I first saw this stencil when I arrived in August, this face was EVERYWHERE then and is still everywhere. Turn a corner, and you will most likely see her face. I took this particular picture in downtown where the stencil is the most abundant, it is nevertheless still found in other parts of Cairo (most notably Zamalek). The stencil itself is quite small, probably 6'' x 8''.
The stencil is of the independent Egyptian singer, songwriter, and actress Mariam Saleh. Her father is the Saleh Saad,* a famous play-write and director. She was also mentored by Sheikh Imam, a famous Egyptian singer and composer.
Mariam sings in the film Ain Shams (Eye of the Sun), an independent film about Egypt and produced in Egypt. The film opened in Egypt 2 years after it's initial opening in Morocco because it didn't receive permission from the Egyptian authorities.
The first time I explored the Townhouse Gallery in August, I wandered into the neighboring Rawabet Theater and found a group rehearsing for the then-upcoming play "Lessons in Revolting" -- a play I later saw and was tremendously impressed by. I was immediately drawn to Mariam, she has a very startling face.
I asked if the stencil was of her. She replied that a friend had made it of her. After some research, I discovered that the stencil first appeared before her August (Ramadan) performance at El Geneina, an open air theater in Al Azhar park. The stencil was a kind of awareness campaign.
Some candidates have used street art in their campaigns-- painting their names on the sides of buildings instead of putting up posters-- but I've never seen a candidate paint his own face on a wall. The faces of martyrs or imprisoned bloggers are common in Cairo, but in those cases, the person whose face is the subject of the street art was not the street artist and didn't give consent to the street artist. Is it conceded to use your own face in street art or give consent to someone else to do so?
Furthermore is it appropriate for an individual to use street art as a form of free publicity? There are, of course, posters plastered to the walls of Cairo advertising the latest film festival, but those are posters-- and posters advertising a specific event-- not an open-ended piece of street art publicizing an individual.
A candidate writing his name on the wall is running for public office and there is a specific date for the election, but a girl painting her face on the wall to increase her profile? Is that ethical?
NOTE: Mariam Saleh's last name "Saleh" is her father's first name. In Arab culture, a family doesn't have one surname. Children take the first name of their father and that becomes their last name. Each person has a long list of names (maybe 10) attached to his own which include all of the male names in their direct family line (their father, his father [their grandfather], his father [their great-grandfather], ect...).
A wife does not take her husband's last name, rather she becomes known as Mrs."husband's first name."
