Blog Ganzeer

A Tribute to Syria's Spray Man

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Known as Spray Man, Nour Hatem Zahra, one of the founders of the Freedom Graffiti Week Syria page on Facebook, bled to death on April 29 after getting shot in the leg while out on a spray painting mission. May he rest in peace, and may the Syrian people rise victorious and free of tyranny.

Costruzione di Ponti at Arrivi e Partenze Mediterraneo

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:23:00 +0000

In a show curated by Elettra Stamboulis in Ancona, Italy, I'll have the honor of painting some public murals between 14-19 June, 2012.

More information on: http://www.arriviepartenzemediterraneo.it/

Alien Europe: A Short Comic About Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:41:00 +0000

This is a short comic about the notion of culture that I created for a book to be published by the European Culture Congress giving a little retrospective about the congress that took place in September 2011. The comic even features a funny little cameo by Zygmunt Bauman, a Polish sociologist and Bogdan Zdrojewski, Poland's Minister of Culture on the first couple of pages.

Leaving a Little Something in Katowice, Poland

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Although, I might've been invited to the Katowice Street Art Festival solely to give a little presentation, which I sure did, I couldn't help but leave a little gift on the streets of Katowice, partially in response to this article by Iwona Sobczyk in Polish newspaper Gazeta in which she states something along the lines of:

"Ganzeer arrives at Katowice to talk about it all [revolutionary street-art]. One can only hope that he will also want to leave us some of his work."

And so I created this towards the end of Katowice's Mariacka Tylna street:

photo by Kalev Kevard, featured on Nuart.no

photo by Pawel Mrowiec

The text reads "Beware of the Mask of Freedom," which is an obvious reference to the Mask of Freedom sticker I created in Egypt in May 2011.

The motivation behind creating this particular piece in Katowice came as a result of unescapable signs of the city's loving embrace of extreme consumerism! Most especially the consumerism of non-Polish brands.You see it in the massive billboards that adorn this small town, advertising everything from juice brands to H&M to The Gap! There are several shopping-dedicated streets and malls around Katowice, and many more to come judging from the major reconstruction efforts taking place around the city.

Yes, that is Chuck Norris in a Polish bank advert.

This prompted adorning the figure wearing the Polish Mask of Freedom with a Gap shirt, Adidas pants, and Converse shoes. The two massive hammers are a nod to the city's history as a workers city, most particularly in the mining industry. You see those hammers used in the logo design of most anything relating to the city's history.

One thing I noticed that totally slipped my mind was to add the wings onto the sides of the Mask of Freedom!

original Mask of Freedom sticker created in May 2011

But hey, anyone out there in Katowice who feels obliged to add those missing wings, by all means, please be my guest!

I also gave a small presentation revolving around the importance of street-art throughout 2011 in Egypt to a small yet interested crowd in the intimate setting of the Kato bar on Mariacka st. Though I must admit that it was the smallest crowd I've ever presented to.

photo by Pawel Mrowiec

All in all though, I had a great time in Katowice. Had the chance to explore an interesting city with a lot of potential cooking under its belly, and met a great crowd of Polish street-art enthusiasts as well as some of the biggest names in the international street-art world, such as Mark Jenkins, Escif, Moneyless, Tellas, Roa, and many others. Not only was it great to see them at work first-hand, but it was also just cool to sit back and chill out with them.

Graffiti's Day in [Lebanese] Court

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:40:00 +0000

The case of Samaan Khawam is about far more than the so-called "vandalism" of public space or of a citizen's refusal to be fined by his government. It is clearly about redefining what public space really entails and how the public should be "allowed" to use that space. It's also about the fight for self expression outside of institutionalized means provided by the government.

Honestly now, if you want to draw something on a street in your neighborhood. And the people living on that street have no problem with that. In fact, they encourage that. How can it be okay for some guy in a governmental office building to decide otherwise?

Governments don't want you to visually express yourself in public without their permission. Is the rhetoric of "vandalism" the true motive behind such restrictions or are they afraid of something else?

Read more about Samaan Khawam's case here. And please support him, because this is about a lot more than just him.

Ägyptische Street Art und Arabic Graffiti in Frankfurt Von Kersten Knipp

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:51:00 +0000

An interview on German radio is available on Dradio.de featuring Aya Tarek, El Seed, and myself.

More Photos From Frankfurt Street-Art Action

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:38:00 +0000

Here are some more photographs from the Frankfurt street-art thing. This time, these are by Wolfgang Sterneck.

From the looks of the last few images, it seems that people have begun to physically interact with some of the pieces. More documentation is available on Wolfgang Sterneck's flickr set.

Street-Art in Frankfurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 08:45:00 +0000

Here are some photos from Frankfurt by Don Karl:

Stenciling some text.

Still stenciling some text.

Impressing the kids.

I'm not sure what this guy thinks of what we're doing.

Close-up.

eLSeed touching up his calligraphy.

Close-up on one of my unfinished child soldiers.

Child Soldier with background calligraphy by eLSeed.

Child Soldier in collaboration with Case and eLSeed.

Aya Tarek teaching me how to ink.

Aya Tarek touching up my revolutionary punk.

Taking a breather with Aya Tarek.

My revolutionary punk after completion, with room left for people to add stickers onto his coat.

My revolutionary punk side-by-side a very powerful piece by Ammar Abo Bakr.

My revolutionary punk promoting the next European Day Against Capitalism.

Euro-Anarchy.

With the Caram Kapp, eLSeed, Aya Tarek, Don Karl, and Ammar Abo Bakr before departing Frankfurt.

Working in Frankfurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Here's a dope little video by Stefan Pohl showing me, Ammar Abo Bakr, Case, eLSeed, and Aya Tarek at work in Frankfurt, Germany.

Will post photos soon, but right now I'm in Katowice, Poland to participate in the 2nd Katowice Street Art Festival.

Arabic Graffiti & Egyptian Street Art Action in Frankfurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:04:00 +0000

I am now in Frankfurt, Germany, together with Ammar Abo Bakr, Aya Tarek, eL Seed, and Case, while being heavily assisted by Caram Kapp to work on some street-art around the Tutankhamon hall that features replicas of the ancient pharoah's treasures.

The first "GanSeed" - an eL Seed & Ganzeer collabo.

I'm really excited to be working with these guys (& girl). Most especially eL Seed who I've been a long time admirer of. More detailed information on the program of this event is available on From Here To Fame - the guys responsible for bringing us to Frankfurt.

Work-in-progress photos and videos are available on my mobile blog: Ganzeer's Puny Machine.

Getting measurements with Ammar Abo Bakr in Frankfurt, Germany.

Photograph by Aya Tarek.

In Support of Samaan Khawwam

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:44:00 +0000

Lebanese artist Samaan Khawwam is standing trial for painting an image of AK47s and camouflage on the streets of Beirut, a city where street artists are never prosecuted for graffiti. Authorities are charging Samaan for "vandalism," but we all know what the real reason is.

I created this image in support of Samaan, and it was featured in Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar alongside the work of other acclaimed artists from the Arab world showing solidarity to Samaan.

Bothina Kamel Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:16:00 +0000

Although I am against presidential elections under the rule of SCAF and am pretty sure they will be far from "clean," I created this poster in support of Bothina Kamel yesterday. She, to me, comes off as the most honest, least selfish, and most caring about the country out of all the presidential candidates currently present out there.

Text Translation:

Egypt does not need a leader. Each needs a mother to care for her and protect her.

As far as I'm concerned, she earns 2nd place right after Baradei, who stepped out knowing this whole thing is a dirty SCAF-directed game.

A hi-res version of the poster can be downloaded here.

Sorry But I Must Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:10:00 +0000

عاجل: كيفية صنع قناع ورقي لوجه خالد سعيد

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Download: Khaled Said (1) and Khaled Said (2)

Mad Graffiti Week: The Black & White Posters

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:17:00 +0000

For those who feel the urge to participate in Mad Graffiti Week, but aren't really into the whole stenciling and spraying business, you can still participate by printing the following black & white posters on a normal home laser printer and can totally photocopy them in bulk quantities and paste them around town. Or even just paste one up. That one poster will be seen and will have an influence.

Download Hi-Res

Why is imagery like this important? I feel the approach taken by many graffiti activists is to either defend the revolution or call for another big demo. This, of course, is understandable as the Egyptian military council has been on the offense towards revolutionaries (by mostly calling them thugs and not-the-same-original-revolutionary crowd). A year ago, we were not on the defense, we were on the offense, directly attacking the police and Mubarak with our words and art. It's time to turn things around again and opt for an offensive strategy, placing them on the defense instead.

Mad Graffiti Week Everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:51:00 +0000

Mad Graffiti Week has kicked off with no central organization whatsoever. Several Facebook groups have formed allowing people to organize in different neighborhoods. The most prominent of these have been Mad Graffiti Week, where Egyptians across the country are getting in touch, forming teams in their neighborhoods, and planning hits.

A group for the Alexandrian branch of Mad Graffiti Week has also formed and is very active. Funnily enough, a group for the Berlin branch of Mad Graffiti Week has also formed, and it seems as though they've been as active as the Egyptians over here.

A Polish blog has also posted about some very powerful works appearing in Poland coinciding with Mad Graffiti Week in solidarity with Egypt. The most powerful of which have been, in my opinion, the works of Kamil Gorgon and 3fala. Some very powerful imagery there.

There's also a #MadGraffitiWeek hash-tag on Twitter being used for day-to-day organization, and its extraordinary.

I must say, seeing such a massive artistic mobilization for this one cause is incredibly inspiring. The fearlessness of young hopeful believers taking to the streets with their visual expression, be it in a big city or a small village, is something truly astounding. These people are fighters.

As for my own contributions to the week, I'll be posting a roundup of them towards the end of the week ;-)

On a final note, here's a message of solidarity I've received from Blu:

Hello Ganzer
i am sorry to hear that
i am following the Egyptian situation from the beginning
of course i can only see it from Internet

honestly i never believed any military backed revolution
and this one seems no exception

i often speak about the egyptian situation because it is symbolic of what could happen everywhere else
even here in europe
i will paint something about it as son as i have the chance

best wishes for your action
blu

It's good to know he's on our side :-)

الجيش فوق الجميع

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:44:00 +0000

Because of the importance of shock value, I decided to introduce some color posters on the streets of Cairo during Mad Graffiti Week. Especially with the abundance of black & white stencils on the walls of Cairo lately, I felt the following poster could garner some powerful results:

Unfortunately though, I don't have nearly enough funds to print a number of posters that could garner much attention, which is why I'm making it available as a high-res download for anyone to print and paste up in his/her neighborhood. Download by clicking here. The file's a little over 10 megs.

If you want to see this poster spread, but fear the possible repercussions of printing and pasting it up yourself, feel free to donate to the production of this poster by emailing me.

Zine El-Arab #2 - Deadline Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:37:00 +0000

زين العرب مجلة عربية مستقلة، لا تخضع لأي رقابة، وتعتمد في معظم محتوياتها على مشاركات بصرية من العالم العربي وبعض الأعمال الكتابية القصيرة. تطبع المجلة على الطابعات المنزلية العادية، ويتم توزيعها من خلال تركها في الأماكن العامة بشكل عشوائي. أول عدد من زين اعرب يمكن تنزيله من: http://ganzeer.blogspot.com/2011/12/download-print-zine-el-arab-1.html

١- إنظر إلى الرسمة أعلى وإستوحى فكرة ما.

٢- قد تكون المشاركة بالقصص المصورة القصيرة، أعمال

الكاريكاتير، تصميمات جرافيكية، أو الكتابات النثرية

والشعرية القصيرة.

٣- مقاس الصفحة الواحدة A4 عادي أو 21x 29،7 سم.

٤- يمكن أن تشارك بأكثر من صفحة ولكن تذكر دائما أن خير

الكلام ما قل ودل، ويمكن تطبيق هذا على الرسومات أيضاً.

٥- على جميع المشاركات أن تكون باللغة العربية أو بدون كلام

أو تعليق.

٦- يجب أن تكون المشاركة بالأبيض والأسود، بدون رماديات

أو «جراي سكيل».

٧- أخر موعد لتسليم جميع المشاركات يوم ١٥ يناير ٢٠١٢

٨ - على المشاركات أن تكون ملفات عالية الجودة من طراز JPG أو PDF

٩- ترسل جميع المشاركات بالبريد الإلكتروني إلى

zine.elarab@gmail.com

تأكد من ذكر إسمك و بلد إقامتك إلا إذا كنت تفضل أن تبقى شخصيتك مجهولة.

١٠- بعد أن نجمع جميع المشاركات، سنرسلها كاملةً للمشاركين

مع تعليمات عن كيفية طباعتها وتجميعها.

١١- جميع حقوق النشر ليست محفوظة لأي جهة. ولكن سينسب

كل عمل إلى صانعه (لمن يريد ذكر إسمه). ولن يسمح بإستعارة أعمال أي فنان في مضمون مختلف دون إذن من الفنان نفسه.

Published quarterly, "Zine El-Arab" is an independent uncensored Arabic zine largely dependent on visual contributions from the Arab World as well as some short writings. The Zine is printed on home printers and distributed casually in public places with the help of its contributors. The first issue of Zine El-Arab is available for download at: http://ganzeer.blogspot.com/2011/12/download-print-zine-el-arab-1.html

To contribute to the second issue of Zine El-Arab, due for publication in February, follow these instructions:

1. See attached image, and get inspired.

2. Contribution can be in the form of short comics, caricatures, graphic design works, or short writing.

3. Each page is a normal A4 or 21 x 29.7 cm.

4. Feel free to contribute with more than one page, but remember that the best words are short and to the point. That rule can be applied to illustration as well.

5. All contributions must be in Arabic or void of any language at all.

6. All contributions should be in stark black & white, without the use of grayscale, to enable for better photocopying qualities.

7. Deadline to receive all material is January 15, 2011

8. All contributions should be sent as high resolution JPGs or PDFs.

9. All contributions are to be emailed to zine.elarab@gmail.com. Please be sure to mention your name and country of residence, unless you would like to remain anonymous.

10. Upon collection of all contributions, it will be placed within the zine's layout and all contributors are to receive it in PDF form with detailed printing and binding instructions.

11. The zine is a copy-left. Anyone is free to print and distribute as they please. Re-use of any artist's work in a different context is only possible if permission is obtained from the artist in question.

بنات مصر خط أحمر

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:02:00 +0000

على كل مصري عنده قدر من النخوة أو الكرامة الوقوف ضد مهازل العسكر. أحدى الطرق البسيطة هي أن تطبع هذه الصورة وتلصقها على زجاج سيارتك أو منزلك.

قم بتنزيل الصورة عالية الجودة، صالحة للطباعة والتصوير.

U.S. Aid to Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Are you an American living in the United States? Do you know that your government funds this:

Do you really want you government to fund this bullshit? Do what you can to spread the word. Download the hi-res image here. Feel free to print it, photocopy it, and hang it in your neighborhood.

Mad Graffiti Week: Jan 13-25 - An Appeal to Artists Everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:14:00 +0000

This is an appeal to help save lives. The Egyptian Military Council has unleashed a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests by the Egyptian people, calling for the resignation of the military council and a cancellation of the sham elections that they’ve been running under their supervision. Soldiers have shown us no mercy, hitting fallen women with their batons, stomping on skulls with their boots, and shooting unarmed civilians dead. I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes and was unable to stop it. It’s a soul-shattering pain like no other.

The lies being disseminated by military-controlled media are as equally painful. Nothing hurts more than such shameless injustice. I fear the military’s strategy will only lead my country to an armed civil war. In an effort to keep our struggle peaceful, I hear by call on artists everywhere to support the Egyptian revolution with their art. As the genius that is Alan Moore once said, “[a satire] destroys you in the eyes of your community, it shows you up as ridiculous, lame, pathetic, worthless, in the eyes of your community, in the eyes of your family, in the eyes of your children, in the eyes of yourself, and if it's a particularly good bard, and he's written a particularly good satire, then three hundred years after you're dead, people are still gonna be laughing."

Our only hope right now is to destroy the military council using the weapon of art. From January 13 to 25, the streets of Egypt will see an explosion of anti-military street-art. If you are a street artist elsewhere in the world, please do what you can in your city to help us. Even if you are not a street-artist. If you’re a comicbook artist, a musician, or filmmaker, whatever artistic talent you have can be of big help. If you can do something before the designated date, please do! We need all the help we can get.

Finding “inspiration” is not at all difficult. A quick visit to scaf-crimes.blogspot.com will do the trick. On behalf of Egypt’s street-art community, allow me to thank anybody in the world willing to help. Your art may very well save lives.

Interviewed at ArtTerritories.net

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:26:00 +0000

"Anybody in this here world is prone to getting fucked in the ass."

Those are my words of wisdom, taken directly from an interview Karem Said conducted with me over at ArtTerritories.net

Here's an excerpt:

Karem: It is the text in the “Mask of Freedom” image that establishes the graphic as an ad. There is a double meaning in the word “New” at the top, in that the muzzling device is recently crafted for the market and is previously unheard of within ideas of democracy. How does your street art and illustrative work aim to counter what SCAF has been selling?

Ganzeer: I guess I rely on obvious symbolism a lot of the time, using it to shed light on the wrongs of the current situation or perhaps the upside of an alternative situation? Probably a lot less of the latter though.

Call for Submissions: Zine El-Arab #2

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:33:00 +0000

العدد القادم من زين العرب: فبراير ٢٠١٢

1- إنظر إلى الرسمة أعلى وإستوحى فكرة ما.

2- قد تكون المشاركة بالقصص المصورة القصيرة، أعمال

الكاريكاتير، تصميمات جرافيكية، أو الكتابات النثرية

والشعرية القصيرة.

3- مقاس الصفحة الواحدة A4 عادي أو 21x 29،7 سم.

4- يمكن أن تشارك بأكثر من صفحة ولكن تذكر دائما أن خير

الكلام ما قل ودل، ويمكن تطبيق هذا على الرسومات أيضاً.

5- على جميع المشاركات أن تكون باللغة العربية أو بدون كلام

أو تعليق.

6- يجب أن تكون المشاركة بالأبيض والأسود، بدون رماديات

أو «جراي سكيل».

7- أخر موعد لتسليم جميع المشاركات يوم 1 يناير 2012

8- ترسل جميع المشاركات بالبريد الإلكتروني إلى

zine.elarab@gmail.com

9- بعد أن نجمع جميع المشاركات، سنرسلها كاملةً للمشاركين

مع تعليمات عن كيفية طباعتها وتجميعها.

10- جميع حقوق النشر ليست محفوظة لأي جهة. ولكن سينسب

كل عمل إلى صانعه (لمن يريد ذكر إسمه).

Harvard University's Resource on Graffiti and Street-Art in the Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:58:00 +0000

Harvard University's Center For Middle Eastern Studies has apparently held a two-session webinar on Graffiti and Street-Art in the Middle East for which they have set up this pretty informative resource page.

Virtual & Concrete

noreply@blogger.com (Ganzeer) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:49:00 +0000

I don't think its an exaggeration to say that the works of art across the walls of Cairo, combined with the virtual works spreading across the various online social networks, are a driving force to keeping the Egyptian revolution alive and going, much like how it's almost impossible to imagine the continuation of the Polish revolution in the 80's without the intervention of the Orange Alternative.

A French website called Culture et Politique Arabes has published an article exactly about that.