Gender, Art and the Arab Spring

The function of art - one of the functions of art - consists in bringing spiritual [geistigen] peace to humanity. I believe one cannot characterise the state of consciousness in contemporary art any better than by saying: more and more people are becoming conscious that spiritual peace is not enough because it has never prevented, nor could it ever prevent, real strife, and that perhaps one of the functions of art today is also to contribute to real peace - a function that cannot be foisted upon art, but must lie in the essence of art itself.

- Herbert Marcuse, "Society as a Work of Art"

In the tradition of mass public movement - art has been able to express the silenced voices of the masses and expose true thoughts in socio-political means. Street-Wall art against the Shah of Iran before his flight from Tehran in 1979 and the graffiti and posters used in Beirut during the civil war in Lebanon are just a few examples of real public opinion. However, I don't feel the need to write meticulously justifying the way in which art has revolutionised the study of history, politics or anthropology. But I assure you, this is no different when examining the role art has played in the Arab Spring. The plethora of exhibitions, wall art or paintings of the Spring that have been circling the internet has definitely generated some Natasha interest!

Tomb Sonata in Three Military Movements by Khaled Hafez

Some notable artworks such as "Tomb Sonata in Three Military Movements by Khaled Hafez", consists of stones thrown by Egyptian military politice at peaceful pro-democracy civilians. Baledi's Borg El Amal (Tower of Hope), an unfinished cement and red-brick structure, echoes the informa houses that are occupied by the poorest in Egypt. Baledi had special bricks made with the words "hope" in English and Arabic and the image of a man with a donkey.

Reedie El-Saie, a representative from London Modern Islamic and Contemporary Art, stated:

"Before the uprisings people either saw it [art] as exotic and innocuous or steeped in the Islamic tradition; artists were wary of showing work that might be seen as too political."

In particular, street art has been seen as a kind of political protest indicating public sentiment and this has been displayed throughout the cities of Cairo, Tripoli and even Ramallah, and proving the efficacy of doing so. There has also been a growing and potent manifestation of art through "graffiti" form that expresses political dissent. Salwat Ali in his article 'Graffiti: Street art and the Arab Spring', argues that, "The scrawls, letterings and pictoral art with which young Egyptians are signing [...] walls across the country bloom with witty, scathing, and melancholy messages". Indeed, these political art works of various forms have succeeded in expressing the deep political climate of the Arab World. 

.... That said, this would not be a Natasha article if I didn't highlight the discursive potential of women in the Middle East. 

In March, I read an article where authorities in the UAE removed two Arab-Spring inspired paintings from an art fair. Being the naive liberal Westerner that I am, I conducted a little bit more research and found the first painting that was removed was titled "After Washing" by Palestinian artist Shadi Al Zaqzouq, and the similarly "You were my only love" by Moroccan artist Zakaria Ramhani. I was completely bemused by this, and inspired at the same time. These pieces of artwork are beautifully powerful....... Yet the artists were given no explanations as to why this happened.

You were my only love by Zakaria Ramhani

After Washing by Shadi al Zaqzouq

Zaqzouq was denied a visa by the UAE authorities to attend the exhibition at which his painting was shown and then banned. The painting shows a masked young woman revolutionary holding a pair of underwear written with the word "leave" (in Arabic) - which has refused, in all its "shamelessness" to be washed away.

Ramhani artistically utilises the famous photo of the courageous Egyptian woman who was dragged along the ground by the police, ignoring her rights and exposing her bra. However, Ramhani adds a twist He replaces the baton-wielding police officers with monkeys.

"Van Gogh was depicted too, like a hapless witness to the violent near-rape of a woman who at that moment represented an entire nation bravely facing up to its rapists. The result is a scene from the human jungle, the jungle of political oppression." (Najwan Darwish)

I think this is deeper than an issue of censorship and banning laws. It has provided me not only with an opportunity to criticise the Arab forms of censorship, but also question the unspoken patriarchy of the Arab world. What these two breathtaking pieces of art have in common is young Arab artists using women's underwear to comment on the political situation of their respective countries.