Thursday, April 5, 2012

Arab Spring Inspires Artistic Expression in Middle East - NYTimes.com

Arab Spring Inspires Artistic Expression in Middle East - NYTimes.com

AMMAN — As scenes of Arab street protests fill his television set, Abu Saqer, a petty domestic tyrant, panics at the thought of losing control of his household. His daughter wants to wear a brighter shade of lipstick. His son wants to join the protests.


“A barrier of fear has been shattered in the region,”


The Arab Spring has, at least momentarily, broken through decades of self-censorship and fear that plagued repressive societies. The regional revolutions have inspired forms of artistic expression.


Arguments go back and forth on political topics and human rights issues that were unmentionable in public before the Arab Spring.


social media activists are keeping a tab, in real time, on activists who have been taken into detention or otherwise attacked by governments new or old.


paintings inspired by the Arab Spring were removed from the annual Dubai Art Fair, deemed by the Dubai authorities to be unacceptable. a painting by the Moroccan artist Zakaria Ramhani, was based on the famous news photograph of a woman protester, widely referred to as the “girl in the blue bra,” half-stripped and beaten by the police in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

No comments:

Post a Comment