Egyptians refuse to be erased

Sep 19

Web Only

Egyptians refuse to be erased

After the removal of graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, artists continue to protest through painting.

An Egyptian graffiti artist paints art work on a wall along Mohammed Mahmud Street close to Tahrir Square, in Cairo on September 19, 2012 during of a demonstration by some of the artists a day after the government whitewashed the murals adorning the walls. AFP/KHALED DESOUKI

Late Tuesday night, graffiti on the walls of Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo were painted over following a government order. Nazly Hussein documented the incident below on the video streaming site Bambuser. The footage shows a man painting over the graffiti while Egyptian Central Security Forces (CSF) overlook the process.

View the story "Egyptians refuse to be erased" on StorifyEgyptians refuse to be erasedAfter the removal of graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, artists continue to protest through painting.Storified by The Stream · Wed, Sep 19 2012 12:05:20جرافيتي محمد محمود بيتمسح :(NazlyhusseinThe clip below details the importance of Mohamed Mahmoud Street to the Egyptian revolution. Work crews have attempted to remove the graffiti there before.Artists use graffiti to tell Egypt revolution's storiesaljazeeraenglishThe whitewash follows a Saturday inspection of Tahrir Square by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. The inspection later prompted additional clean-up measures around the square. Some Egyptians criticised the clean up of the square, citing double standards and poor governance by the Morsi administration.Government decides to clean up Mohamed Mahmoud street, so they erase the street art from walls yet leave the piles of trash on the ground.Deena AdelAnd now police - #Morsi's police - erase graffitti & murals on #MohamedMahmoud St. U can't whitewash a rotten history, Mr. Morsy!Mona EltahawyTwitter users took to the street to share photos of the graffiti removal.They're actually doing it. I am seeing it with my own eyes now. Graffiti is being removed from Mohamed Mahmoud http://twitpic.com/aw3psfYehia el GammalEgyptian netizens lamented the loss of the graffiti, which depicted slogans, images and memorials to heroes of the revolution.They're removing the Revolution Graffiti in Mohammed Mahmoud St. Congrats, you never HAD a revolution, much less it's been hijacked. MorningEman MagdiI am revising all the Mohamed Mahmoud Graffiti I took and I want to cry :( the government erased :(((ZeinobiaGraffiti in Mohammed Mahmoud street was an incredible work of art, testament of history, not random spraying. CANNOT believe they erased it.Bassem SabryDo people remember how bloody Mohammad Mahmoud was on the Friday of Rage? How can you forget something like that? #Jan28 #EgyptAحmad H. عggourWe will never forget. The heroes of Mohammad Mahmoud - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9JmBTotCWQ #EgyptAحmad H. عggourMany began tweeting theirs favorite works from the Mohamed Mahmoud walls:Painting over the Mohamed Mahmoud graffiti was a disastrous decision, Cairo. I can't believe this is gone: http://pic.twitter.com/VtztIuCFMs. Entropy100 meters of Mohammed Mahmoud st. (5mb) before it was whitewashed by police fascists: http://is.gd/gWzJ3Psherief gaberThe image below, tweeted by Sherief Gaber, links to a panorama image of the iconic street:undefinedMosireenCairo-based architect Loai Omran created a Wikipedia page where users can upload their favorite images of lost graffiti from Mohamed Mahmoud street. Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy tweeted out the link:RT @loaiomran: page i initiated in wikipedia to document #mohamedmahmoud graffiti. Ur contribution pls! http://ar.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF&stable=0&shownotice=1Mona EltahawyundefinedWikimediaundefinedWikimediaundefinedWikimediaAfter the graffiti was removed, within hours, Egyptians headed to the street to paint on the blank walls.#egypt Just learned that the brave artists "redecorating" #mohamedmahmoud, few minutes after #moiegy paintjob @monaeltahawy @PoliticallyAffHazNew messages on the walls expressed nostalgia for the revolution and defiance against the Morsi government and security forces. The message below reads, "you erased the picture of the one who died in Port Said before bringing justice for every martyr".مسحتوا صورة اللي مات في بورسعيد .. قبل ما تجيبوا حق الشهيد .. #محمد_محمود #Sep19 http://twitpic.com/awb85tكـــــــريم فــــريدOthers refused to be erased:Mohamed Mahmoud graffiti: "erase and I draw again" http://pic.twitter.com/w6KnSE9vSharif KouddousEpic. Graffiti artists drew a new mural in Mohamed Mahmoud: erase again you coward regime, reads the graffiti. http://pic.twitter.com/ywyLqoV3The Big PharaohFresh graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud st. http://pic.twitter.com/xbgPwBSRSharif KouddousApprox 150 at Mohamed Mahmoud st. to re-graffiti wall that was painted over yesterday. 8 CSF trucks w/ troops look on http://pic.twitter.com/TxBAUm8DSharif KouddousCartoons and graffiti offer encouragement for Egypt's revolutionary artists to continue their artistic expression:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/shady.cartoons" class="">http://www.facebook.com/shady.cartoons</a>Shady's comics كاريكاتير شادي فرحاتhttp://pic.twitter.com/UrvkMF8R "may u live & paint" #graffiti #mohamedmahmoud via @sboraieSarah El Deeb