pantslessprogressive: From a great piece by Rory Mulholland over at The Guardian, The Libyan artists driving Gaddafi to the wall: “We have a dream,” is the slogan – written in English – on giant billboards that have started to appear across the city. Benghazi’s seafront is where that dream is most evident. The red, green and black flag of the uprising is everywhere, alongside French, British and US flags, a sign of gratitude for the Nato air strikes keeping Gaddafi’s forces at bay. Frenzied anti-Gaddafi rallies are held on most days in the seafront square, with tribal leaders, politicians or rebel fighters making fiery speeches, sparking wild applause and much celebratory gunfire. The revolution has lifted the lid on a repressed society and the people of Benghazi are making up for the lost years. They have quickly set up newspapers, radio stations and rap bands to say things that just a few months earlier would have got them locked up or worse. But the Gaddafi caricatures are the most striking manifestation of the new-found freedom of expression. If you need a reminder as to why art is exceptionally powerful and beautiful in the face of devastation, this article is for you. [Artist above unknown; please let me know if you know the source.]

pantslessprogressive:

From a great piece by Rory Mulholland over at The Guardian, The Libyan artists driving Gaddafi to the wall:

“We have a dream,” is the slogan – written in English – on giant billboards that have started to appear across the city. Benghazi’s seafront is where that dream is most evident. The red, green and black flag of the uprising is everywhere, alongside French, British and US flags, a sign of gratitude for the Nato air strikes keeping Gaddafi’s forces at bay. Frenzied anti-Gaddafi rallies are held on most days in the seafront square, with tribal leaders, politicians or rebel fighters making fiery speeches, sparking wild applause and much celebratory gunfire.

The revolution has lifted the lid on a repressed society and the people of Benghazi are making up for the lost years. They have quickly set up newspapers, radio stations and rap bands to say things that just a few months earlier would have got them locked up or worse. But the Gaddafi caricatures are the most striking manifestation of the new-found freedom of expression.

If you need a reminder as to why art is exceptionally powerful and beautiful in the face of devastation, this article is for you. [Artist above unknown; please let me know if you know the source.]

8 months ago