Mural on the wall encircling the American University in Cairo’s downtown campus on Tahrir Square.
In this excerpt from his article “Painting over history in Tahrir Square”, Mortaza Hussain describes the scene in which the mural was painted:
“As the crowds grew so too came officials from the SCAF, screaming at the activists and at gathered reporters to disperse from the scene and to cease repainting the walls. Across the street, police operatives took photos of all those on the corner.
“They are angry because it makes them look bad, they want us to forget what happened.” Kamel said.
As the scene grew more tense and as the government officials grew more hysterical and threatening in their anger, some activists tried to form a cordon while one young man continued to paint - a depiction of an Egyptian general as a grim reaper atop a pile of skulls. With chaos seemingly building around him he continued to work, focused on his painting alone as though he was the only one in the Square.
As minutes turned into hours and day into night, and as the SCAF left, frustrated in their attempts to paint clean the walls, the crowd brought him more supplies and he continued to paint back over the whitewash the government had made of the revolutionary graffiti. By the end of the night there were more paintings back on the walls, including one of Khaled Said; the first martyr whose death had sparked the revolution. Like him and all those who died for the cause afterwards, their sacrifice has not been forgotten by their fellow Egyptians despite the best effort of the SCAF to whitewash his death both from memory and from the walls of Egyptian city streets.
Painting over history in Tahrir Square
“SCAF painting over street art in Tahrir is an attempt to whitewash the history of the revolution.”
by Murtaza Hussain
“On an early Monday morning a work crew commissioned by the Egyptian government began covering the revolutionary murals in Tahrir with white paint, in what seemed to many to be a calculated and deliberate effort to erase the living history of the 2011 revolution. They succeeded in covering over the paintings on the front wall of the American University of Cairo compound facing Qasr Al-Ainy Street, as well as the corner directly facing the square which had previously displayed the iconic image of Hosni Mubarak as half-politician half-general, painted by the legendary Egyptian street artist Omar Fahmy.
As they continued their work and began to paint over the long stretch of artwork on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, a group of passing students, shocked by what they were witnessing, prevented them from continuing…”
Revolution from the beginning,
My vote is for the martyrs.
On Mohammed Mahmoud Street in downtown Cairo. SCAF stands for Supreme Council of Armed Forces, a body of 20 senior military officers in the Egyptian military who have governed Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011. Many have criticized the SCAF for how they have managed (or mismanaged) the transition period and are concerned about its possible influence on the outcome of the Presidential Elections.
Unfortunately the rhyme of the Arabic is lost in the translation.
Egypt Independent “Election Monitoring Hindered by Restrictions”
Presidential Elections 2012
Mural of de facto head of state and commander-in-chief of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) Mohammed Hussein Tantawi influencing the vote on the corner of Mohammed Mahmoud Street and Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.
While no concrete evidence of fraud has been discovered, many Egyptians and observers are concerned about SCAF’s possible impact on the result of the Egyptian presidential elections and Ahmed Shafiq’s success.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s report on the outcome of the first round of the Egyptian Presidential Elections: Egypt Elections: Setback for the Transition
The Carter Center’s Preliminary Statement on Egypt’s Presidential Election.
The Arabist also has interesting analysis and commentary on the elections (and Egyptian politics in general).
Cairo Governorate workers start to remove Mohamed Mahmoud graffiti
“Several workers on Monday started painting over slogans and graffiti on the walls surrounding the American University in Cairo downtown campus on Mohamed Mahmoud and other streets.”
Egypt Independent article from today.
Our revolution will be completed
On Mohammed Mahmoud Street in downtown Cairo.
On Hassan Sabry Street in Zamalek. Judging by the panda in the corner, this is possibly by Sad Panda.
Their weapon; Our weapon (camera)
Graffito on Al-Malek Al-Fadl Street in Zamalek. Professional and amateur photos and videos have played a pivotal role in documenting and spreading awareness of protests, sit-ins, marches etc in Egypt since (and before) the uprising began last year.
These photos and videos have provided a perspective that is not always in line with that of the Egyptian government and the ruling Supreme Council of Armed forces (SCAF), especially where it concerns the violations and crimes they have committed against civilians.
Declaring they will never forget, the creators of and contributors to the website scafcrimes.net are ”dedicated to documenting SCAF crimes.” On the website, you can see numerous photos and videos of, among many things, riot police using excessive force to suppress protests and the wounds of protesters who have been injured and/or tortured at the hands of soldiers/police.
An Egyptian army tank crushing freedom on the wall surrounding the American University in Cairo’s downtown campus on Mohammed Mahmoud Street. SCAF stands for “Supreme Council of Armed Forces.”
New mural of an evil military officer manipulating what appear to be headless state officials/politicians on the wall encircling the American University in Cairo’s downtown campus on the corner of Mohammed Mahmoud Street and Tahrir Square.
