Full Description
Part visual history, part memoir, You Can Crush the Flowers is the celebrated Egyptian-Lebanese artist Bahia Shehab's chronicle of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and its aftermath, as it manifested itself not only in the art on the streets of Cairo but also through the wider visual culture that emerged during the Revolution. Marking the ten year anniversary of the revolution, the book tells the stories that inspired both her own artwork and those of her fellow-revolutionaries. It narrates the events of the revolution as they unfolded, describing on one hand the tactics deployed by the regime to drive protesters from the street, from the use of tear gas and snipers to employing brute force, intimidation techniques and virginity tests, and on the other hand the retaliation by the protesters online and on the street in marches, chants, street art and memes. Throughout this powerful and moving account, and using a vast array of over 250 images, Bahia Shehab responds to what she has witnessed as both artist and activist. The result bears witness to the brutality of the regime and pays tribute to the protestors who bravely defied it.
Contents
Introduction 6
Rooms in an Imagined Museum (25 January to 11 February 2011) 10
The Calligrapher's Headline (12 February 2011) 18
A State of Democratic Infancy (February to October 2011) 22
A Thousand Times No (November to December 2011) 28
First Anniversary (January to March 2012) 40
The Candidates (March to June 2012) 60
The New Pharaoh (July to December 2012) 72
The Children of Asyut (January to June 2013) 82
Rebel, Cat! (June 2013) 92
Stealing the Dream (June 2013) 102
A Conversation (July to October 2013) 108
Ten Years On: May You See Days Better than Mine 114
Bibliography 138
Endnotes 141
