Naked

Above are two stencils, found next to each other across the street from the sit-in at the Maglis Al-Sha'ab. On the left is Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and on the right is Samira Ibrahim.

The words in this specific stencil are illegible, they were actively scratched out. The words, however, are legible in other stencils. The following translation is a result of viewing other stencils.

Translation (in between portrait of Elmahdy):

"Samira Ibrahim: 25 years-old, she had been naked by force and checked for her virginity in front of officers and soldiers in the army and she refused not to revenge her dignity and she filed a lawsuit in the Egyptian court. There was no interest... There was no audience...There was no media...There was no life for the killers.

Aliaa Elmahdy: 20 years-old, she stripped and exposed her body clearly by her own wanting. By the hurried manner of the public and the media [to learn about her] and around one million viewed her picture and not less than 50 articles about her and a lot of TV shows."

Translation (below portrait of Ibrahim):

"Tribute and homage to cherish and support For Samira Ibrahim, daughter of Upper Egypt."

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, a former AUC student, posted a nude photograph of herself on her blog. The picture gained wide-spread notoriety in mid-November about a month after its posting when activist Ahmed Awadalla twitted about it. While Awadalla praised the picture, in general, there was a conservative backlash against it.

Many feared that liberal political parties would be affected in the parlimentary polls.

After rumors circulated, the April 6th movement issued an official statement that Elmahdy was not a member.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/26641/Egypt/Politics-/Nude-photo-blogger-is-not-a-member-of-our-group-Ap.aspx

Legal action has since been taken against Elmahdy for "trying to spread her obscene ideology through nude photos," and "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam" according to the report filed in court. Furthermore the prosecution believes that Elmahdy should be tried according to Islamic law because Islamic law is the source of the (1971) constitution. The penalty under Islamic law is death.

http://bikyamasr.com/48732/legal-action-against-egypt-nude-activist/

Elmahdy discussed her views with CNN earlier this month.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/19/world/meast/nude-blogger-aliaa-magda-elmahdy/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

Samira Ibrahim sued the military after being forced by the military to take a virginity test last March. The verdict in the case was expected on Tuesday, but delayed until 27 December. Ibrahim was one of 17 women forced to take a virginity tests after being detained on 9 March when the military attempted to clear Midan Tahrir. SCAF admitted that the virginity tests occurred, but argued that they were a necessary defense should any of the detained women claim that they were raped.

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/human-a-civil-rights/virginity-tests-case-against-military-adjourned-to-dec-27.html

While many Egyptians do not agree with Elmahdy's actions, it is my hope that they nevertheless treat her-- as they should any individual-- with respect, just as Ibrahim should have been. Elmahdy was allegedly beaten upon entering Midan Tahrir last week.

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/256889/20111128/aliaa-magda-elmahdy-nude-blogger-beaten-tahrir.htm

No matter what an individuals point of view is-- or how much you disagree with them-- I don't believe such behavior is acceptable.

NOTE: All translations on this blog were conducted by me and an Egyptian friend. While we translated to the best of our ability combining our native English and Arabic skills, these translations are not a professional standardized translation of the street art that is available on the internet. We are, however, confident in all translations that we post on this blog.

The Revolution will not be Tweeted.

I was very excited to see this stencil!

As I wrote in an earlier post, following the beginning of the recent clashes in Midan Tahrir, several TV stencils began appearing in downtown. Upon seeing the TV stencils I immediately thought of the late Gil Scott Heron's iconic poem "The Revolution will not be televised," this Twitter stencil, however, appears to be a direct reference to the poem: "The revolution will not be [twitted], the revolution will be live."

(The stencils of the spray-can and the pharaoh are separate.)

I took this photograph across the street from the Maglis Al Sha'ab (The People's Assembly), where there is a continued sit-in (the street itself has been blocked off-- there are check-points -- since last Friday) which began as an attempt to physically block the new Prime Minister Kamel El-Ganzouri from taking office, but has since broaden its message to oppose military rule. (It is unclear what building Ganzouri works in, but he has in fact taken office).

The stencil has appeared along Qasr Al-Aini Street (on which the Maglis is located) leading into Midan Tahrir, but I haven't seen the stencil within the Midan itself.

NOTE: This stencil is in English, there was no accompanying stencil in Arabic.

Twitter is a great source for up-to-date news in Cairo. Some famous Egyptian Twitters are Sandmonkey (who also has a blog by the same name) and Gigi Ibrahim (who appeared on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show after the Revolution).

In addition to activists, many political figures & parites have twitter. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party is very active.

Tahrir Supplies, started during the recent clashes in Tahrir, is both a hashtag and a twitter account, it posts what supplies are needed (medical, food, water, blankets) in the field hospitals in Midan Tahrir and coordinates pick-up/drop-off points for those living far away from the Midan.

#egyelections was a popular hashtag during the recent polls.

day 2

Translation: "Freedom is coming forever."

This photograph was taken on Saturday 26 November, around the corner from The Wall.

Will elections set Egyptians free?

Voting was extended from 1 day to 2 days by SCAF last Friday.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/27635/Egypt/Politics-/Breaking-Egypt-voting-extended-to-two-days-instead.aspx

I have been surprised by the lack of election street art in Cairo. While most street art is in itself political, as far as I have seen, none of it directly references the elections. While I mentioned in a previous post that some candidates painted their names on buildings in the village I visited, I have not seen any such street art in Cairo. Candidates do plaster campaign posters on walls (and in most cases, identical posters directly next to each other) and hang up banners, but there are no interpretative murals depicting their faces or names. Each party and candidate had a symbol (to aid illiterate voters), but none of these symbols were painted on the streets. There is also no street art depicting the importance of voting-- not so much as the word VOTE. Voter education programs certainly exist in Cairo, but they didn't use street art to reach the masses. Furthermore, what does the lack of election street art imply about the street artists themselves?

The Muslim Brotherhood (and their political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party [FJP]) may not have used street art, but they certainly got their message across. At every polling station that I walked past (and as was the same with my friends) in the past 2 days the FJP had a large contingent of volunteers. The FJP had a booth with laptops at each polling station to assist voters with finding their legna (polling station) number (voters needed to record the number along with their name and ID number before voting) in addition t numerous volunteers passing out flyers despite a ban on campaigning 48 hours before elections. Is this freedom?

Remember

This photograph was taken in front of the Mugamma on Saturday 26 November during the on-going occupation of Midan Tahrir.

Saturday November 19th is the day that the recent clashes in Midan Tahrir began after the Central Security Forces (CSF) used violence to evict peaceful protesters from the Midan.

Is this street art a reference to the film V for Vendetta (Remember, Remember the 5th of November)?

As the first round of parliamentary elections began today in Cairo (and 8 other governorates, including Alexandria and Luxor), the April 6th movement encouraged voters to wear black in remembrance of those who died in the recent clashes in Midan Tahrir.

http://bikyamasr.com/49707/egypt-elections-kick-off-activist-mourn-the-dead-protesters-in-wearing-all-black/

Despite the long lines at many polling stations today, it only takes one stroll through Midan Tahrir to Remember the 19th of November.

Is This Chaos?

Translation: "This is Chaos?"

I took this photo on Monday 21 November at The Mugamma.

The street art is a spoof of the famous 2007 Egyptian film "This is Chaos" from the Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. The film focuses on the story of a corrupt policeman (Hatim, played by the actor Khaled Salah) who falls in love with a young teacher (Nour, played by the actress Hala Sadky). He continues to pursue her despite the teacher become engaged to her school's principal's son, a high ranking government official. Hatim proceeds to rape Nour and hide the evidence. Nour and her fiancee pursue the case and eventually find incriminating evidence against Hatim. At the end of the film, Hatim commits suicide.

NOTE: The title of the film does not include a question mark.

Below is a link to the film's trailer (without English subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRKVwgxl40

The street art is a picture of Hatim with a gun before he commits suicide. Does the question mark in the street art serve to ask the people if the suicide of the police (of the government) is what they want? While Mubarak was certainly a brutal ruler, he didn't flee to Saudi Arabia, but rather stayed in Egypt to stand in court in front of his people. Do the Egyptian people want revenge or do they want justice? Is there a difference?

The saying goes that the best revenge is living well. It is my hope that the first round of parliamentary elections beginning tomorrow will be Egypt's first step towards living well.

The wall

Translation: "Freedom is coming forever" (hureya geya labd)

I took this photo on Saturday 26 November. The wall can be seen in the back of the photo; it is not currently possible to get closer to the wall.

Below is a zoomed-in version of the photo above. Besides the words "hureya geya labd," there is no other street art on the wall.

The army began constructing the wall on Thursday 24 November in order to stop on-going clashes between protesters (based out of Midan Tahrir) and the Central Security Forces (defending the Ministry of Interior) on Mohamed Mahmoud St., a side street leading into Midan Tahrir.

http://english.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=348962

The army built a wall around the Israeli Embassy in Dokhi (in Giza, across the nile from downtown Cairo), after demonstrations following the killing of Egyptian soldiers by the Israeli army (who were chasing terrorists allegedly involved in the Eliat bombings) on Thursday 18 August 2011.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-builds-concrete-wall-around-israeli-embassy-in-cairo-1.382676

Unlike the wall on Mohamed Mahmoud St., the wall in front of the Israeli embassy was covered in street art.

http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/graffiti-bringing-down-israels-embassy-wall-in-cairo-in-pictures/

The wall in front of the Israeli embassy was torn down on the night of the 9 September demonstrations. Many here compared its destruction to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/protesters-topple-wall-outside-israels-embassy-in-cairo/

What will happen to the wall on Mohamed Mahmoud St.? Will it be torn down? Will it soon be covered in street art? Is the existence of one piece of street art indicative of the fact that the people in Midan Tahrir are united?

The KFC is partially visible on the left side of the photograph. The words "yuskut al musher" (down with the musher) were written on the metal door. These are the first words written on it. As I mentioned in a previous post, there used to be wooden boards, but they were replaced by the metal door roughly a month ago.

NOTE: The AUC bus-stop used to be located a few meters from the wall. The bus-stop has since been re-located.

Translation:" Street of the massacre of the Basher, Mohamed Mahmoud (formerly)"

Mohamed Mahmoud Street, located just off of Midan Tahrir, was the main site of clashes between security forces and protesters last week. The street has since (unofficially) been re-named "Martyr Street."

After the Revolution, the Mubarak metro stop was also renamed "The Martyrs."

The Grim Reeper mural, located down the wall from this mural, remains untouched.

El Menoufia

Translation:

Sadat was from Menoufia.

Mubarak is from Menoufia.

(Essam) Sharaf (former PM, resigned on Monday 21 November) is from Menoufia.

(Kamal) El Shazly (a prominent former member of the NDP who passed away before the 2010 parliamentary elections) is from Menoufia.

(Ahmed) Ezz (a famous businessman under Mubarak who is now in jail awaiting trial, owner of Ezz Steel) is from Menoufia.

(Kamal) El Ganzory (newly appointed PM, former PM from 1996-1999) is from Menoufia.

Menoufia is playing single*

and all of Egypt are standing next.

*in the street art, the Arabic word "single" is simply the English word transliterated. "Single" refers a person playing a game by himself.

Menofia is one of 27 governorates in Egypt. Many prominent members of Egyptian politics have come from Menofia.

This particular piece of street art is not actually painted on the wall, rather it is a sign that was leaned against a wall. If it's portable, it's owner can take it with him when he leaves and protect it from becoming erased. Furthermore because it's portable this street art has a unique owner who can do with it what he pleases. Is this street art? Or must the street own it in order for it to be called street art?