Fighting Walls: Street Art in Egypt & Iran
Urban walls form the skin of a city, communicating its values – from nationalistic state-sponsored messages, to the perspectives of the people. Fighting Walls: Street Art in Egypt and Iran, an exhibition at New Art Exchange, Nottingham, examines street walls in Tehran and Cairo, and how they have been appropriated by a new generation of socially engaged graffiti artists. The exhibition represents over 100 artworks, ranging from activist graffiti to governmentally commissioned murals – each intervention mirroring underlying currents within these unique societies. For the first time, Fighting Walls brings together the graffiti of Egypt and Iran – two contexts that are unique, yet share a history of social uprisings that have led for walls to function as communally curated message boards.
Most significantly however, Fighting Walls celebrates the bravery of those that continue to take to the streets to campaign for justice and change on behalf of the people, markedly defining the role of artist as activist.” Fighting Walls takes the form of an immersive installation of large-scale photography, mimicking the street art’s original urban settings. Through considering a broad range of city walls, Fighting Walls merges social commentary, visual culture, as well as more traditionally defined art practices.
1 OCTOBER 2016 – 18 DECEMBER 2016
From the legend of Robin Hood, to the Luddite rebellion, public campaigns against the Poll Tax and inner-city deprivation, to the establishment of the first UK Chapter of Black Lives Matter; the people of Nottingham have an established history of civil resistance and political defiance.
Commissioned by NAE to reflect the current debates within our city’s activist network, artists Kajal Nisha Patel and Sunil Shah present a mixed-media installation created in dialogue with local advocacy groups. Their project, titled a rebel scene addresses the concept of space, be that mental, physical or virtual, as a discursive realm where political ideas can be cultivated. They explore how activists appropriate these spaces in order to challenge and change the status quo.
Our interest in space as a political tool continues beyond Nottingham to the streets of Tehran and Cairo in a photography exhibition titled Fighting Walls: Street Art In Egypt And Iran. Here we explore how the urban skin of these cities has become a battleground between the authorities and the people. Whilst the walls and public spaces of Tehran and Cairo are largely dominated by state ideological narratives, in more recent years, a new generation of politically engaged graffiti artists have started a relentless battle for reclaiming ownership of the streets. Through striking images, Fighting Walls examines graffiti not only as a form of social protest but also as a creative language which addresses the masses by embracing contemporary socio-political issues. The exhibitions are accompanied by our events programme. This includes: a panel discussion for a rebel scene with Nottingham activist groups and the artists; an exhibition tour with a rebel scene artists; and Walls of Freedom further exploring Egyptian and Iranian mural art.