Thursday, May 15, 2014

Walls of Freedom - Street Art of the Egyptian Revolution


This looks like a terrific book.


According to the publisher

This book is a crowd-sourced and crowd-funded collaboration of 100 Photographers, 50 Artists and 20 Authors.

“Walls of Freedom” is a powerful portrayal of the first three years of the Egyptian revolution that began on January 25, 2011.The story is told through striking images of art that transformed Egypt's walls into a visual testimony of bravery and resistance. Created in close collaboration with artists on the frontlines of the battle, the book documents how they converted the streets into a dynamic newspaper of the people, providing a much needed alterna
tive to the propaganda-fueled media. 


Go here to purchase and for a preview. The visuals really are stunning. This is one of my favorites. It dates from January 2012, when the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) was in control, and it says "The Army Above All." In the rubble with the skulls is a poster with one of the chief slogans of the revolution: "Bread. Freedom. Social Justice." The piece was very apt at the time of production and it was also very prescient, considering the political direction that Egypt is currently headed.


 And here is a vid about the project.


1 comment:

Lisa L Wynn said...

Thanks for that, Ted, this is an exciting book project! The image that you say is one of your favourites, the one with the army officer atop the skulls, was done by Egyptian graphic artist Ganzeer. When I was in Egypt recently I asked him about this piece, and he said he did it as a paste-up because he knew he'd have to work really fast to avoid getting arrested. He started in the first light of morning worked from the bottom up, pasting tiles of the pile of skulls part of the image, and he worked alongside another artist (Ammar Abo Bakr) who was painting a big portrait that wasn't so obviously political, hoping that would draw attention away from what Ganzeer was doing. The image of the Army officer atop the skulls went up last, and he took off quickly after that. Here's a picture of the two artists putting up their images in November 2013: https://www.facebook.com/WallsOfFreedom/photos/a.532458693466993.1073741830.514430378603158/620996371279891/?type=1&theater