The Art of Protest

With the historical uprising in Egypt these past 18 days, and its liberation on the 11^th, I can’t help but burst with excitement. It’s so amazing to see everyday citizens take action in order to change their government, and ultimately their lifestyles, for a better way to live: freely! It’s inspiring and encouraging to say the least, and I would just like to express my solidarity.

With that being said, having looked through several galleries of photos from Cairo the past few weeks, the imagery has been overwhelmed with posters expressing the sentiments of the people, using art and text. It reminds me that art can be the silent force which unites and strengthens a movement. Political art has served in several movements throughout history and has proven effective. In our own recent political climate, we saw Shepard Fairey create quite a rise-up of young politicos when he created his ubiquitous poster of Obama for the 2009 election. The poster was adopted by the entire nation and has even become the template for other politically charged image campaigns, whether they be serious or satirical. In earlier times, Emory Douglas , from Oakland, CA, was the leading artist of the Black Panther Party in the late 60's and early 70's. It was his images that led the civil rights movement of the time!

The advantage of having great political poster art is that it can be easily spread and interpreted by many. It says a million things, but people understand it in one split second. It provides a face for an entire movement of people and motivates them to take action. The often bold colors, bold lines, and simple text serve to put a spark in people to act accordingly: boldly take simple steps to a better future. Art is a universal language, and it’s best used, I think, when it has something good to say.

Here are some images of recent political art posters. . .  

Iran

Egypt

Egypt (Graffiti)

Artists in New York are organizing an artistic recreation of the Egyption protests here. Check it out.

x Carissa