Abstract
While no hegemony on a particular aesthetic can be claimed when addressing the Arab worlds, it is worth examining the different movements, localities, and the politico-religious imaginings of the past few decades to make sense of resistance and aesthetic value today. This chapter aims to explore graffiti and street art in Arab worlds in terms of spatiality, namely spaces and counter-spaces of resistance, and how they create counter-narratives, representational systems, and networks of solidarity. Construction of new collective memories in public, before and/or after the Arab uprisings, exhibits the fleeting nature of resistance and its prevailing impact in challenging systems of power and notions of social space.
(كل ثمن تدفعه في المقاومة... ستحصل على مقابله... المقاومة جدوى مستمره” –باسل الأعرج (١٩٨٤-٢٠١٧ ”
“Resistance is never in vain. The continuous sacrifices of those who resist will always pay off.”
–Basil al-Araj (1984–2017).
The original version of this chapter was revised. The affiliation city of the author was incorrect. The chapter has been updated with the correct affiliation of the author. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63330-5_16
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Notes
- 1.
The battle of Karbala (in present-day Iraq ) took place on the 10th of Muharram in the year 61 Hirji (Islamic calendar) in which Hussain, son of the fourth Caliph Ali and grandson of prophet Muhammad was brutally defeated and had his head cut off by Yazid bin Mu’awiyah in a clash over succession of the rule of the Islamic ummah. This event was thus memorialized annually by the Shi’ites, to recall the suffering of the Imam Hussain.
- 2.
A campaign by Saudi women to drive illegally and risk their arrest, often filming themselves and posting their videos in social media in an effort to defy the narrative that Saudis “are not ready” for women to drive.
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Jarbou, R. (2017). The Resistance Passed Through Here: Arabic Graffiti of Resistance, Before and After the Arab Uprisings. In: Awad, S., Wagoner, B. (eds) Street Art of Resistance. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63330-5_6
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