Broken Promises

This collage was created from Egyptian newspaper cuttings and painted recycled papers that I personally prepared. The work was started in December 2010 with the Tunisian uprising and revolution and spanned eleven months throughout the Egyptian revolution, the Syrian, Bahraini,Yemeni and Libyan uprising all the way to Gaddafi's demise in October 2011 .
The newspaper cuttings are the headlines of all the speeches that the dictators , their followers and cronies made to the people throughout these tumultuous months , the promises that were never delivered and the endless rambling monologues.
The papers that I prepared in different tones of blue are symbolic of the blue-eyed amulet that is worn throughout this region ( Middle East-North Africa) to chase away the envious spirits and the evil eye . In the Middle Eastern countries the "eye of the heart" is the spiritual centre ; the seat of Absolute Intellect and Illumination. In Egyptian culture “The Eye of Horus” , the Utchat, the “All-seeing” , is suggested as the Pole Star and Illumination ; the eye of the mind.
The papers that were prepared in tones of green are symbolic of “The Arab Spring” , Spring is also the season of growth and renewal , the season of new ideas and hopes and a proof of the perenniality of foliage and vegetation . In the ancient Egyptian calendar the year has a “tertiary” division ( as opposed to the quaternary division of the Western calendar) –the triple seasons of Sowing (Winter) , Growing (Spring) , Inundation (Summer) - and this composition has three hues that are observed when looking at it from a distance .
All these papers were carefully cut up into triangles –The triangle is the three-fold nature of the universe; heaven ,earth ,man ; father, mother , child ; also the mystic number three- all triangles were reassembled and “collaged” on a background paper into a very geometric and orderly composition that is reminiscent of Islamic Arabic geometric design.
The completed artwork is a metaphor of hope , clarity of purpose, focus , transparency , order , and perenniality to build a new and better future for Egypt as it is for all the countries who steadfastly sacrificed their youths to break the shackles of dictatorships.