CAIRO: As part of the In Translation Lecture Series, the Center for Translation Studies and the Department of Rhetoric and Composition are hosting a panel of artists who collaborated in painting the murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, which is next to The American University in Cairo (AUC) Tahrir campus. Artists Ammar Abo Bakr, Alaa Awad, Hanaa El Degham, and journalist Ahmed Aboul Hassan, will speak about “Visualizing Revolution: The Epic Murals of Tahrir.” The event will take place on April 2 at 7 pm in Ewart Memorial Hall, AUC Tahrir Square. Ammar Abo Bakr is an artist who came from Luxor to Cairo in October 2011 after the clashes in Maspero. He painted the Lost Eyes mural on Mohamed Mahmoud Street later that year. His portraits of the Port Said martyrs have drawn hundreds to the street in a public dialogue about protest and the role of youth in Egypt's future. Abo Bakr considers the murals “a call to finish the [2011 Egyptian] Revolution.” Alaa Awad came from Luxor in February 2012 to expand the mural project with Pharaonic drawings modified to reflect the street's significance in the revolution as the “tomb of Tahrir.” Using the symbols and history of Ancient Egypt as inspiration, his paintings urge reflection on power, leadership and resistance. Both Abo Bakr and Awad teach at the Luxor Fine Arts College. Hanaa El Degham is an Egyptian artist who works between Egypt and Germany. She came to Cairo in February 2012 to collaborate on the murals. Her paintings on Mohamed Mahmoud Street express the continued struggle for the basic needs of the Egyptian majority in the midst of the revolution. Ahmed Aboul Hassan is a journalist who has covered the 2011 Egyptian revolution extensively and the developments on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in particular. He will comment on the political significance of the murals as they evolved over the last two months. The university has recently launched an initiative to preserve the paintings. Plans are underway to varnish the walls to retain the color and quality of the images. Students are invited to participate in that project. The stirring revolutionary graffiti is very moving, and incorporates stecils and extensive murals. Egyptians cherish the expressive images, and frequently pose for photos in front of the street art. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/mjYsb Tags: American Univeristy in Cairo, featured, Graffiti, Murals, Revolution Section: Art, Egypt, Featured Articles, Latest News
