After the Whitewash: Tahrir Square In Photos, October 2012
Written by Jaillan Yehia
A man sits in front of a mural depicting God’s messenger. The slogan reads: ‘We have given our lives for you’
Think of Cairo and you’ll imagine Tahrir Square, mob rule and flag-carrying protesters. But Cairo and Tahrir Square has changed in the last 20 months – at the end of September the Egyptian authorities pushed forward with a major clean-up of the city’s revolutionary hub. Having turfed the square they made the controversial decision to whitewash the political graffiti which adorns the walls of the American University, serving as a commentary on and a monument to the uprising.
By the time of my visit new messages and paintings had sprung up in their place – here are my photos of Tahrir Square today…
I reached Tahrir Square by car without realising it. We were at a busy roundabout, clogged up with some typical Cairo traffic. ‘How much longer until I get to Tahrir Square itself?’ I thought impatiently, before realising that I was sitting in traffic in the middle of it – the scene of a revolution whose historic significance can’t be overstated, and one which changed the Arab world forever.
You can still see the burned out shell of the democratic party headquarters in Tahrir Square, but traffic is now flowing
As well as drivers, there were a few pedestrians in the square, and officials – directing traffic or just keeping an eye on proceedings.
Directing traffic in Cairo’s Tahrir Square
And underneath the square people carried on their day, catching the metro from the station right below the scene of the revolution – although I was told that not everyone would feel comfortable using the metro, this being a very elitist society with strict social hierarchies.
Catching a train underneath Tahrir Square
Still, the underground was well sign-posted and seemed clean and efficient.
The Cairo metro exit for Tahrir Square
The Egyptian Museum is right on the edge of Tahrir Square and did suffer some damage during the height of the chaos, but today it’s open and very much business as usual – which unfortunately includes the rule of no pictures inside.
A soldier walks towards the Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Like any good museum you exit through the gift shop – although in this case the gift shop is completely empty and closed, as it sits right underneath the looming burned-out shell of the Democratic Party HQ.
Egypt’s Democratic Party HQ as seen from the Egyptian Museum exit
Elsewhere there are signs of the main hub that Tahrir Square always was, such as the EgyptAir office.
Egyptair Office Tahrir Square
But what most people come to Tahrir Square for now is the political and emotional slogans and images which tell the story of the revolution from the point of view of the ordinary people. Once the protestors were cleared from the square, the focus moved to adjacent Mohammed Mahmoud Street. Here the American University in Cairo’s campus walls have been designated an unofficial pictorial speakers’ corner.
This sign literally says ‘Graffiti area’
The text on these images pays tribute to two young men who were killed at different times during the revolution: Karim Khazam on the left died during the football match riot, and Alaa Abt El Haddi during the cabinet events.
Memorial for Karim Khazam & Alaa Abdel-Hady, both of whom died during the revolution.
‘Our graffiti is like a tattoo engraved in the hearts. They do not repent and the past hasn’t taught them anything. And they don’t listen to anything but their own voice.’ reads the text on the wall behind this lady.
The slogan reads: ‘Never-ending graffiti.’
Here a protester has a message for the authorities on a placard: ‘If you return we return, we will never leave the square because it’s the symbol of our revolution, our revolution will never end because its aims have not been achieved up ‘til now. Live (with) freedom social justice & human dignity for all.’
A protester holds up a meaningful message
Slogans in Tahrir Square, Cairo
The above slogan reads: Religion is for God and Homeland is for all.
And this was probably my favourite message:
Muslim + Christian = Egypt
I was told that the building on the right served as a place to bring the dead and injured during the revolution.
And finally, this motorbike probably succinctly encapsulates what many Egyptians feel:
The sign says ‘Fish milk and tamarind’ – it’s an Egyptian saying akin to ‘It’s all at sixes and sevens’, i.e. ‘It’s all a mess!’
me at Tahrir Square – thought I’d better put a picture to prove to myself as much as anyone else that I really was here!
Tags: Cairo, City, Egypt, Egyptian revolution, Tahrir Square
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