Dragons

Ever city must have its own football team, but more importantly, its own football fan club. Ismailia has the yellow dragons. There are murals around the city honoring the team. Street curbs and trees* are painted the team's colors-- yellow and blue.

*tree trunks throughout Egypt are painted as a form of insecticide. In Cairo many tree trucks were painted red, black, and white after the Revolution.
I noticed this form of insecticide during my travels in India.

V for Vendetta

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed the emergence of "V" street-art in Cairo in reference to the film V for Vendetta.

The street-art focuses primarily around the letter V which has been transformed into the letter A by the Ultras Ahly, giving the film spoof a uniquely Cairo quality. There phrase "Remember, Remember the 19th of November," a spoof of the film's phrase "Remember, Remember the 5th of November," is also spray-painted on the streets. The mask itself has not been worn at any demonstrations (unlike at the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York where apparently such an act is illegal in the US http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904194604576581171443151568.html).

I first watched the film V for Vendetta a few months ago here in Cairo. I had intended to watch it years ago-- I had the DVD in my possession last spring, but had to return it to Netflix before finishing it because my free-trial expired. In Egypt I watched a pirated copy that an Egyptian friend lent me, he had watched the film shortly after its release but still had it saved on his laptop. As the Arabic subtitles rolled across the screen, chants from Maglis Al Sha'ab sit-in were audible in the distance: Remember, Remember? How could you ever forget.

Located on the side of the 6th of October bridge in El Geziera, this stencil is by the street-artist Ganzeer. I took the photograph the first weekend in December, although it's been here since my arrival in early August. 

This photograph was taken in front of the Mugamma on Saturday 26 November during the recent Tahrir clashes. Since then the V has been spray-painted next to the words (and the letter M in november added). 

In the Sadat metro (under Midan Tahrir). This V is quite popular and can be found around the city. 

On Qasr Al-Aini St., near Midan Tahrir.
Is the black circle a reference to the April 6th movement's "White Circle, Black Circle" awareness campaign? Is V triumphing over El Feloul (the remnants of the old regime)?
There is no fist (a sign for the April 6th movement) to definitively indicate that it is in fact a part of the campaign. 

On Qasr Al-Aini St., near Midan Tahrir.
The Ultras Ahly (the football fan club of the major ) have spoofed on the V signature. Flipping the letter upside down, the letter A represents Ahly. The Ahly A is very popular (more popular than the V) and can be found around Cairo.





















On Qasr Al-Aini St., near the Maglis Al-Sha'ab sit-in.



Here the same A is used in the infamous acronym ACAB. This A had not previously been used in this acronym. On the on Qasr Al Aini St., near Midan Tahrir.

UA07

"UAo7" is EVERYWHERE in Cairo. Initially I thought that street art said "Arab Unity 1956" - in reference to the Arab nationalism of Nasser.

In fact, "UA07" refers to "Ultras Ahly 2007."

Ahly is one of the main football (soccer) clubs in Egypt, the other is Zamalek. The term "Ultras" (not itself an Arabic word) means fan club- Zamalek's fan club is called Ultras White Knight (Zamalek's jerseys are white). 2007 refers to the year in which the Ultras Ahly were established.

The Ultras have become a potent force in Egypt- since the Revolution their relationship with the government has been shaky. They are large groups of young men who can easily mobilize. During the 9 September demonstrations the Ultras Ahly and Ultras White Knights came together in a rare show of unity to protest the alleged killing of members of the Ultras Ahly after a previous match. 9 September demonstrations later turned violent when the Israeli embassy was attacked and burned.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/12/egypt-fragmenting-revolution-israeli-embassy

I attended the first Ahly football match after 9 September demonstrations. Before the match began, the Ultras Ahly displayed pictures of their members who were arrested at the 9 September demonstrations with pieces of black, white & red paper. While the football stadium has reserved seating for the Ultras Ahlys, I was nevertheless awestruck by the level of coordination needed for such a display.

Here is a youtube clip of the event. At around 15 seconds into the clip, you can see the faces of the Ultras Ahlys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-r2esQzDiE