-launch phase, for example, Qomra.

and virtual city daily; this information simultaneously

org offered users a comparative search option, which

Qomra can also be used as a platform through which

loses eligibility, legitimacy, and importance in the

allowed them to view the available online images,

users have the opportunity to collectively curb gov-

attempt to narrate the chronology of happenings that

videos, news articles, and comments published on

ernment impunity. User participation will create a

are shaping the country’s status quo. Maintaining legiti-

social media sites about the presidential candidates

permanent record of government actions, creating an

mate image captioning, which is expected at a certain

that ran in Spring 2012. Not only did this serve as a

easily accessible database through which citizens can

level in news reporting, is necessary for the image to

public tool, which gathered the sporadic information

hold their representatives accountable for both perfor-

have a relevant impact on viewers, to tell the story the

floating about the Internet on some of these emerging

mance shortcomings and any abuses of power.

way it happened, and to record it that way in our col-

figures, but users could also debate their opinions and

lective memory. How will these digital memories be

share other material on the Qomra platform. Also, the

tion is not lost or deleted from the virtual sphere, to

preserved in the future? What documents will be left

design for its user interface places emphasis on the

empower citizens through participatory documenta-

behind for people to make sense of the bigger picture,

visuality of today’s research. Unlike other sites contain-

tion, and to preserve this transitional moment for future

other than those that are government controlled or

ing information relevant to the current politics, Qomra.

analysis and study.

censored? These questions inspired the start of a

org is not just text-based; it relies just as heavily on

new initiative aimed at encouraging the digitization of

images and videos to relay objective information as on

and saving, organizing, and sharing data related to the

news articles and user comments/opinions on politi-

Egyptian revolution.

cal topics. Its map features geographically pinpointed uploaded material, allowing users to navigate the city

tographic darkroom; its etymological root is the Latin

and its politics in an interactive manner; a familiar

word camera. The word qomra is used here to evoke

search option utilized during the first 18 days in Cairo

strong connotations of documenting and archiving

by activists to communicate where security forces

current events with integrity, using precision as a

were stationed and their strategized encroachment

driving force. In the context of the ‘Arab Spring’,

onto the square.

Qomra.org is a virtual space citizens frequent to search

politics of representation

ring during this important time of transition. Offering

inspires new forms of citizen participation, and drives

Qomra is an Arabic word that literally means a pho-

198

The intention behind building Qomra.org is to create

Through preserving and organizing information

When the server is frequented more regularly,

The Qomra.org project aims to insure that informa-

Design education & Social progress

References Banathy, B. H. (1996). Designing Social Systems in a Changing World NY and London: Plenum Press. Buchanan, R. (1996). Wicked Problem in Design Thinking in V. Margolin & R. Buchanan (eds.) The Idea of Design, (pp. 3-20). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Qassim Mohammed Saleh Saad

http://hdr.undp.org/en/ humandev/ (Retrieved 4 April 2011). Manzini, E. (2005). Enabling solutions: Social innovation, creative communities and strategic design http://www. sustainable-everyday.net/ manzini/ (Retrieved Oct. 2012).

Increasing awareness of the importance of sustain-

that will be the paramount industrial activities of

egies based on sociocultural practices, heritage, and

ability in design is forming an opposition to commercial

the future. Specific approaches must be developed

traditions, taking diversity into account. This phase

design activities driven by marketing. Proponents of

for the design of socially responsible systems and

complements futuristic visions for better alternative

sustainable practices have proposed new approaches

networks. The transition to a sustainable world,

systems.

that offer an enhanced role for design in the realm of

however, will be a complex process – reflecting the

• Interact: Collective cooperation and flexibility to

social innovation.

ill-defined nature of social problems. As Manzini

cover a wide range of activities related to economy,

Paradoxically, the contemporary era of globalization

optimistically frames it: “The transition towards sus-

environment, and technology.

and mass communications has fostered a large degree

tainability will be very far from being a linear evolution

• Support the structure: Encouraging people to adapt

of localization, reshaping, transforming, and strength-

… but human beings will learn to live in a sustainable

and to play their role in supporting the new system/s.

ening of local practices in many developing countries

way” (Manzini, not dated, p.2).

(Thompson, 1996).

In this conceptual model, design plays an active role Conceptual model

in defining the purpose of the new system, and creat-

developing methods that enable creative platforms to

Social innovation is a fairly new concept in design

ing the media to present it. Such a role is based on an

target the needs and demands of modern societies,

thinking, and expresses the consistence of multidis-

understanding of design as an intellectual and cultural

particularly in the form of offering services and solu-

ciplinary approaches for finding solutions to social

practice, guiding transitional process through:

tions to social problems. This movement in the field

needs. These approaches are informed by a thorough

of design studies represents an alternative path to

understanding of the various elements that shape and

1. Separating components, changing correlations, and

the one defined by market demands and expressed

interconnect social systems. The designer’s role in this

producing new structures;

through physical products. Its proponents argue that

new context requires that designers think in a creative,

2. Visualizing and communicating new structures.

designers should redirect their efforts towards social

innovative way, generating ideas, visualizing con-

innovation, where demand is not created by consum-

cepts, refining and creating scenarios for participatory

Within this context, design will use its problem-analyt-

ers but “by an active decision on the part of a ‘social

engagement between design processes and users.

ical capabilities to rearrange the structure of functions

entrepreneur’ to prototype a new way of being and

However, finding the final solution for the problem is

in an existing system and create new structures.

doing” (McEoin, 2009).

not the sole responsibility of the designer. Rather, the

However, the designer will initiate this process based

designer will act as an “operator who acts within a

on his/her ability to synthesize and imagine new rela-

roles in this development offering guidance through

more complex network of actors” (Manzini,

tionships between the components of social systems.

their on-the-ground knowledge of what is required

2005, p.8).

Much contemporary design theory is focused on

Social and community groups can play effective

to make new systems work in local contexts.

Qassim Mohammed Saleh Saad is a product designer

Designers, in turn, may work with local communi-

The role of the socially innovative designer is based on

and dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts,

ties as facilitators, utilizing their technical expertise

the following conceptual model identifying four central

German University in Cairo.

and knowledge of how systems operate to create

responsibilities:

successfully functioning models. To offer sustain-

• Explore: A thorough investigation of the social sys-

able improvements through design, designers must

tem’s problems to define priorities and locate (existing)

turn their attention toward developing social systems

system/s that will sustain the restructuring process.

such as education, healthcare, and social security

• Create: Analysis, identification, and direction of strat-

200

politics of representation

Manzini, E. (n.d.) Scenarios of sustainable ways of living http://sustainable-everyday.net/ manzini/index.php?paged=2 (Retrieved Oct. 2012). McEoin, E. (2009). Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lecture 2009. http://www.australiandesignunit. com (Retrieved Oct. 2012). Robeyns, I. (2005). The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 6(1), pp. 93-114. Thompson, John B. (1996) Tradition and Self in a Mediated World in Detraditonalization Paul Heelas, and others (eds.) Oxford, Lancaster University, Blackwell.

Youth's Reflections on Change: Student work from the class of Alexander Tibus The information design course is part of the 6th semester curriculum at the Graphic Design Department at the German University in Cairo. The aim of the course is to educate students to research, analyze and subsequently visualize data, with the aim of making complex information comprehensible. For most students, this course is the first time that they are individually responsible for the topic and the content they work on. Scheduled for February 2011 the first course started directly after the Egyptian revolution of January 25. Out of 40 students, 29 chose a topic that related to the revolution, to politics or to social issues. The other 11 oriented themselves towards rather neutral topics, such as tourism and music. Just one year later, only two out of 38 students chose a "neutral" topic: 36 decided to work on politically or socially relevant themes. Interest in politics and the engagement in social concerns has risen dramatically within this one year. Additionally, the way that students deal with information has become more reflective. The presented posters reflect young Egyptians' motivation to analyze and understand the complex situation of their country, their courage in dealing with delicate topics and their creative talent in transforming plain facts and statistical information into attractive information design. Alexander Tibus is a graphic designer and worked as a lecturer at the German University in 2011. He is currently a lecturer of Graphic Design at the University of Portsmouth, UK, specializing in Information Design and Typography.

Amira Mansshour

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politics of representation

Sandra Nagy

Alia Yassin

204

politics of representation

Mirna Alfred

If I Were President The idea for the project If I Were President came about during the time of the presidential campaigns of 2012: the posters of the various candidates virtually took over the public space of the city. The election propaganda posted slogans and huge pictures of the candidates into the urban space, but left no room for a dialogue with the public. The onesidedness of the communication at play, propagating the promise of ‘freedom', 'Justice', or invoking 'God’s Name', without explaining how to achieve these goals, motivated me to make posters for a presidential campaign for and by the people: Each poster offers a blank space where citizens can state what they would do if they were to hold the highest office themselves. People wrote their ideas, needs and desires; others edited the notes or added their personal perspectives. On the posters and stickers and through a Facebook group, everyone who responded suggested something different, which, to me, highlights the real issue: We can’t sum up what the people of Egypt need in a single phrase, a single party or a single candidate. My campaign aimed at initiating a public dialogue and encouraging people to discuss the central questions they had never had the chance to consider before. Amado Fadni is an artist working with mixed media.

Amado Fadni

Opposite page top I would fix the education system in Egypt Bottom I would arrest all feloul [remnants of the old regime] and … [rest of text not shown]. Below left I would burn the Mogamaa as a symbol of bureaucracy and centralization of power, and in its place I would build a monument for the [revolution’s] martyrs. I would remove religion from schools’ curricula and combine it with history and philosophy for the birth of non-fanatic generations. 21/5/1012 Osama Diab Right in red: I would surround Tahrir Square with a high fence with the writing "Cairo Zoo" (Translations)

This page I would issue a decision stating clothes are for free and I would owe everyone [illegible]… I would cancel the national campaign against [illegible] under the slogan of ‘Leave the creation to the creator’… I would make a "boyfriend" or fiancé available for each girl… I will remind all people to laugh and provide them with a lot of money and no one will be poor. I would make people love each other more, and not be upset by each other, and if they [want] me to go away, it would be normal and I would not be upset, the most important thing is that they are happy - There will be no robbery - No murder - No bribery, and the police will love the population and I will make Egypt one of the countries of the big [first] world, and as for education everyone can study what they want. One person’s work will not be called better than another’s, I won’t cancel the thanaweya amma [final high school exams] and whoever wants to do it it’s up to him. The minimum wage for salaries will be 3000. That does not mean that I will make things more expensive, like they used to do. And of course you will ask me from where will you get the money? For sure for sure for sure I will return all stolen money :P. - An apartment for every young man and every woman - Work opportunity "We have to reconstruct the desert which we are leaving empty" [Signature at the bottom] Menna Chater (Translations)

Above (top) In the western desert there is a stock of groundwater, we must build wells to extract it and exploit the vast space of Egypt with agriculture, build new cities, and utilize our workforce – which is plenty in Egypt – and with that I would reform the youth and I will give each young man a piece of land for agriculture. Egypt faces problems with water supplies, this is the solution. I would achieve self-sufficiency and God bless. An Egyptian citizen. 21/5/2012 (bottom) [A drawing of Egypt's geographical outline] Agricultural spaces, from the groundwater wells Right [Bold text from right to left in blue] The first thing I would do is allow Egyptians to be Egyptians and the country would be only for them [Black] What is the meaning of thanaweya amma [final high school exams]?! [Blue] I would hit you all with shoes, Thank you. [Black] I would go to art school without thanaweya amma. (Translations)

Nina Ayach Bakaboza: An utopian presidential candidate A public rally for a fictitious politician

(Translations) Right "Who would you vote for? "The person who doesn’t fool us with bribes now so he can rob us later.

Below right "Who would you vote for?" The person who won't put her hand in another person's pocket [i.e. someone who won't steal].

Below left "Who would you vote for?" The person who won't need immunity in order to steal from us [us referring to the people].

Hamdy Reda Who are you voting for? MEEN is a poster campaign developed in a group process at the independent project space Artellewa, at the time of the presidential elections. The aim of the campaign was to shift the attention from the focus on single public individuals to the public itself, opening a discussion about the kind of values the people on the ground hope will emerge from the transition to democracy. The "anonymous" posters promote values such as democracy, social equality, education and openness to the world. Hamdy Reda is an artist and the founder of Artellewa, an independently run art space that provides artistic services to the residents of the densely populated, low-infrastructural neighborhood Ard El-Lewa in Cairo.

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politics of representation

This project was developed during the first round of Egyptian presidential elections. We created the political manifesto for the perfect utopian candidate along with a puppetry persona in papier mache. Bakaboza's political campaign was created collaboratively through a series of brainstorming workshops; following this, Bakaboza went to the streets of Ard El-Lewa, to present his program to the citizens. Nini Ayach is a manager and practitioner in the field of the performing arts; in 2012 she was an artist-in-residence in the independent project space Artellewa in Giza, Cairo.

I'm on stage with sweaty and exhausted Muslim Brothers, relaxing after their rhetorical speeches. Cleaning their vocal cords with celebratory sherbet. Beneath them are domestic trophies: food processors, electric mixers, toasters; presents for the crowd. It is a victory 80 years in the making – so they claim. I give a nod of approval to a candidate who secured a place in the newborn parliament. In the name of change hundreds of Egyptians have died, been shot or tortured since the revolution of 2011. How will this candidate reform Egypt for the living? The battle fought underground for decades has moved to the foreground. At their feet, the public awaits the promised miracles. It will not be his last time to drip sweat on the mic stand and strain his vocal cords.

sing it out loud, brother Impressions from a Muslim Brothers election rally

I stand amid sweaty Muslim Brotherhood candidates on stage while a chilly sea breeze caresses us; I know they feel victory is coming. It was the first postrevolutionary autumn. I congratulate the sherbet-sipping candidates. They know that to be a hero for the crowd, you need to create a villain first. In this case the role of the villain was split between the frivolous West, the constant enemy Israel and their own old archenemy – the former regime. This crowd, illiterate, colorful and with more children than they can afford dreams for, will carry my politicians to the presidential seat. Maybe the Muslim Brothers' crowd at this celebratory rally knows little about the politics, but they put their hearts in religion. Religion is solid, indisputable, divine, and the Brothers know that. What I know is that the Brothers' speeches for their crowd is different from those tailored for outsiders in the form of press, intellectuals, liberals, foreign investors, fellow politicians, Facebook communities, etc. The revolution did its deeds for everyone, everyone found something in it (dreams, hopes, death);

Let the angels mark your ballot papers! for me it was religion. All these people who gathered secretly in private flats, who were tortured in secret

words Mona Abouissa photography J D Perkins

cells, emigrated to foreign lands, now pose proudly at a spitting distance from me. From accounts of genital electrocution by homeland security over stories about the prophet’s rescue of a woman accused of adultery,

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politics of representation

to religious music, I was having a good time with the

up her galabeya and jumps through the iron barriers

hold the poster from the other side as they smile and

bearded Salafis and clean-shaven Muslim Brothers.

to hug Sobhy who holds her ticket. She declares her

sway gently to the choir's song. I look at the scene of

Not that we agreed, but we talked.

love and gratitude to the Brotherhood into the micro-

the ample candidate, the happy mother, the dead son

phone at the top of her lounges. A boy urges me to

on the poster and outstretched hands with recording

parliamentary candidate flaunts the mockery of

write his name on a raffle ticket, to partake in the

mobile phones – the dead are dictating the politics

the police in the 2005 elections. “And the angels

competition for the electric household utensils on

of the living, I thought. Martyrs become posthumous

did.” The crowd of thousands hangs on the Muslim

display below the stage. A girl on the other side from

celebrities. A man’s voice pierce through the loud-

Brothers politician's every word at a packed square in

me, trembling, asks me to write a message to Sobhy

speaker: “God is great and praise be to Him, one of

Alexandria. Al-Mohamedy Ahmed passes the micro-

asking him for work. He is popular.

us is in parliament!” From small to big, young to old,

“Let the angels mark your ballot papers!” the

the crowd chants back: “God is great and praise be

phone to another popular candidate of the Freedom and Justice Party, Sobhy Saleh. He often ignites the rallies with his outspoken sense of humor, but not today. With his eyes piercing the air around us, he utters into the microphone “We told them not to play with fire, he who plays with fire burns, so the earth shattered beneath them and now they are in jail,” mocking the previous regime. There is a divine drama

“God is great and praise be to Him, one of us is in parliament!”

in the air. It's a victory long awaited. I felt as if I was

The female Freedom and Justice Party candidate

transported into a page recollecting the Islamic con-

Bushra exclaims that women should stay at home and

querors of the Middle Ages only to be brought back

take care of the family and their husbands, to battle

to our time by a raffle of modern domestic goods.

divorce rates. “Behind every great man is a woman,”

A woman faints beside me: she just won a ticket to

Bushra tells the excited women in colorful heads-

Umrah (pilgrimage). She awakes in tears, and, throw-

carves, and their great men. Then Bushra grabs the

ing off a couple of decades from her age, she pulls

poster of a martyred boy and welcomes his mother to

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politics of representation

to Him, one of us is in parliament! God is great and praise be to Him, one of us is in parliament!” Journalist and writer Mona Abouissa and photographer John Perkins live and work in Cairo; they have collaborated on various reportages for inter/ national media.

Above Print production checking for Morsi publicity, at a Giza printing press. Photograph by Nabeela Akhtar, May 2012 Opposite Back of a political banner with holes cut out for wind resistance. (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

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politics of representation

The President Series As part of Ahmed Shafiq's election campaign anonymous billboards were proclaiming "The President" throughout the city. As the mysterious posters were removed some weeks later they revealed Shafiq's portrait underneath… The President Series is taken during the 2012 presidential campaigns and examines the visual dynamics between the high-gloss campaign billboards and the life on Cairo's streets. Nadia Mounier is a visual artist living in Cairo. She works mainly with photography.

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urban transformations

Nadia Mounier

Egypt needs the work of every Egyptian, Amr Moussa, symbol: sun, Reconstruction of Egypt, we are up to the challenge. (Translation)

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urban transformations

Victory cometh only from Allah (Qur'an, Ali Imran:126 translated by Pickthall), symbol: eagle, Hamdeen Sabbahi, president of Egypt, One of us, Gold does not seduce him, swords do not scare him. (Translation)

Matteo Valenza Crumbling down the walls I was interested in the way posters were affected, modified, and sometimes mutilated during their installment in the city’s urban landscape. In the streets of Cairo, one could witness what might be described as the ‘swallowing’ of election banners and posters by the city’s walls; the visual material would start to crumble, bend, or deteriorate shortly after being posted. The metamorphoses happened in two distinct ways: 1. Organically – due to the natural decomposition of the material by pollution, sun, or moisture. The resulting dynamism of its appearance on the city’s surfaces created a merging of multiple contents, contrasts, and unintended meanings for the eyes of passersby. 2. Non-organically – as a result of intentional, reactive interaction between citizens and campaign posters. Passersby would scribble, scratch, or distort the posters with elements of sarcasm, humor, or rebellion. Some portraits, especially of Ahmed Shafiq, who was often denounced as a feloul (compliant with the old regime), would be ‘mutilated’, the eyes scratched out, the mouth ripped off. For me, the subsequent pictures stand for popular participation in the political discourse. They show a new form of freedom of expression; people felt entitled to destroy and even ridicule political leaders and ideals – unthinkable under the former regimes. The pictures were taken in Dokki, downtown, Mounira, Sayeda Zeinab, and Zamalek, and display posters of presidential candidates Mohamed Morsi, Ahmed Shafiq, Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabahi. Matteo Valenza is a photographer living in Cairo.

Right Creating jobs, Amr Moussa, Together we face the challenge [added in handwriting:] feloul [remnant of the old regime] Left Alliance of the central force, The Tomorrow Party supports Ahmed Shafiq, president of Egypt, symbol: ladder, Egypt for everyone and by everyone. (Translations)

3 urban transformations

(Work notes) city as writing/body as sign Performance in/of/through Urban/public/ utopian spaces sexed bodies subverted symbols smooth architectures striated spaces counterpanopticism urban messaging ur-zeichnung/image-writers/ collective editing erasure Palimpsest Membrane Second skin unstable symbols we are all... (Zoom out)

urban transformations: introduction

the ground, with traces of writing, rewriting, editing,

and the view of Midan Tahrir appeared in both official

signing, claiming, reclaiming, stating, negotiating, and

and activist communication. In the context of graf-

negating.

fiti, however, the symbols were often subjected to

This non-linear and interactive narrative echoes the

reversals of their traditional meaning, as Mona Abaza

discussions in coffee houses, on street corners, in

elaborates in her essay on female representation in

the subways between strangers, and in workplaces

revolutionary graffiti. The Egyptian eagle e.g. was

among colleagues taking place as the public sphere

rendered an ‘unstable symbol’ as it was increasingly

vitalized through collective acts of open speech during

used with negative connotations when SCAF’s popu-

the last decade.

larity started dropping after the repeated brutalization

Some modes of writing directly targeted the city’s

of protestors by the military, a practice that peaked

official architecture. The SCAF erected a number of

in front of the state television building Maspero on

concrete barriers to constrain the dynamics of protest

October 9, 2011, when dozens were left dead.

around the Ministry of Interior, which was a fre-

Symbols like the blue bra illustrate the proximity

quent target of demonstrators. As Andreas Sicklinger

between the day-to-day events and their translation

describes in this chapter, street artists challenged the

into visual signs, and the distribution and transforma-

January 25 brought about a transformative process

space in terms of a text, an action-script manifested

visual presence of the barriers by means of the centu-

tion of these signs by varying media. The blue bra

that profoundly affected the relationship between lan-

in the architectural blueprints and urban master plans

ries-old technique of trompe-l’œil.

refers to a display of police brutality on December 18,

guage, space and the human body, as Samia Mehrez

designed to frame the terms of social interaction by

recounted in her essay The Language of Tahrir.

– on the most basic level – defining which direction

the space that was sealed off by the barrier on the

and her upper body stripped except for the blue bra

a moving body can or cannot take, at which points

barrier itself, in wall paintings that used one-point per-

she was wearing.

the conquering of Midan Tahrir, which from being a

people can or cannot gather, and which spots serve

spective. The particular form of writing inherent to

space of mere public utilization became “a truly public

as connection points between different close-knit city

this gesture seems to not be aimed at the surface of

uploaded the footage to YouTube, from where it

square” as Mohamed Elshahed described it in his

clusters. We can then observe how the vision of a new

the wall, which is rendered transparent or pierced;

spread virally. Screen shots from the video were

entry to this volume. The Midan became a place of

city manifests as writing literally on the bodies of dis-

rather we might view it as a sign of defiance towards

printed out and displayed in the hands of angry pro-

communal interaction, a pivotal point for expressions

senting citizens who wear their sentiments as signs,

the concept of fixed urban structures altogether, as a

testers. A painting reminiscent of medieval Christian

of civil dissent and celebration, and a laboratory for

as text passages written on the body, on clothing, on

product of resistance, smoothing the striated space of

iconography depicted the soldiers as long-eared,

performative enactments of the political in the form

handheld banners, on the tents that sprung up like

a regulative city-text.[1]

sharp-toothed devils. In an act of reductive formaliza-

of caricature galleries, collective image banks, chant-

mushrooms in Midan Tahrir as makeshift housing for

ing, poetry readings, graffiti activism, and improvised

its temporary inhabitants during periods of condensed

the authorities respond with the continuous erasure of

specificity of the implicated body, into a single object;

memorial services throughout which civil and artistic

protests and sit-ins.

revolutionary imagery while (re)building walls in some

in this form the blue bra simultaneously signifies police brutality and feminist resistance.

This transformation manifested exemplarily in

The participants of the No Walls Project replicated

Aware of the subversive quality of such gestures,

2011, when a female protestor was severely beaten

The incident was captured by a journalist who

tion, numerous stencils extracted the bra from the

For our purposes we might trace back the concept

places and dismantling informal barriers in others. The

of text to an ancient form of drawing (an Urzeichnung)

procedure resembles the politics of Cairo’s nineteenth-

ing a longing for a renegotiation of class, gender, and

that has been alienated from the body through its

century modernization that sought to eliminate the

digital media and street walls include the Anonymous

religious divides on a national level, in Midan Tahrir

fixation in static alphabetical sign systems. We can

possibility of popular uprisings by copying the panop-

Guy Fawkes mask, the paintbrush as ideological (anti)

utopia took the form of men and women fighting and

observe how this text returns to the body, as writing

tic model of Baron Haussmann’s Paris. A model that

weapon to counter hard-hitting police clubs, the com-

sleeping next to each other, Copts creating protective

that literally uses the surface of human skin as its

turned against itself when the people rejected the

promised Justice, and the calligraphed “La” (No) to

human chains around their praying Muslim fellow pro-

medium.

regulations of the state of emergency and gathered in

oppression by authoritarian, religious, patriarchal and

million marches.

sexist power structures.

agency merged. Dubbed “the core utopian city” by activists express-

Other recurring symbols that alternated between

testors, who returned the gesture by joining protests

This text, using the body as canvas, expresses a

over aggression towards non-Muslim communities,

shift in the definition of public space and offers new

and masses joining together in flat hierarchies, declin-

terms of the communal. On the level of potentiality its

Performing Dissent Eliane Ursula Ettmueller describes

and writing becoming city in a profound renegotia-

ing the concept of single leadership.

In her essay in this chapter Graffiti as Stage:

We are witnessing the city becoming writing

writers pose individual passages to the draft of a new

how graffiti emerged as an individual art form in

tion of the interrelated dynamics of body, sign, and

In light of the numerous political setbacks for the

legislation, a new constitution, a new social system

Egypt as a direct consequence of the 2011 uprisings.

urban space.

hopes and demands of the revolutionaries of the first

and a new set of demands for the urban planning of

Ettmueller analyzes how street art functions as a dem-

hour, Mehrez suggests that the “newfound power of

the future. In a dismissal of the status quo this rival

ocratic model of communication by virtue of allowing

ownership of one’s space, one’s body, and one’s lan-

blueprint of the city spills into the surroundings of its

the public to actively engage in its script: Passersby

guage” manifest the accomplishment of the revolution

utopian core and onto the walls of the Mogamma, the

can approach graffiti writers during the process of

on an inter-subjective level while holding the potential

central administrative governmental building oppos-

writing or they can edit the pieces at a later point.

for further negotiations on the level of broader society.

ing the square; it turns into scribbles on the historical

For a moment let us allow ourselves to think about the relationship between urban space and social

232

urban transformations

The image-writers created an iconographic lexicon of

monuments throughout downtown Cairo; it covers

defining events in the unfolding history of their country.

the underground metro passages, even the dirt on

Central symbols such as the Egyptian eagle and flag

[1] See also Lewis Sanders Reclaiming the City: Street Art of the Revolution in Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir AUC Press 2012

Tent city at Tahrir, Spring 2012 Omar "Keshta" Omar Solaiman's declaration: President Mubarak has abandoned ruling the country and put the military council in charge of the following 1- The abortion of the revolution 2- Extermination of the revolutionaries 3- Managing the country's affairs their own gain 4- Israel's security at the expense of people and their dignity 5- America's benefits Letter to the "Ekhwan" [referring to the Muslim Brotherhood]: Unite with the revolutionaries to put the council [SCAF]on trial and end corruption! Why are you silent, oh people of Egypt? (Translations) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Tent city January 25, 2012, The revolution continues The Egyptian Adam junior, Parliament of the blood of the martyrs (Translations) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Urban Writing in Mohamed Mahmoud Street (April 2013) Opposite page Top Talat Harb Street (November 2012) Bottom Mohamed Mahmoud Street (February 2012) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

andreas sicklinger

In 1413 the Florentine artist and architect Filippo Brunelleschi developed a way to graphically represent the perspective of real space. His legendary perspective panels,[1] lost but described in detail by contemporaries like Leon Battista Alberti,[2] influenced the history of art in decisive ways. Brunelleschi’s research around mathematics and geometry made the representation of three-dimensional space on a flat surface a matter of calculation. Giorgio Vasari’s exclamation on seeing Masaccio’s fresco The Trinity (1427-1428), for which it is thought Brunelleschi was a fundamental support, testifies to the importance of the development of optical depth for artists and architects: "The most beautiful thing, in addition to the figures, are the rosettes, drawn in perspective and continu-

Notes on Optical Illusions around tahrir

[1] Brunelleschi biographer Antonio Manetti described the experiment in 1475: On a square tablet of approximately 30cm per side, Brunelleschi painted the Florence Baptistery with its inlaid marble in a way so accurate that “no miniature illustrator could have done it better.” To prove the similarity of the painted image to the reality, in the tablet was a hole flared toward the back of the painting, so that the eye of the observer, placed at a precise point (approximately 60cm inside the door of the Florence Cathedral) could perceive the real image of the scene. Subsequently with the aid of a mirror, held in the observer’s other hand and adjusted at a suitable distance, one could see the painted image and the real one. The sky in the painting was composed of foils of silver, so that the real sky could be mirrored. See: Sergio Sammarone, "Brunelleschi e l’invenzione della prospettiva,” Zanichelli, 2010.

1

[2] Alberti dedicated his 1436 treatise De Pictura to “Pippo [Filippo] architect,” in the hopes that, with his “wonderful genius,” Brunelleschi could correct any errors or weaknesses in his work. [3] Giorgio Vasari, Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, 1568. Ouote translated from the Italian by the author. “Quello che vi è bellissimo, oltre alle figure, è una volta a mezza botte tirata in prospettiva, e spartita in quadri pieni di rosoni che diminuiscono e scortano così bene che pare che sia bucato quel muro.” [4] See: Gatano Fano, Correzioni Ed Illusioni Ottiche in Architettura, 1979, Edizioni Dedalo, p. 58. [5] Soraya Morayef, “The Seven Wonders of the Revolution.” [6] Handala, a young boy, is the most famous of Naji alAli's characters. Naji Salim al-Ali (1938-1987) was a Palestinian cartoonist whose work is renowned for its political criticism of the Arab regimes and Israel.

2

3

the No Walls Project

ously decreasing in size, thus creating the illusion of an actual hole in the wall."[3] Linear perspective achieves a three-dimensional

dition of theatre set design that optically increases the

effect by projecting the desired image onto a geo-

depth of the stage. Unlike linear perspective, the con-

metrically constructed two-dimensional plane. For

struction of scenic perspective is developed in concrete

the viewer a perceptual effect of a receding area

space, being part of a physical environment [4]

emerges. This led to a reconsideration of the entire art

Today, frescoes appear in the form of urban murals,

of painting. Masaccio’s scene by far surpassed Gothic

frequently used for the cosmetic transformation of

art in terms of the illusion and realism.

large barren walls deemed unattractive to the urban

Soon the technique was generally applied by artists

scenery. Linear perspective is often applied to alter

and architects. Among the most famous examples of

the perception of a sealed-off space, creating open-

the latter are the apse of the Milan church of Santa

ings into imaginary interiors or illusions of a different

Maria presso San Satiro (1478) by Donato Bramante

‘better world’ with idyllic scenery. In contrast to

and Galleria Spada in Rome by Francesco Borromini

political protest graffiti, the stories told by publicly

(1652-1653). In both cases architecture is (de-)formed

commissioned murals are predominantly submissive

to give the visual impression of deep space where

and aimed at enhancing the experience of the modern-

there is none.

day flaneur (see figure 4). The feelings of awe these

Optical illusions applied in architecture until then were rooted in relief or scenic perspective, as in the tra-

240

urban transformations

images seek to produce might not be that different from those that evoked praise from Giorgio Vasari.

4

In the context of Egypt’s continuous political transi-

beauty through the artist’s expressive capacity. In

tions, a central artistic outlet has been found in graffiti

the case of the No Walls Project, the mural is part of

and murals, specifically around Midan Tahrir in Cairo.

a continuous changing urban environment. Monthly,

creating gaps that in some cases fulfil the inher-

Like the political scene, these too undergo continu-

sometimes daily, the wall paintings change, perhaps

ent promise of the architectural illusions described:

ous transformations. Visual manifestations of protest,

becoming more programmatic of artistic than socio-

people can walk through a wall painting, as through

they are modified and repainted in rapid succession.

political protest.

Alice’s looking-glass, into a new era of political deci-

Recently some walls have been physically disas-

Images lose and alter their meanings. In our histori-

ity in a never-ending process of mutation. Here and there single blocks have been crushed,

sion making.

cal outlook though, it is particularly interesting to note

sembled by protestors less apt to accept symbolic

that the wall itself appears as a common theme, and a

release; the authorities have been quick to resurrect

Andreas Sicklinger is a Professor of product design

boundary to overcome.

them in response. Concrete blocks have been reas-

at the German University in Cairo.

The general landscape of imagery in Mohamed

sembled with little regard, as one would expect, to

Mahmoud Street, off Midan Tahrir, is one of opposi-

the images painted on their surfaces. The geome-

tion: graffiti and murals seek to express dissent, show

tries of the perspectives presented have been mixed

what is wrong and what should be changed. Current

up, creating blank spots, inversions, and discontinu-

events are discussed, common heroes celebrated, villains slain. But in a more sublime sense, in other parts of Tahrir the wall itself becomes the subject. Or rather, the presence of the wall is challenged by painting. These wall paintings seek to make visible the depth

Maged, Ammar Abo-Bakr and Alaa Awad.”[5] The artistic idea of a virtual dissolution of authoritarian barriers reached a peak in the murals on the huge cement blocks behind the American University in

of the space behind the barriers erected to halt the

Cairo, blocking an entrance to Midan Tahrir. A painting

flow of protestors. These paintings too continually

by Ammar Abo-Bakr depicts, in great detail, the part

change: modified, deleted, repainted, they are

of the street that is blocked off and thus no longer

signs of the evanescent character of revolutionary

visually accessible; on the mural the sealed-off street

Egypt, figuratively, physically, and temporally. The

reappears, its furnishings and facades naturalistically

urban movement protests against barriers, and at the

represented using central linear perspective. The

same time it constantly changes to avoid becoming

effect is wonderful: at first glance the wall is no longer

barrier itself.

there. Similar results were obtained in other wall

Many streets around Midan Tahrir have been

paintings, like in Yousef al-Guindy Street or in Farid

blocked off by concrete blocks, courtesy of the

Street, were the wall facing the Ministry of Interior

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), to

is occupied by the protesting figure of Handala,[6]

keep protesters away from the Ministry of Interior. As

waving his sword at the government.

Soraya Morayef highlights, “for many observers, it is

Manifesting, through optical illusion, the absence

difficult to look at these walls without drawing paral-

of a barrier built to obstruct and restrict freedom of

lels to the Occupied Territories or the Berlin Wall. In

(more than) movement is a culmination of artistic-

the Egyptian context, however, these walls have been

intellectual resistance. Vasari’s notion of "the illusion

built by our very own military regime, and it remains

of an actual hole in the wall" is updated: the renais-

unclear whether they are trying to keep us out or lock

sance fresco was meant to persist through

themselves in. Today, the protests have subsided (for

the ages, to enlighten the observer and proclaim

now) while the concrete walls remain. The persistent web of traffic around the maze of Mohamed Mahmud has left residents and commuters fuming with anger. With no clear end in sight, street artists have taken to the walls to counter SCAF’s imposing concrete blocks. (…) On 9 March 2012, a group of artists and activists launched the No Walls Project to transform the seven walls into virtual open spaces. So far six of the seven walls have been worked on by this large, eclectic group, which includes filmmaker Salma alTarzi and street artists Mohamed al-Moshir, Hossam Shukrallah, Hanaa al-Degham, Zeft, Amr Nazeer, Laila

242

urban transformations

References Gatano Fano Correzioni Ed Illusioni Ottiche in Architettura Edizioni Dedalo 1979 Sergio Sammarone, Corso di Disegno, Zanichelli, Bologna 2010, available online at: http://online.scuola. zanichelli.it/sammaronedisegno/files/2010/03/Zanichelli_ Sammarone_Brunelleschi.pdf Works of John Plugh available online at: http://www. illusion-art.com/ chilis.asp Giorgio Vasari Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori 1568 Soraya Morayef The Seven Wonders of the Revolution available online at: http:// www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4776/the-seven-wondersof-the-revolution, consulted on 19/10/2012

Continuous editing Above Mohamed Mahmoud Street, May 2012. After municipalities announced the whitewashing of "the martyrs' wall", street artists covered the wall in spacefilling writing, ironically stating: “Forget about the past, focus on the elections” (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A.) Below An ever-evolving graffiti piece in front of Al Ahly Club in Zamalek. Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy January 2012

244

urban transformations

"LA" (No) to the referendum. In front of the presidential palace. Photographed by Mosa'ab Elshamy December 2012

Gender Representation in Graffiti Post-25 January Few will disagree that growing tensions in gender

Middle East specialists have commented on the ‘Arab

relations are of central significance for the future

Spring’ with much concern, specifically regarding the

of the incomplete Arab revolutions. In Egypt, the

critical and precarious position of women after the rev-

fact that a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,

olutions that spread from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya.

Mohamed Morsi, became president after the

Many have expressed concern that the forthcoming

ouster of Hosni Mubarak has not stopped thuggery,

post-Arab Spring years will be dominated by controver-

violence, and sexual assault taking place. Most dis-

sial gender issues in the Middle East.[1] The concern of

turbingly, sexual harassment, including rape, is being

some has risen now that Egypt’s revolution has argu-

used as a tactic to terrorize and keep away demon-

ably been hijacked by Islamists and the army.

strators, specifically in Midan Tahrir. If tensions between the liberal-secular camp and

This short essay should be read as a continuation of a series of articles I wrote on graffiti in Cairo,[2] with

the Islamists remain unresolved, in daily life little

the focus here on the relationship between humor and

has changed: corruption and nepotism endure while

multifaceted gender representation after the breath-

quality of life continues to decline. No security officer

taking year of 2011. Many observers have pointed at

or official responsible for the killings and massacres

the highly satirical aspect of the revolution. A chapter

since January 2011 has been convicted; instead bru-

by Heba Salem and Kantaro Taira in Samia Mehrez's

tality is escalating, manifesting in the stripping of

important recent volume on the revolution brilliantly

protesters, the systematic persecution of leaders of

elaborates on the significance of our long tradition of

the 6 April Youth and workers’ movements, the ritual

the joke, the nuktah, in Egypt’s political culture.[3]

gang rapes of women in Tahrir, and the witch hunts

Kaizer's graffiti on the walls of the Al-Ahly Football

targeting journalists and members of the opposition.

Club in Zamalek is a good example of how international

Debate evolving around a law legalizing mar-

graffiti mixes icons and styles to express dissent in a

riage for girls starting from age nine, an incident of a

local context. Through subverting icons of Western

veiled school teacher cutting the hair of a young pupil

mass culture, for example in a drawing of snow white

because she did not wear hijab, recurrent attacks

with a machine gun, and through borrowing from clas-

on unveiled women in the streets, and statements

sical advertisement icons, for example a housewife

arguing that women take to the streets because they

with a hand grenade, Kaizer evokes strong sardonic

like being raped all raise doubts about Morsi’s so-

sentiments. The piece demonstrates the continually

called Renaissance Project.

growing gap between the rigid and moralistic discourse

It is hard not to express concerns about blatant

on women and the mocking of it by street artists.

escalating misogyny. It is often mixed with unbridled male fantasies of controlling female bodies, and

II

the stripping and mutilation of protesting male and

Ever since the ousting of the Mubarak family in Egypt,

female bodies in public.

systematic acts of violence such as mutilating and

Numerous scholars, activists, feminists, and

destroying protesting bodies have been perpetrated

Mona Abaza

[1] See also Mariz Tadros, “Egypt's women have had enough of being told to cover up” http://www.guardian. co.uk/commentisfree/2012/ may/29/egypt-womencover-up-coptic, and Hania Sholkamy, “Why women are at the heart of Egypt’s political trials and tribulations,” Open Democracy, January 24, 2012, http://www. opendemocracy.net/5050/ hania-sholkamy/why-womenare-at-heart-of-egypt’s-political-trials-and-tribulations

The blue Bra abounded in a multitude of graffiti and became a central icon for expressing dissent by counter-revolutionary forces, exemplified by the

terms of proposed alternative agendas for social

police apparatus, the army, and paid thugs of the

justice.[4] Several observers, like Hania Sholakmy,[5]

old regime. It is as if vengeance is being targeted at

Hoda El Sadda,[6] and Mariz Tadros, have pointed to

youth, more specifically at young bodies; it is as if

various shocking acts that all converge towards one

the generational conflict between the ageing military

direction: targeting women’s bodies.

junta and the young protesters is projected in the mutilation of young bodies. Sexual assault has been used to keep away foreign

III ‘Virginity tests’ were undertaken on female protest-

female journalists and blacken the image of Midan

ers in March 2011 by the army. They justified the

Tahrir. Late at night on October 12, 2012, a female

act by stating that it was so the army would not

reporter was attacked by a large horde of men while

be blamed for having “deflowered” young female

covering the violent confrontations between Muslim

protesters. One protester filed a case against the

Brotherhood members and various opposing secular

army officer who had conducted the ‘tests’. He was

parties whom they had forbidden to enter the square.

recently acquitted.

Since December 2012, when gang rapes were fre-

How can women not be alarmed when the Muslim

quent in Tahrir, some have argued that it has become

Brotherhood, as part of their community work for

systematic.

the marginalized and poor, have allegedly introduced

Deniz Kandiyoti has remarked that a post-Arab

‘mobile health clinics’ in upper Egypt offering ‘female

Spring misogynist attitude is to be observed in almost

circumcision’, a practice that was in decline after long

all the recent Arab revolutions, precisely because

years of feminist campaigning?[7] Fear of the Islamist

Islamists have so far revealed serious lacunae in

tide has been met by the Coptic Church with even

250

urban transformations

[2] See, in Jadaliyya, “An Emerging Memorial Space? In Praise of Mohammed Mahmud Street,” in, March 10, 2012, http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4625/ an-emerging-memorialspace-in-praise-of-mohammed-m, “The Buraqs of Tahrir,” May 27, 2012, http:// www.jadaliyya.com/pages/ index/5725/the-buraqs-oftahrir, “The Revolution's Barometer,” June 12, 2012, http://www.jadaliyya.com/ pages/index/5978/therevolutions-barometer-, and “The Dramaturgy of a Street Corner,” January 25, 2013, http://culture.jadaliyya.com/ pages/index/9724/the-dramaturgy-of-a-street-corner [3] Heba Salem and Kantaro Taira, “Al-Thawra al-Dahika: The Challenge of Translating Revolutionary Humor,” in: Translating Egypt's Revolution, edited by Samia Mehrez, The American University in Cairo Press, 2012, p. 183 [4] See Deniz Kandiyoti, “Disquiet and despair: the gender sub-texts of the ‘Arab spring’”, Open Democracy, June 26, 2012, http://www. opendemocracy.net/5050/ deniz-kandiyoti/disquiet-anddespair-gender-sub-texts-of“arab-spring [5] Hania Sholkamy “Why women are at the heart of Egypt’s political trials and tribulations,” see note 1 [6] Hoda Elsadda, “Egypt The Battle Over Hope and Morale,” Open Democracy, November 2, 2011: http:// www.opendemocracy. net/5050/hoda-elsadda/egyptbattle-over-hope-and-morale [7] Mariz Tadros, “Mutilating bodies: the Muslim Brotherhood’s gift to Egyptian women,” Open Democracy, May 24, 2012. http://azzasedky.typepad.com/ egypt/2012/05/mutilatingbodies-the-muslim-brotherhoods-gift-to-egyptian-women-opendemocracy.html

[8] Mariz Tadros, “Egypt's women have had enough of being told to cover up,” Open Democracy, May 29, 2012, http://www.guardian. co.uk/commentisfree/2012/ may/29/egypt-women-coverup-coptic [9] Lina El-Wardani, “Women activists refuse to be cowed by sexual violence, marginalization,” Ahram Online, March 8, 2012, http://english.ahram.org.eg/ NewsContent/1/64/36225/ Egypt/Politics-/Womenactivists-refuse-to-be-cowedby-sexual-viole.aspx [10] Salma Shukrallah, “10,000 Egyptian women march against military violence and rule,” Ahram Online, December 20, 2011, http://english.ahram.org.eg/ NewsContent/1/64/29824/ Egypt/Politics-/,-Egyptianwomen-march-againstmilitary-violence-a.aspx [11] Ekram Ibrahim, “Women’s march calls for end to military rule,” Ahram Online, January 21, 2012, http://english.ahram.org.eg/ NewsContent/1/64/32230/ Egypt/Politics-/Womensmarch-calls-for-end-tomilitary-rule.aspx

more conservative ‘preventive measures’. Bishop

know, is at home. With a similar reasoning, some

Bishoy, for example, has issued a statement encour-

Salafi sheikhs went on public television to denounce

aging Coptic women to dress more modestly to

the female protester with a blue bra as a prostitute,

emulate Muslim women.[8]

because only a prostitute would wear a blue bra.

In times of war and revolution, often women’s

After the assault, the city’s walls and the cement-

bodies, the notion of chastity, and a discourse of

block barriers erected by the military after fighting

sexual humiliation become focal points of national

on Mohamed Mahmoud Street were filled with hun-

concern. The shocking image of a dead protester

dreds of blue bras.

being dumped in the garbage will not erase from the

Ironically, the blue bra turned into a symbol of

collective memory in the near future. The incident

national protest against both the Supreme Council

was followed by footage of a female protester being

of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the stupidity of

stripped of her clothes, sparking a volcano of anger.

some Salafis, which lead to one of the most signifi-

Cynically, one could read the incident as a new form

cant women’s demonstrations against SCAF policies

of gender equality in the exercise of police brutality in

in December 2011. The process exemplifies how

the public. On December 17, 2011, a veiled woman

graffiti artists can turn dramatic events into sardonic

was violently dragged on the concrete, beaten, and

iconography.

her blue bra exposed. The blue bra turned into an

On November, 23, 2012, huge marches moved

iconic symbol that led thousands of women to take

from all over the city to meet at Midan Tahrir. They

to the street in solidarity with those protesting.[9]

were organized as a protest against a constitutional

Women’s protests and marches against the military

declaration guaranteeing Morsi unlimited legislative

multiplied. The were many chants demanding the ter-

powers. In Mohamed Mahmoud Street, fierce fights

mination of military rule,[10] and the slogan “Egyptian

between young protesters and police forces had

women are a red line” (nesa misr hrat achmar) gained

been going on for several days, a street war sparked

tremendous momentum.[11]

by a memorial for victims of the previous year’s clashes in the same street. Fighting was restricted

IV

to the area opposite the American University in

The former regime equated protesting women with

Cairo and the Lycée school, and on that same day,

prostitutes, and this discourse has endured. Women

a few meters away, a group of graffiti painters and

protesters deserved to be raped because they dem-

photographers also occupied the street, drawing anti-

onstrate in public while a woman’s place, as we

Islamist graffiti while photographing both the newly

painted images and the confrontations at the other end of the street. It was surreal that the same street simultaneously witnessed a battle zone, a live graffiti painting session, and a photo shoot, while passersby and locals gathered to watch. On an adjacent wall Morsi was represented as the Queen of Clubs in an over-sized game of cards, dealt by a devilish-looking joker. The face of the president was hurriedly erased with black paint. Whether authorities or citizen supporters of Morsi did the edit we can only guess. Reluctance to accept satirical criticism, however, is shared by the toppled regime and the newly appointed Islamists. Irony, laughter, and the subversion of symbols remain some of the most powerful tools to fight both religious authoritarianism and increasing misogyny. Mona Abaza is a Professor of Sociology at the American University in Cairo.

Above A young woman drew an ironic piece of graffiti stating: “The Arabic letter noon will dress you as such,” next to a sexy red dress. The letter noon is used in Arabic grammar as a feminine inclination; the artist’s word play possibly contained the subtext that women will feminize men and thus gain power for themselves.

Icons in Flux: The blue bra refers to the beating of a young female protestor by the police in December 2011. Left Participant in a women's rights march displays a video still from the footage. December 2011 (Archive of Mosireen Video Collective) Bottom Stencil in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A., March 2013)

Right Painting depicting the police officers as horned devils. Abdin Square, downtown Cairo, during the monthly art festival El-Fan Midan, which was launched in April 2011. Photograph by Mosa'ab Elshamy, January 2012 Bottom (Right) The blue bra icon. Zamalek, June 2012. Photograph by Mona Abaza. (Left) Stencil in Mohamed Mahmoud Street (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A., April 2013)

Icons in Flux: The Egyptian eagle Stencil of a woman wearing the Egyptian eagle upside down on her back. Downtown Cairo, May 2013.

The Egyptian Revolutionaries’ Council for Public Auditing. We are all Egypt. Banner, Midan Tahrir, February 2012. (Translation) (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Icons in Flux: The Egyptian eagle (Left to right across spread) Top row 1. The eagle as election symbol on a parliamentary banner. 2. On a promotional CD from the Egyptian National Party. 3. In Mohamed Mahmoud Street, symbolizing the Egyptian people (the eagle) disposing the old regime (the turtle). 4. On a martyr's coffin. Center row 5. On a protestor's banner. 6. In graffiti of a "rigged" ballot box 7. On Sabbahi's election poster. 8. On a garage door next to the writing "If you see the teeth of a lioness, don't think she is smiling". Bottom row 9. As an emblem of the police force. In handwriting the word "thugs" is added. 10. On a house wall. 11. On a stencil of a speaker's desk for a nameless authoritarian figure in Mohamed Mahmoud Street. 12. As a stencil next to the writing "No to Authority". (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Icons in Flux: The cross and the crescent Graffiti proclaiming the unity of Christians and Muslims, symbolized by cross and crescent. Top right Part of a memorial installation in Tahrir mourning the Maspero massacre, October 2011. (Mosireen Video Collective, archive) Opposite graffiti at Cairo's art academy. Photograph by Steve Double, April 2011.

Icons in Flux: The fist Opposite page top Victory for the workers of Egypt Bottom The workers are celebrating Bottom right The Egyptian Communist Party Next page Icons in Flux: The street art fighter (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Graffiti as Stage Performing Dissent Eliane Ettmueller Before the 25 January revolution graffiti as an act

Spring, just as Said Darwish’s songs echoed in the

of civil disobedience or a distinctive form of art was

streets of Cairo after the 1919 revolution.

unknown in Egypt. Various gangs of football fans, imi-

Following the brutal clashes between army and

tating their fellow “Ultras” abroad had adopted the

demonstrators in Mohamed Mahmoud Street in

habit of scribbling club signs on walls to mark their ter-

November 2011 and the massacre in Port Said on

ritory. The modest level of artistic competence and the

February 1, 2012, the Revolutionary Artists’ Union

scarce quantities however, were insufficient to attract

took the initiative to turn Mohamed Mahmoud Street

real public attention or foster political discussions.

into a holistic urban art project. Like their Mexican

Many observers agree that the 2011 revolutions

predecessors from past revolutions, the artists not

in the Arab countries were fueled by a distribution of

only emblazoned the grey stone of the buildings with

political propaganda across the Internet in the first

their political colors, they actively engaged in dis-

instance and a snowballing of events on the ground

cussions with passersby. The art of graffiti became

in the second. Text messages sent by mobile phone

performative.

provided additional means to mobilize the masses.

Amaar Abo Bakr engaged in a conversation with

However, during the most intense moments of the

me as I approached him writing a Sura from the

sit-ins in Midan Tahrir, people wrote their demands

Quran in between two large-scale martyr memorials

wherever they found an adequate place and even

in February 2012. He said he was merely reproduc-

attached texts directly to their bodies.

ing the word of God. The martyrs, depicted as dark

Messages ranged from the satirical, for example,

angles, looked down at us, hungry to be avenged.

“Step down, I want to go home and take a shower!”,

Amaar, a professor of fine arts from the academy

to dramatic memorials carried by parents of martyrs

in Luxor, stuck to religiously inspired images that

who had been killed in the revolution. From the body,

were understood, respected, and even honored with

the word escaped to the canvas of the tents dem-

flowers by passersby.

onstrators took refuge in at night. Messages were

His colleague, Alaa Awad, encountered problems

displayed on walls and fences around Midan Tahrir and

from the audience due to his pharaonic-era inspired

even on tanks. After Mubarak’s fall soldiers washed

frescos. According to Alaa, ancient Egypt’s greatness

irhal! (leave!) and insults against the deposed presi-

did not reside in the divine pharaoh but in the people,

dent from their war-machinery, replacing it with their

and it was artists who passed religious and political

favorite slogan, “ash-shab wa-l-gaysh id wahda” (the

events on through millennia. In the Egyptian Book

people and the army hand are one hand), printed in

of the Dead the sun rises to pass judgement over

yellow script on purple background.

those who have died. Alaa’s painting let the govern-

However, once the word had escaped its restrictive

ment stand trial: “The Egyptian government has never

normative framework it was not to be subordinated

been natural and now it is even more distorted than

to the erstwhile rules so easily. Graffiti conquered the

before. Already before the revolution, the ruler was

Egyptian capital in the aftermath of the so-called Arab

weak and now the government is even weaker,” he

The walls were transformed into a memorial for those who had sacrificed their lives for the revolution

revolution he had been working for newspapers and published caricatures on the Internet. However, he now felt the need to address the people on the street directly. “There is no ‘before and after’ the revolution. In reality, Mubarak and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces follow the same strategy, think the same, and represent the same authority,” he said. With the passage of time, the grim double-sided face gazing at Midan Tahrir acquired multiple ominous shadows on Tantawi’s side. At the time of the presidential elections, candidates Amr Moussa and Ahmad Shafiq appeared behind the general to remind citizens that both were feloul (remnants of the old regime). A common denominator of the mural-paintings is that they are designed to transmit political messages

told me, also in February 2012. In the painting the cat

from oppositional viewpoints. It is therefore not sur-

(the people) serve the mouse (the government); even

prising that the authorities reacted to the challenge:

after the revolution the cat is still obeying the mouse.

In early spring 2012 the governorate sent cleaning

Further down the wall Alaa has depicted a crowd of

personnel to erase the graffiti in Mohamad Mahmoud

pharaonic women in honor of the female revolutionar-

Street. However respect for the martyrs and quotes

ies who gave their lives to the revolution. The leading

from the Quran proved stronger than the desire

figure in the cortege is pointing to a ladder, from

for ‘clean’ walls. In a conversation with one of the

which another female figure is falling.

workers dispatched, Gamal, who was busy covering

“Are we pharaohs?” a man interrupted our con-

up graffiti with yellow paint, it became clear that both

versation angrily. “Our origins are pharaonic, yes!”

he and the authorities that had sent him would refrain

Alaa replied. The man was not satisfied and was

from erasing the pictures of the martyrs. He stated

quite convinced of the non-conformity of these draw-

that it was forbidden to do so and that he respected

ings with Islam, especially with regards the unveiled,

the “martyrs’ wall.”

partially-naked women. A conversation began that

The importance of the murals to the public proved

immediately attracted a large audience and to me

strong and public discourse judged the attempt to

demonstrated the immediacy of the democracy

erase the ‘graffiti of the revolution’ as vandalism.

implied by the graffiti medium. Alaa had told me that

Some compared it to tearing down the pyramids.

very few people had the opportunity or inclination to

Nevertheless, on September 20, 2012 the new

visit art galleries, and that by painting directly onto

regime wiped out the image gallery at Midan Tahrir

the walls in the crowded downtown area he could

(Liberation Square). The muralists were swift to react:

reach the people. However, the complexity of his

in the place where the double-sided face of the old

sophisticated pharaonic frescos clearly needed some

regime had been erased, an artist actively fighting riot

explanation – as the people demanded.

police with his pencil was depicted. The policemen all

The graffiti by Omar Fathi was more easily digestible: a face composed of two halves: ex-president

shared the same face: that of Hosni Mubarak. Spontaneous debates among citizens about their

Hosni Mubarak on the right and chairman of the

past, present, and future were manifested in the

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Mohamed

beautiful murals of the Revolutionary Artists’ Union.

Hussein Tantawi on the left. Below it the text: “He

These frescos, just like public opinion, were not

who leaves a successor does not die” (man khalaf

meant to endure for centuries. Rather, they were

ma-matsh). Literate passersby might appreciate the

created in the middle of a rapidly evolving cityscape

wordplay while the illiterate citizen can discern visu-

and changed with the events. Sometimes the authori-

ally that the two faces represent the same kind of evil.

ties sent personnel to cover the walls with new

Omar told me: “caricature is the easiest way to reach

yellow paint. On other occasions, different political

the people. It is understood by everyone, literate or

factions fought each other with messages on adjacent

not.” In February 2012 Fathi told me that before the

walls. The pictures and messages were alive.

266

urban transformations

graffiti had the chance to develop freely and become a sophisticated and applied form of art that helped foster political discussion and communication Iconography, the Faces of the Revolution who

a person who was still alive. Four parallel streets

Plead for Justice

further north displayed portraits of football fans who

Early on, Khaled Said, the blogger who had been torn

had been ‘martyred’ in the Port Said massacre. Busts

out of an Alexandrian Internet café and beaten to

with red Al-Ahly Club football fan t-shirts, fluorescent

death on June 6, 2010, had become not only a martyr

angle wings, were framed in gold with black mourn-

but also an allegory of the Egyptian 25 January revo-

ing bandages. Completing this Christian-inspired

lution. From the beginning of the revolution Wael

iconography, additional portraits were dispersed

Ghonim’s Facebook group called “We are all Khaled

around the club, listing the names of the dead and

Said” summarized a main concern of the Egyptian

adding “R.I.P” in captions. However, the martyrs

people: anybody could be arbitrarily tortured to death

were not left to rest in peace: The face of Khaled

by the numerous armed representatives of the

Said’s mother appeared on the same wall with a

regime. Different pictures of Khaled Said were

picture of her son in her hand, representing Egyptian

seen throughout the revolution: photographs, his

mothers who had lost their children to the never-end-

comic alter-ego in Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff’s

ing revolution.

caricatures against Mubarak, and his stencil sprayed on walls.

Graffiti clearly is a powerful and much-feared weapon of oppressed people. In Syria graffiti directly

Next to his face, as a representative of the inno-

triggered what has escalated from a revolution to a

cent, politically oppressed, and tortured people as

civil war: Young boys sprayed “ash-shab yurid isqat

a whole, the features of Egyptian and foreign politi-

an-nizam” (the people want the fall of the regime) on

cal leaders and icons appeared, including those who

a wall in the border city of Daraa. It was the violent

stood for more specifically-articulated political orienta-

reprisals towards those graffiti writers that sparked

tions such as Che Guevara and Gamal Abdel Nasser.

the first waves of massive demonstrations.

In March 2011, Amr al-Bahari’s face appeared on

In Egypt graffiti as an art form was born by the

a wall near the al-Bustan parking area in front of Bab

revolution. During the past two years it has devel-

al-Luq market. His brother Mohamed explained to

oped to become a sophisticated form of applied art,

me that Amr had been imprisoned on January 25,

motoring political discussion and communication

2011, and judged by a military court on 12 March the

among citizens on a street level. Muralism is a new

same year: “The trial lasted only five minutes and

power factor.

there were neither witnesses nor lawyers present,” he said. By various means of protest Mohamed al-

Quotes are taken from filmed interviews by the author.

Bahari and others in a similar situation were calling for appeals of the military sentences handed down

Eliane Ursula Ettmueller holds a Ph.D in Islamic

to demonstrators and demanding new trials under

Studies. She lived in Cairo 2008-2011, where she

civil law.

worked on her dissertation about Egyptian satire in

Amr’s portrait was rather unique in that it depicted

268

urban transformations

the 1950s.

Soldiers at Mohamed Mahmoud Street, February 2012 (Photograph from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

"Hesham Gouda 29/6/2012 Alexandria" "Death to Israel" "Death to America" "Long live Egypt" "Long live the revolution" "The revolution is continuing" (Translations)

Joscelyn Jurich Cairo Palimpsest Graffiti and street art that has received much international media attention in the time following January 25, 2011. What interests me more is the way the clear-cut graffiti images adapt to the palimpsestlike quality of public spaces in Cairo. The word palimpsest comes from the Greek word meaning "scraped again" - literally it's a parchment that has been written upon and erased and then written upon again but that still might possess traces of the original writing. More figuratively, a palimpsest is something diverse and multilayered; a visual expression that is reflective of its own history. In the spare-time from my work as an editor at the Daily News Egypt, I photographed graffiti memorializing the individuals killed during the revolution; the murals were covered by advertisements, layers upon layers of political posters, flyers about missing citizens and defaced politicians' posters. A stunning mural of colorful and elaborate graffiti was gone few days after it appeared, erased with white paint. After a few days, the whitewash too, was gone, replaced by new graffiti. Cairo's walls seemed to me like parchment that was continuously being written upon, erased or partly erased, and then reinscribed with new images, often in stark or odd juxtaposition to the originals. The process is both cyclical and dynamic, reflecting Cairo's ever-changing, vital and transitory visual landscape. Joscelyn Jurich is a writer and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2012 she worked as an editor at the Daily News Egypt.

Martyrs of the revolution and victims of SCAF's brutality sideby-side in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, January 2013 This page top Essam Atta, 23 years old, died at Torra prison on October 27 2011, tortured to death at the hands of police officers. Essam Atta was sentenced to two years in prison by a military court before the revolution. Opposite top Khaled Said, 28 years old, was beaten to death in broad daylight by police officers in Alexandria on June 6 2010. The Facebook group "We are all Khaled Said," administered by Wael Ghonim, became an important generator of anti-regime discourse. Bottom Shenouda Noshi Atteya, 19 years old, was one of the 28 casualties in the Maspero Massacre in October 2011 when peaceful protesters, mostly Coptic Christians, were attacked by the army. (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

274

urban transformations

Iconoclastic erasure of female icon in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, April 2013

Traces of removed election campaign posters on the Chamber of Commerce, downtown Cairo, September 2012. (Photographs from Cairo Images/C.I.A.)

Epilogue One of the hand-written notes on the first pages of this book asks: How do we write a history that is still in the writing? How can we capture something that is continuously and dynamically changing, in a format as definite as a book? How to stay plural, how to stay open? How do we deal with the possible reversal of the process we are honoring? The contributors to this book share the understanding that the process we are describing has is in no way come to an end – Egypt is still in a state of political flux, with ongoing demos, parliamentary and perhaps presidential re-elections on the way and political formations developing and modifying their visual strategies. New icons are manifesting, other histories are translated into pictorial representations and urban murals are being edited on a daily basis. In the fall of 2011 when my students and I started collecting the first materials for this book, one important personal motivation was to capture the immense energy and the visual diversity present during the first elections after the revolution of January 25. Be it at the hands of make shift graphic designers, activist groups or individual artists, the urban landscape of Cairo at this time testified to a deeply motivated desire to shape, structure and imagine our common living space in new ways. The creative energy unleashed by the toppling of an outmoded autocratic regime and manifesting across media and political thresholds demand a record, however temporary this may be: The movement that sought to open up public space to a participatory renegotiation of present society inspires hope, and could be one of the defining forces in a transition which perhaps has just begun... Mikala Hyldig Dal Cairo, June 2013

All essays published in this book are available in Arabic on

‫تتوفر جميع النصوص باللغة العربية على‬

www.cairoimages.blogspot.com

Editor-in-chief: Mikala Hyldig Dal Editorial assistant: Mona Khaled Diab Associate curator: Dina Kafafi Associate researcher: Fred Meier-Menzel Designer: Omair Barkatulla Layout assistant: Hend Awad Translations (Arabic): Mona Osman (supervisor), Sarah Kamel, Sarah Magdy, Sarah Mowafak, Heba El Sakka, Mariam Mohsen, Adel Kamel, Gilan Hamdy, Alaa Kamel, Maha Ahmad Proofreader (Arabic): Mohamed Saleh Collaboration partner: Townhouse Gallery Cairo Supported by: The Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute, DEDI Co-funded by: The German University Cairo DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in the articles in this publication are those of the individuals writing them, and not those of the GUC or the DEDI: the GUC and the DEDI are not responsible for such opinions nor for any claims resulting from them. Moreover, GUC and DEDI make no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding the content, the completeness, or the adequacy of the information and the data used in these articles. The project is not-for-profit and no financial gain is obtained by the GUC or the DEDI.

Published by: transcript Verlag as part of the series Urban Studies Distribution in Europe: transcript Verlag International distribution: Columbia University Press Bibliographic information published in the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the German national bibliography; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de

© 2013 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld (Germany), authors and artists All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. PHOTO CREDITS: Unless otherwise accredited, photographs are from the collective archive that has evolved out of this project: Cairo Images/ Collective Image Archive (C.I.A.); notably by students of the German University, Townhouse Gallery Cairo and Mikala Hyldig Dal. Any requests can be directed to the editor.

Printed by: ALLUX PRINTING, Cairo, Egypt ISBN 978-3-8376-2615-5