Graffiti

The Arab awakening or Arab Spring has transformed the geopolitical landscape.
— Ban Ki-moon.

The Arab Spring protests inspired an artistic revolution. The challenge to obtain democracy in society had provoked many Arab artists to emphasize a change to the political system. They argue that the political form of government needs to transition into another phase. Furthermore, Middle-Eastern Artists believe that freedom should be established and that poltical and social oppression should be removed to prevent dictatorships. The role of graffiti and street art in the visual culture had become an expression of political dissent during the Arab Spring. Widespread and potent manifestation of this art form has led many young minds to highlight scrawls, letterings, and pictorial art, making it a highly visible legacy. Walls across many countries in the Middle East such as Libya, Bahrain, and Tunisia are bloomed with witty, scathing, and melancholy messages, which serve as a running commentary on the political situation that delights some and startles many.

In Libya, graffiti grew more prevalent with the spread of the armed revolution. Most focused on the person of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan revolutionary, in a variety of ways. Some of these included Nazi officer, a pirate, and most frequently as a rat, due to the way they captured him when attempting to escape suspicion of participating in terrorist acts. There were also wall paintings commemorating battles and confrontations with Gaddafi’s troops and others showing artillery shells and machine guns.

Despite the unsuccessful revolution, Bahrain’s graffiti movement showed some signs of evolving, especially on the visual level. Images started to appear on walls in the country’s cities and villages. It concentrated its attention on the person of king Hamad Bin Eissa Aal Khalifa. The slogan “Down with Hamad” spread to all corners of the small kingdom. The piece of Bahraini graffiti that best summarized the current reality of the Arab world read “This is the age of people and the end of the age of dictatorship.” The line was written up in Satra, the most vibrant and defiant region in Bahrain.

Tunisia created its own unique style of street art through a blend of traditional graffiti techniques and fine art. Tunisian artists drew on old icons of the anti-colonialist struggle against France, such as the political labour and activist Farhan Hashad in the 1940s. In addition, graffiti art included drawings of Bouazziz, an icon of the global liberation movement. The graffiti movement in the Arab world emerged to reflect the profound and entirely unanticipated change experienced in the region. Its intentions were to evoke the lineaments of a new era of freedom, by helping the Arab people reclaim the public spaces of squares, streets, and walls from almost a century of regime monopoly.

The graffiti movement in the Arab world emerged to reflect the profound and entirely unanticipated change experienced in the region. Its intentions were to evoke the lineaments of a new era of freedom, by helping the Arab people reclaim the public spaces of squares, streets, and walls from almost a century of regime monopoly. The struggles to establish a democratic system of government is still a fight happening today. The graffiti moment shows signs that it can become a viable form of civil resistance against any dictatorship and it can be a potent weapon against any opposition