Pop Goes Graffiti - The Faces of Cairo Street Art

Pulp Fiction- the Egyptian version- by graffiti duo Charles Akl and Amr Gamal. This is one of my absolute favourite graffiti pieces. The faces have since been painted over.

Lately, the graffiti I’ve stumbled upon around Cairo seems to be predominantly faces of  pop icons, political figures and cartoon characters, mostly Western references but with several Egyptian icons as well. It’s an exciting and eclectic mix of Ghandi and Batman, Baradei and astronauts.

Some carry messages and others are just there for pure aesthetic pleasure. Most will probably be painted over soon, some already have. That won’t stop the artists from coming back; even if they paint the Sakia tunnel black or whitewash the 26July Street underpass. It’s just fresh, new canvas. That’s another cool thing about graffiti; it’s recycable, resilient and refreshingly cheeky. Yes, I stuck that last r in just for the hell of it. I like to write and stuff.

Artist Shank signs his name with a figure that somehow reminds me of Gorillaz pop art.

Boy with a catapult by the Sad Panda. The figure is aiming at an eagle, which i missed because it had been whitewashed over.

Graffiti of Ghandi on a Downtown Street. Below it, it reads 'Moharrad' or Inciter

Batman graffiti by Dokhan in collaboration with Sad Panda.

Debut graffiti by new artist Joker appears in Zamalek. It reads: 'If you want order in the city, all masks must be turned in.'

First anti-xenophobia graffiti by El Teneen: a face of popular singer Mohamed Mounir with his lyrics: 'Tell the stranger, your hugs are here.'

This haunting graffiti of what looks like a dollface appears on walls in Downtown, Zamalek and Agouza. These two lie between the words ' The People and The People are One Hand'.

This head is full of tanks, Bach?, dollar notes, a throne and a belly dancer. Who is the face? Sighted in Downtown Cairo.

No Country for Old Men, how appropriate for our country now. Graffiti appears on wall in Zamalek.

One of the many faces to appear on the wall, this graffiti of veteran actor Adel Imam is my favourite: 'Your Time has Passed'. Graffiti by Keizer

He may be depressed most of the time, but Sad Panda needs to work on his fitness here. Playful graffiti on Heliopolis wall.

Graffiti of Baradei, below it reads (loosely translated) 'You Heard a lot about him, but you tried to verify what you heard'

Graffiti of Sheikh Yaseen by artist called Nazeer. Anyone else think the billboard of Tamer Hosny is contextually ironic?

Graffiti of small astronauts by SAM in Merghani.

About these ads