Photo by Nancy Elshami
Egypt
Nostalgia in Cairo: Hala Elkoussy’s “Journey Around My Living Room”
Ismail Fayed* | 14 May 2013
(Photo credit: Hala Elkoussy) In her latest exhibition at Mashrabia Gallery in downtown Cairo, Egyptian artist Hala Elkoussy presents an unusually meticulous and hyper-detailed physical inventory of downtown Cairo. Styled as a “living room,” the exhibition, which runs from May 10th through June 4th, displays physical objects from Elkoussy’s metaphorical...The Arrest of Egyptian Writer Magdy El Shafee
Elisabeth Jaquette* | 20 Apr 2013
Magdy El Shafee appearing before the court on Saturday, April 20th (Photo courtesy of World War 3 Illustrated Publishers( Magdy El Shafee, author of Egypt’s first graphic novel Metro, was arrested by security forces on Friday, April 19, 2013 in downtown Cairo. According to fellow author Muhammad Aladdin, El Shafee was detained near Abdel Moneim Riyad Square,...Ten Months of the Mediocre Muslim Brotherhood
Sarah Eltantawi* | 12 Apr 2013
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (Source: cnn.com) On April 7, 2013, masked gunmen attacked a Coptic cathedral in the Qalioubiyya neighborhood of Cairo during a funeral for victims of a sectarian clash. If you had told me a year ago that such an incident would take place in Egypt, I probably would not have believed you. It is true that sectarian attacks have...Sexual Revolution Arab Style: Reviewing Shereen El-Feki’s “Sex and the Citadel”
Dominic Bocci* | 10 Apr 2013
Graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, Cairo, Egypt (Photo credit: Beshoy Fayez) For many in Tahrir Square circa 2011, the Arab Spring promised to bring revolutionary change to Egypt, whether social, cultural, political, and/or sexual. Two years later, many are asking what happened to the aspirations of individuals who flooded the streets of downtown Cairo. In a...The Many Arabics of Politics
Duncan Wane* | 4 Apr 2013
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi leans on the shoulders of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh as they laugh during a photocall before the second Afro-Arab Summit in Sirte October 10, 2010 (Photo credit: Asmaa Waguih/ Reuters). Despite the immense political upheavals taking place in the Middle East in the last few years, opinions...Sharia: Between the Constitutional and Symbolic Spheres in Egypt
Alexis Blouet* | 26 Apr 2013
Members of Egypt’s constitution committee meet at the Shura Council for the final vote on a draft new Egyptian constitution in Cairo November 29, 2012. (Photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany) The Egyptian...Support Independent Egyptian Media: A Message from the Staff of “Egypt Independent”
Egypt Independent Staff | 15 Apr 2013
After working hard for four years on developing Egypt Independent as a leading local independent English-language publication, we were notified by Al-Masry Al-Youm‘s management last month that our newspaper,...Margaret Thatcher & Her Dictator Friends
Nima Shirazi* | 11 Apr 2013
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher died Monday, April 8, 2013, at the age of 87. Predictably, there is no dearth of hagiographic profiles of the former British Prime Minister in the mainstream press and scathing...Bassem Youssef and the Tune of Egyptian Nationalism
Elisabeth Jaquette* | 9 Apr 2013
Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef The Egyptian Twittersphere fell silent on Friday night, April 5, as the country tuned into the first episode of al-Bernamig to be aired since its host, Bassem Youssef, was summoned...Egypt Walks Balance of Payments Tightrope
Peter Volkmar* | 2 Apr 2013
Egypt’s central bank, Cairo (Photo credit: Reuters). Citing “civil unrest and sliding foreign exchange reserves” and “severe financial imbalances,” recent headlines such as “Egypt in footsteps...
