Egypt’s Revolutionary Arts

With revolutions come great expressions and art is the result. Egyptians have been bursting with creativity since the days of the ancient pharaohs, and the current artists have been honing their craft in the last few years with built up frustrations, fear, and now frivolity. These ideas have exploded onto the walls of Egypt. Before, Egypt’s more focused art has been restricted to the canvas, though every once and a while “graffiti” is seen in text form, a little less organized. Today you can see the influences of Banksy, Shepard Fairy and other street artists emerging on every corner, especially with Cairo’s own Karim Kaiser. Stencils, free-hand murals and still the traditional and nontraditional canvases grace the cities walls, sidewalks and bridges. In my recent visits, I’ve seen Zamalek as an artists hub. Embracing artists and art galleries, this area of Egypt has been known to be fertile for outside ideas to bloom. Today a gallery, cleverly named “The Gallery,” has an exhibition on collages, “Collage: 100 years On,” a new display of work featuring a style of art rarely shown in Cairo, broadening Egypt’s artist range.

The Arabesque style and classics still have a spot on the walls of Cairo. While working with Shorouk newspaper, I had the great pleasure of meeting and photographing Mr. Helmi El Touni, a well known artist known for integrating politically charged meaning into his pieces. Below are a few examples of his work along with the portrait published in the paper.

Cairo Galleries

http://www.thetownhousegallery.com/

http://www.picassoartgallery-egypt.com/

http://www.lesoukegypt.com/

http://www.zamalekartgallery.com/

Tahrir 2 (Actually, it was in front of the parliment building)

I wanted my next blog post to be a little more uplifting, something with the subject matter of the rise of street art or climbing and my first go at diving in Dahab. But towards the end my 10hr bus journey back to Cairo, the daily papers showed some disturbing images from the day prior to my return. At that point, I figured I’d hit the Shorouk (www.shorouknews.com) newsroom to find out how things came to pass.

I walked into the newsroom with a hop in my step glad to have been up early/didn’t sleep at all due to the random sways and stops from my bus ride. A great female photographer and activist from Shorouk, blazed in the office with a fire in her stomach. Infuriated at the images of a stripped girl being beaten by military police. It should have been on our front page. She explains the headings don’t acknowledge that the person doing the beatings isn’t in uniform, he’s wearing street shoes as a real officer yells at him dragging the woman away to cover her up. Enraged, she began packing her camera with her sights on Tahrir, where the day prior left an old library holding rare handwritten texts engulfed in flames. I opted to go as well.

After several preliminary warnings and a short cab ride we arrive in Tahrir square. One block over, the roar of people talking is quickly broken by loud chants and cursing between civilians and guards as we get closer and closer to the parliment building. We both strap on motorcycle-style helmets, exchange mobile numbers and wish each other luck and safety. Consumed by dust and smoke from the burning embers of the historic library from the night before, we rush into the crowd. Keeping my eye out for concrete chunks, glass being thrown like Frisbees and the occasional Molotov cocktail, I look around to see I’m surrounded by children. Kids that have yet to hit double digits are running past me toward the military hiding behind makeshift shields with knock-off Disney backpacks, fresh from one of the surrounding schools. These kids are battling it out on the front lines with police and military personnel, while most of the older civilians stand by and watch. The adults that fought amongst the young, fought with great passion. One man, throwing stones with great might, was approached by another older gentleman. The gentleman screams at the man throwing stones, “Get back, or you will be seriously hurt. Let these kids fight but you come back.” The man looks back in the gentleman’s eyes and belts out, “I will die here among them!” returns to grabbing stones and fires them back at the government officals mounted on the rooftops.

I see these kids fight and realize their just children, this is just a game to some of them. Laughing and teasing as they cast stones to the other side. Some aren’t even old enough to vote and after today’s destruction in Tahrir, I become a bit depressed. Who am I supposed to side with? These kids fighting for the future with no patience to allow the future to play out? These street kids that now think if they fight like on Jan 25, 2011 they’ll get what they want? Or do I side with the military that is attempting to maintain order in Egypt? Or the military that is arbitrarily beating citizens without mercy? I really don’t know, but right now, I’m not a fan of either. And with the rumors that there are people being paid by Mubaraks people, which side are these people on, military or civilian?

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharifhassan/sets/72157628504452899/

E-town Elections

“Is it possible for me to take your photograph?” I asked the gentleman after voting for his first time. He paused and responded, “Today sir, anything is possible.”

Of course this conversation was in Arabic, as broken as mine is, but it brought a smile to both our eyes. With his head held high, I took his photo and he walked away with a prideful grin. I smiled with a knot in my throat and the beginnings of a tear in my eye.

The surrounding walls were covered in election posters, propaganda and advertisements as voters waited outside of schools and other public buildings to cast their votes. This is the first parliamentary elections in the past 60 years that the people feel actually meant something. The murmur of voters talking politics and reading about candidates. The laughter of men and women filled the air in Zamalak as thousands went to cast their votes. In a line stretching 6-7 block long as wide as the street itself, thousands of women smiled waiting to vote regardless of the hours spent on their feet. Cars covered in candidate posters would pull up to voter lines would be quickly shunned away by volunteers and voters alike, as sneaky candidates hired suits to hand out pamphlets and flyers to sway votes. Here, it is illegal to advertise candidates to those waiting in line to vote and there was no hesitation in enforcing the law. With no remorse the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood ) set up tables claiming to help voters but rumors say they bribed voters with money and food asking some to bring empty ballots for them to fill out  in their favor. Those ballots would then be handed to uneducated voters for them to use as their own.

Out of 104 candidates, there are only 52 seats up for grabs in the lower parliament. With a record high voter turn-out of approximately 8.5 million Egyptians, there are still two-thirds of the provinces left to vote. The facts are there and that is what people wanted, free and fair elections. The assumptions and fear of what’s to come is different than what will actually happen. These fears may also be dictated by what the people will put up with, especially after the motivated shebab (youth) came together in Tahrir square on January 25th. With fears that the political edge of the Ikhwan and Salafis, another hardcore islamist party, winning the votes, some Egyptians fear the worst for their country’s newfound modern ways. Many women fear that the hejab will become mandatory, others fear late night outings at the pub will be a thing of the past, and many fear the worst for Egypt’s economy, largely based on tourism for outside visitors. The 10% of Coptic Christians that make up Egypt’s population bite their nails.

I’m not one for numbers and figure but that turnout is amazing. For hopeful Egyptians, this is a way for the current poll leaders, the Ikhwan, to prove themselves and step up to their newly adopted moderate platform and denounce their radical Islamist ways. The people of Egypt believe that the citizens will not put up with the Islamist rule that they have bestowed upon Morocco, Turkey or any of the other countries it has a stronghold on. Egypt knows its economic dependency on tourism, plus the taste of modernism and freedom has them hungry to move forward in the world. The shebab, have just gotten a taste of “western” ways and are very open to outsiders and tourist. Being able to go out and mingle with friends regardless of gender, voice their opinions freely and have their voices be heard are new freedoms that will not be given up very easily. The people here have realized their rights and will make it difficult for anyone trying to hold the country or it’s people back. Egyptians have a drive to push beyond what has been allowed in the past. As the earliest civilization, they know that they belong in a class well beyond the US, Europe, India, China and the rest of the world and will settle for no less. Egyptians have taken many steps to become a modern arabian country, moving back is not an option.

By taking my time to write this blog post I’ve taken the time to hear the opinions of some very influential people here in Egypt and have seen the future of Egyptians in a new light. The Ikhwan have done many good things for many countries and have an understanding what arab countries need. They, hopefully, address the poverty situation, help to clean the country and re-establish a middle class. With such pressure to produce, if they do not they will lose office. The liberals actually put up a great fight in Cairo, better then everyone expected, which shows that the people are being heard. People here are just happy to have their voice actually be heard.

With all this in mind, I’m a bit glad that the liberals may not win this time around. This not only gives the Ikhwan the chance to prove their worth, but if they fail, it still leaves room for the liberals to pick up the pieces. The liberal party is fairly new, with only 6 months to gather their thoughts and plans for the country. If they take office now and mess up, the majority of the people will end up writing them off as an option leaving a wider, more forgivable future for the the Ikhwan and the Salafis, a stricter Islamist party. If they are patient and wait for an Islamist party to do their rights and make their wrongs, it will allow the liberal parties to learn from the mistakes and the successes making them a force in the next round of elections four (4) years from now.

We all hope for nothing but the best for Egypt and we all fear the extreme of Egypt becoming the next Saudi Arabia. All my life I’ve come to Egypt to visit family and friends and have watched Egypt evolve into the modern country it is today. The speed that it has reached this level is ground breaking. Internet specific cafes have taken a back seat to wifi and laptops in a majority of homes, art galleries, bookstores and music embracing a large number of foreign artists, new restaurants and bars flourishing at every corner. The fear is the restriction of books, the censorship of art and creativity, women’s rights on lock-down and the economy being flushed down the preverbal toilet.

Unfortunately, with the current runoff elections, volunteers say the turnout has been a huge disappointment and somewhat depressing. Expressing there may be a lack of hope and trust that has overcome the Egyptian people. Let us all hope as the other two thirds of Egyptians go to vote, the momentum and the hope rebuilds.

more images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharifhassan/sets/72157628330536117/

Tahrir

We were told the best way to get to Tahrir would be by taxi, no cars other than ambulances were allowed inside. A short cab ride later, my cousin Sherin and I enter Tahrir Square from Zamalek through Kasr el Nile, the bridge that connects Dokki and Zamalek with Tahrir. The make-shift check point was a breeze compared to the past few days. With an Egyptian birth certificate, I passed through the first check, though I think I may have walked past the man frisking for weapons and such….ooops. Entry gets difficult without and Egyptian ID or Press ID when walking in with camera equipment, so these are the things I’ve been working on getting since I arrived. Unfortunately the Govt offices have been closed for holiday since I landed, but luckily I have a guide.

Upon entering, smoke stacks rise above the crowd bellowing a bouquet  of roasting sweet potatoes and corn while other local vendors hustle Egyptian flags and scarves to the approaching masses. Through watching the TV screens, I was curious about the centered tent city, a make-shift hospital by civilians and doctors built in the midst of the violence and protests days before this was a busy epicenter for the wounded. After walking through a maze of guide wires and tent lashings, we  entered the center of Tahrir Square. Today this tent city provides a haven for those wounded and friends to collaborate and talk about politics, the new PM, and the elections to come. We spoke to one of the doctors taking post to keep people out of the medical area to see how things were going. Lifting a cigarette to his lips with his latex encased hand he says they have a surplus of medical supplies thanks to the donations from civilians.

Those protesting, looked to news cameras on the ground and in the windows of surrounding buildings, consumed by news networks and reporters, to recite political chants and share their stories and opinions. The Egyptian news networks show a 24 hr view of Tahrir, which makes those watching at home anxious to participate…mainly myself.

It was amazing to be there, where I had been watching from afar for so long. It is difficult as a photographer without credentials and a lack of an extensive  knowledge of the language to move freely. My knowledge of the language stops at everyday vernacular, when it comes to politics and medical jargon I am handicapped. Without an viewable press pass, passer-bys continually question my motives as not to give Egypt a bad name or to put these happenings in a bad light. Luckily for me, my guide, my cousin Sherin was there to settle any disputes while giving me the opportunity to shoot in some of the calmer areas. In the upcoming days, as government offices open and I continue to make connections with news networks back home and here, I hope to be able to get all my credentials to freely shoot without question in all areas of Tahrir Square.

Although the carnage is great for the news coverage and photographers, its more amazing to see peace and camaraderie amongst Egyptians. Not coptics, not muslim, not seculars and non, but Egyptians through and through.

More images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharifhassan/sets/72157628322665191/

Blogger Slack

So I haven’t been updating my blog much since its inception, although I have been working like crazy shooting, assisting the finest photographers and traveling all over. Now, I’m back in Cairo where A Photo Kamal was born. With revolution number 2 underway, let me be the record. I have a variety of happenings in the upcoming month from a wedding to a revolution to a climbing expedition (if all goes to plan). With these trips in my future and a backlog of to-be blog posts, I should have plenty to work on! Bare with me, it’ll be a fun trip! Stay updated and go out a create your own adventure.

Cheers!

Culture Shots

First a bit of an introduction of the diverse culture of Egypt. Enjoy.

A late stroll in Cairo, Egypt, around the Downtown district of Zamalak was vibrant and rich in activity. Spending the evening walking through side streets and alleys, checking out the growing number of art galleries and antique shops which were mainly closed. Though many were closed the streets remained covered in what I see as Egypt’s finest of characters.

From the late night workers, such as the tired parking attendant and the midnight juicer, to the wedding parties such as this Ethiopian brides mother whom showed much pride and was very willing to have her picture taken once her outfit was well complimented. These are the people that create an atmosphere only Egypt can entertain. Especially since traditionally wedding parties are tailed by a barrage of vehicles honking and blaring tunes in the act of a zaffa, shooing and embarrassing the bride and groom away towards an evening of well deserved bliss. This would never happen in the States where a party such as this would be arrested for such an action at 2-3 AM. The rest is character.

The Culture & Art of Egypt

As world media and culture become more accessible to everyone, Egypt leads the way for Arab countries in free expression. One of the most Liberal of all Arab countries, Egypt has become a haven for expatriates, tourists and growing artists. Rejuvenating old history and creatively embarking on new ways of creative release. From painters to farmers, these poeple are meant to inspire and invigorate a nation to push forward and lead the way in a new direction. Supporting their country and others though art, music, and food, this blog will look at the art as well as the inspiration to Egypt’s personality and growing art scene.