Berkeley Undergraduate Journal

Governments have long used public art and monuments to characterize and legitimize their regimes. The production of visual space has profound implications on the psychology of the nation state and the way its citizens relate to their histories. It is curious then, to ask what happens when citizens take control of the visual content of their environment, particularly as it relates to memorializing those who have been killed at the hands of political authority or hegemony. This paper will examine different visual forms of memorialization on Mohammed Mahmoud Street,1 with a particular focus on the memorial portraiture of Ammar Abo Bakr, El Zeft, and Ganzeer, and the pharaonic murals of Alaa Awad. It will then examine how such street memorials not only commemorate the martyrs2 of the revolution, but also criticize the state, take ownership of public space and the memorialization process, and contribute to the formation of a strong, pan-Egyptian identity. It will also show why, as much of this art has now been covered up by other art or whitewashed by the sate, this art remains relevant as the government begins to create its own memorials and utilize Egyptian frustrations with the ongoing violence to tarnish the collective memory of the revolution.

[1] Not intended to reflect the work of Mona Abaza in her article Mona Abaza, “Mourning, Narratives and Interactions with the Martyrs through Cairo’s Graffiti,” E-International Relations, October 7, 2013, http://www.e-ir.info/2013/10/07/mourning-narratives-and-interactions-with-the-martyrs-through-cairos-graffiti/.

[2] “The word martyr [Shaheed] signifies a person who has died for a greater cause, either religious or political. In islamic thought, martyrdom (shahada is the highest honor and martyrs attain the greatest level in paradise, correlating to the Christian notion of sainthood.” (Basma Hamdy and Stone, Karl Don, Walls of Freedom: Street Art of the Egyptian Revolution. ([S.l.]: From Here To Fame, 2014). 56) “Martyr” is often the term used to describe those who have been killed by security forces and the military since January 25^th and before. I am not making a judgement on the use of the term, but am adopting the term to reference those who have die over the course of the past three years, as well as to avoid confusion when people use the term martyrs to describe such people in their interviews.