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Egypt: Revolution, turmoil impact on pop culture

Thursday - 1/2/2014, 6:09pm  ET

This Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 photo, shows posters taped to a wall for an art exhibition entitled "Persona" by photographer artist Lilian Wagdy inside a building, near Tahrir Square, Cairo. Egypt’s dizzying ride over the past three years since the toppling of autocratic Hosni Mubarak has revolutionized its pop culture scene, from language to music and art, bringing in a vibe of rebellion and voices from youths. Wagdy asked women to choose characters they idolized and wanted to portray to reveal parts of their hidden personalities. The women posed for Wagdy unveiling their inner identity. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's dizzying ride over the past three years since the toppling of autocratic Hosni Mubarak has not only shaken up the country's politics. It has revolutionized its pop culture scene, from language to music and art, bringing in a vibe of rebellion and voices from the urban poor.



The changes bring new platforms for airing grievances and voicing demands for change -- and have spread with stunning speed among various levels of society.

What joins them is the spirit of "el-Meidan" or "The Square." Initially, the term was just a shorthand reference to Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of the 2011 uprising that brought down Mubarak and of protests since. But the term evolved to become a symbol for bringing together Egyptians of all social classes, ages, professions and sects to collectively demand change.

The term has kept its resonance even as Egypt has become more bitterly divided over the country's post-Mubarak path. Islamist and non-Islamists are now pitted against each other following the military's July ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

"The square brought together people who would normally never meet," said Ammar Abu Bakr, a graffiti artist. "People opened their hearts to one another and were no longer afraid of each other. Artists of all disciplines performed in the square, not to show off, but because everyone felt he or she can do whatever they like," he said.

"El-Meidan" is not the only word that has gained new meaning as politics and turmoil infuse Egypt's rich dialect of Arabic.

"Sheep" has become an insult used by anti-Islamists against members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood -- a dig at their vows of obedience to their leaders. Islamists fire back with "worshippers of boots" to refer to supporters of the popularly backed military coup that ousted Morsi after a year in office.

"The lemon squeezers" are secular and liberal Egyptians who voted for Morsi in the 2012 presidential election only to prevent his opponent, Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, from winning. It refers to an Arabic saying that if you're given a terrible dish, all you can do is squeeze a lemon on it to make it more palatable.

More than any other form of pop culture, graffiti has epitomized the revolutionary mood. The images have traced the arc from defiance during the anti-Mubarak uprising and joy at his fall, through opposition to the military and then Morsi, and now back to anger at the military and at Mubarak regime remnants -- or "feloul" -- who revolutionaries believe are trying to rewrite history to dismiss their uprising as a foreign-backed plot.


The canvas of choice for graffiti artists since 2011 has been a wall of the American University in Cairo running around 100 meters (yards) down a street from Tahrir.

The tradition since the revolution has been for artists to routinely whitewash over old work and start anew. Now, says artist Alaa Abdel-Hameed, an informal deal has been struck among graffiti artists to abandon the practice and instead expand on existing work.

The images there speak of anger at the military. One shows a Dracula-like soldier with blood dripping from his mouth. Underneath him are skulls labeled "bread, freedom and social justice," the slogan of the 2011 revolution. There is also the image of a chimp carrying a framed picture of a gorilla wearing a military cap, a dig at the adoration of the military leadership.

"Down with everyone who committed betrayal," declares a scrawled slogan.

Abdel-Hameed this year tried another form of street art. He made 200 sculptures of eagles, Egypt's official symbol adorning its national flag, and plastered them upside down on walls around the city.

All but a handful have been demolished, likely by opponents of Morsi who took them as a criticism of his ouster -- though in fact Abdel-Hameed put them up before the coup.

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