April 2012
1 post
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Rana ElNemr's Giza Threads: The Ambition of Space...
I had a dream many years ago. It was set in a big kitchen. I was with a group of friends, none of whom I knew from waking life.
One of the girls walked to the fridge. She turned to me and asked if I wanted anything to drink. I nodded and squeezed my head and shoulder together; it was a “yes, maybe.” A shrug towards agreement.
She handed me a glass of something orange; I took it and went to...
March 2012
2 posts
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Nation of Sons of Bitches
“Allah Yenawwar” or “May God light your path” says the smiling police officer to me as I work on a four-meter high mural together with Ammar Abo Bakr. The mural is an image of a protester being dragged by two Military Police officers and its based on a sketch that Ammar drew just last night, which is based on a photograph taken in Alexandria and posted online only yesterday afternoon.
People...
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The Art of Storm-Riding - by Yahia Lababidi
I could not decipher the living riddle of my body put it to sleep when it hungered, and overfed it when time came to dream
I nearly choked on the forked tongue of my spirit between the real and the ideal, rejecting the one and rejected by the other
I still have not mastered that art of storm-riding without ears to apprehend howling winds or eyes for rolling waves
Always the weather catches me...
February 2012
1 post
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“مشاعري معهم .. مع الإخوان .. رغم أنهم تخلوا عني و عن الديموقراطية و رفضوا أن...”
– محمد نجيب في كتاب “كنت رئيسا لمصر ” يصف الوضع في مصر سنة 54
January 2012
2 posts
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ديجا فو: نقد لمحاولتي استرداد في الحدث الفني...
ترددت كثيراً قبل ان أقرر الجلوس للكتابة حول حالة مزاجية لمستها في الحدث الفني المعاصر الحالي في مصر. حالة مزاجية تتميز بحداثة السن والإيجابية بل وربما إلى حد ما بعدائية. وقد وجدتني طوال الأسبوعين الماضيين بصدد عدد من النقاشات حول طبيعة تلك الحالة وبالأخص فيما يتعلق بمحاولتين بعينهما وقعتا – لا مصادفة - في يناير/ كانون ثاني 2012. أولى هاتين اللحظتين هي كايرو دوكيومنتا في دورته الثانية، وثانيتهما...
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Déjà Vu: A Critique of Two Attempts of Reclamation...
I hesitated a great deal before sitting down and writing about a certain temperament I identified in the current Egyptian contemporary art sphere. It is a temperament that is young, proactive, and to some extent aggressive. I have in the past weeks been engaged in multiple conversation and debates about two particular attempts that took place in January 2012, the date is no coincidence. The first...
December 2011
4 posts
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Obsession Sessions with Henrik & Sofia - by...
During my time at SidLee in Montréal earlier this year, I was fortunate to be exposed to such a myriad of national and international talent. Among the inspiring people that I encountered, Henrik Leichsenring & Sofia Gillström are one of the few that stood out amongst the crowd. Not only are they extremely cheerful individuals, but they also are a supreme dynamic husband & wife creative...
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Preview: Hydrarchy – Transitional and...
In October 1967, the Suez Canal’s Bitter Lake became home to fourteen international cargo ships, trapped in a legal grey zone caused by the Six-Day War. Officially un-allowed to contact the shore, the ships were stuck for eight years, the crews continued with operations as their contracts required them to do so.
The few available traces of this intriguing but little-known anecdote were...
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From Berlin with Love
Part of Spring Lessons is not just documentation, but active participation in giving people a voice and finding simple, yet effective ways of doing so. In this case, noticing that demonstrations in Berlin consisted mostly in a lot of shouting at walls, a team went out to give the participants in a demonstration in front of the German Foreign Office in Berlin the possiblity to relay their...
November 2011
12 posts
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“يمكنك ان تدهس الورود..لكن لا يمكنك ان تؤخر الربيع”
– شريف محرز
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“شباب يداعبون الموت رغبة فى الحياة … الحياة فى التحرير”
– سندس شبايك
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“Those who lost eyes during protests in Egypt can see better than many so-called...”
– Carlos Latuff
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Watchشهادتي من التحرير - ٢١ نوفمبر ٢٠١١
جنزير
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Obsession Sessions with Joel Lazano - by Ibraheem...
Welcome to another round of obsession sessions. The inspiring person I decided to introduce everyone to today is Spanish talented soul Joel Lazano. I discovered Joel’s work about a year and half ago when browsing through a myriad of design blogs. It was bookmarked at first sight. I was fortunate enough to secure some of his time for a brief Q&A.
I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative...
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Obsession Sessions with Ahmad Abdal Moneim Abbas...
I’d like to introduce everyone to a long time friend of mine, Ahmed Abdel monem a multi-talented Egyptian artist/designer that always try to explore new boundaries and creative venues. Aside from being witty and humourous, Ahmed who is also known as “Monty” is a really inspiring individual. I’ve known Ahmed for 11 years, we first met at the college of fine arts in Zamalek, Cairo and we’ve been...
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Obsession Sessions with Daniel Julien - by...
It’s time for the second obsession session with none other than one of the most inspiring and interesting people I’ve met to date, Daniel Julien. A graphic designer, actually a modern day DaVinci based out of Montréal, Canada. He knows no limits when it comes to exploring new creative boundaries, from product design, posters, identities to anything that oozes coolness, daniel does with swagger and...
October 2011
5 posts
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مناظر #١٦ عن صواف أرت - ٢٧/١٠/٢٠١١
Manazer #16 by Sawaf-Art - 27/10/2011
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Obsession Sessions with Jonathan Mutch - by...
For the past few weeks now, graphic designer Ibraheem Youssef has been doing weekly Q&A’s with designers he admires, and posting them onto his blog. The questions are short and standardized, but from the responses of Ibraheem’s subjects you are given a lot of insight into the different ways a designer can think and operate.
Rolling Bulb will be republishing Ibraheem’s...
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Adam & Greed: An analysis of current global...
Foreign Agendas & Popular Uprisings
The Egyptian military truly does believe there’s a foreign conspiracy at work.
As far as they are concerned, things haven’t much changed since before Mubarak’s step down. Omar Suleiman’s comments to Christiane Amanpour, that “other people are pushing” Egypt’s young masses to revolt still ring true to Egypt’s military men and those influenced by them. Omar...
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September 2011
5 posts
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The Mubarak Trial: A Theatrical Review - by Will...
The Mubarak trial, while significant politically must be analyzed by an art critic rather than a political analyst. The spectacle viewed by millions deserves a better review with all the show that’s been put in place for the people. The true nature of the Mubarak trial is that of a stage play and must be evaluated on its theatrical rather than political merits.
Let’s start with the writing....
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مناظر #١٥ عن جون جوزيف - ٣/٩/٢٠١١
Manazer #15 by John Joseph - 3/09/2011
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Outside In - by Ursula Lindsey
After nine years living in Egypt I would say that Egyptians have no problem with actual foreigners, but huge ones with imaginary ones.
During the 18 days of the revolution, the demonstrators were foreign agents and foreign infiltrators. State TV ran interviews with hopped-up teenagers swearing they heard people in Tahrir speaking Arabic “but their accent was not...
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Laila Soliman & Ruud Gielens' "Lessons in...
What: Performance
Where: Rawabet Theatre, Cairo, Egypt
When: August 19 - August 23, 2011
Where Else: Zurich Theater Spektakel (Aug 29-31), Rotterdam Schouwburg (Sep 15-18), ,Dusseldorf Forum Freies Theater (Oct 7-8), Amsterdam City Theatre (Oct 12),
A projected video sequence of Aida ElKashef’s and Ruud Gielens’s archival footage opens the performance “Lessons in Revolting.” To my...
August 2011
7 posts
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I Still Remember - by Psypherize
I remember during the early hours of January the 29th, after hours of battling with the police all over Cairo and Egypt. It was the first time for me to see the Army take to the streets of Cairo and descend on Tahrir Square where I was. Troops and tanks and APCs. An overwhelming sight to some, not so much to others. For others had shared with me the worries of the Army’s intervention in this...
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Civilization and the Cultural Explosion in Egypt:...
In my ongoing series of rants on Arab culture, I offer you this:
In the venerable computer game of Civilization, the borders of your nation are set, amongst other things, by the amount of culture you produce. In this game, culture is calculated by taking the artistic, religious and technological improvement you have built in any given city, then multiplied through wonders or global improvements...
July 2011
17 posts
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A Letter To The SCAF - by Psypherize
King Farouk I of Egypt; overthrown in the July 23 Revolution in 1952, with a military coup d’état by a group of young army officers who named themselves ‘The Free Officers Movement’. After which the movement had begun to establish a republic, known today as the ‘Arab Republic of Egypt’.
The Free Officers Movement’ was formed by a group of reform minded officers...
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michaeljamesbeck asked: Is the movement broadly informed of the dangers of electronic surveillance?
Will you add a newsletter sign up feature?
Are historians of labor movements lending their expertise on effective methods of encouraging change?
Will you add a newsletter sign up feature?
Are historians of labor movements lending their expertise on effective methods of encouraging change?
michaeljamesbeck asked: Greetings and hopes your citizens are successful in achieving the best society and government. Is there tangible support for the movement from the international and national intellectual community, i.e. from supporting lectures, articles, etc.? Is the population informed about effective social movement strategies, especially the examples of non-violent civil resistance suggested by Gandhi, Martin...
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bravo
this is not a submission. this is to say that you are doing the most exiting website i have seen in egypt. the texts i read here make me go mhhh, i never thought about this this way. you are really inspiring. the look of the site and the illustrations, for example of the army’s a/c ventilator, are of a graphic quality that i have not yet seen in egypt. thank you for sharing this with the...
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WikiLeaks: Simply Overrated - by Psypherize
[illustration by Ganzeer]
Throughout last year, the World had undergone political earthquakes because of the continued release of classified documents by WikiLeaks and it’s founder Julian Assange, exposing a lot of dirt on governments and living up to WikiLeaks’ slogan “We open Governments”. This sparked up many questions on WikiLeaks and the people working behind it,...
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#July8: What Is Next? - by Psypherize
It’s been a week so far and the sit-in continues in Tahrir Square, with the power cut off during the day to keep us from using it to power fans and laptops. We had to get our very own generators and gasoline to power up any equipment we had in there. With small numbers in the Square during the day and many during most of the night, so far the response of the Government has been far less than...
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مناظر #٩: “السويس - وقود الثورة” من شريف عادل - ١٣/٧/٢٠١١
Manazer #9: “Suez - Fuel of the Revolution” by Sherif Adel- 13/07/2011
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Surveying Tahrir by Shahinaz Nabeeh
While volunteering to help out with a questionnaire made by Ganzeer, to document, with physical evidence, the common demands and concerns of the people, with the intention of creating a concise booklet with the results, I had an epiphany. Making the decision of leaving my life in England and everything I had known from a very young age to risk losing it all for the romantics of a revolution that...
“Rise up Egyptians! Rise and rise again, like a phoenix from it’s ashes reborn....”
– Anonymous submitter’s version of Maitreya’s quote.