Second Revolution Khayyamiyya, cotton appliqué textile, Hany 'Abd al-Kader, Egypt, 2012

Cotton appliqué textile panel, depicting the confrontation between protestors and riot police on the day of the Tahrir Square Revolution. The background is white. In the foreground are three larger figures, a figure in green holding the Egyptian flag, and a man with a moustache carrying a smaller boy on his shoulders. They are encircled by arabic letters and three bands of colour, black, white and red to signify the Egyptian flag. In the bottom right hand corner are two lines of riot police in black holding grey shields, and a crowd of people half in black with white silhouetted outlines, and the other half shown by rows of faces, two figures hold up a sign with an arabic inscription. The rest of the panel shows individual figures wearing a variety of coloured and patterned clothes, interspersed among black riot vans and police. There are also tear gas clouds depicted in the form of a small black bar with a line and concentric circles spreading from it. Crowds of people are portrayed as black undulating lines, interrupted by two tear gas clouds. Behind them is a brown builidng in the top left hand corner, the Mugamma building which is symbolic of Mubarak's regime. At the top of the textile panel is a large red banner outlined in black that reads 'January 25 Revolution', with the Egyptian flag and a raised fist salute of protest below.

Presented by Art Fund

This textile was made by the artist in secret in his home, following the events of the Tahrir Square Revolution in January 2011. Two textiles were made, the first was acquired in 2013 by the Oriental Museum in Durham (following an exhibition of khayyamiyya). This textile was originally bought from an exhibiton at the Egyptian Embassy in Australia by Sam Bowker, an Australian academic who specialises in the study of khayyamiyya.

This large cotton appliqué textile (or khayyamiyya) was made in 2012 by one of the younger generation of the 'Tentmakers of Cairo', Hany 'Abd al-Kader. Made in secret at his home, it is his personal reaction to the events of the Tahrir Square revolution in 2011. The complex composition shows confrontation between protestors and riot police, clouds of tear gas, and innumerably vast crowds of protestors abbreviated as simple undulating lines, all hemmed in by the glowering Mugamma building, symbolic of Mubarak's regime. It incorporates some of the common slogans on the banners waved by protestors, and the raised fist salute of protest. The khayyamiyya has been made using entirely traditional techniques, however the figurativism and engagement with socio-political subjects marks a revolutionary break from tradition.

ME.4-2016