Arab Republic of Egypt
Egypt, 2009 - 2016
[The Arab Republic of] “Egypt has been under a state of emergency for a total of 53 years between 1956 and 2017. Periods without a state of emergency were the exception to the rule, lasting only three years under Gamal Abdel Nasser and eighteen months under Anwar Sadat. It was not until after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces lifted it in 2012 that Egypt went for the better part of five years (barring a few months in 2013) without a national state of emergency—the longest period in its history.
For much of the Egyptian public, the practice of the state of emergency, complete with curtailment of rights and freedoms, has become the norm—whether the law itself is imposed or lifted. The overwhelming fear of extrajudicial arrest or assault, combined with the systematic labeling of any civil activism or expression of dissent as support for terrorism or the Muslim Brotherhood—accusations with grave repercussions for any individual or group—has created a uniquely Egyptian twist on McCarthyism. Voicing any opinion critical of the state of emergency is a risky move, even among regime supporters”. - Sherif Mohy Eldeen with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
This series of street photographs were made within this framework of “the practice of the state of emergency”.
Contraband
by Ahmed Fouad Negm
Forbidden from travel
Forbidden from singing
Forbidden from speaking
Forbidden from longing
Forbidden from discontent
Forbidden from smiling
And every day with your love
That which is forbidden increases
And every day I love you
More than the before
My love, as if a vessel
Longing and imprisoned
With an informant in each corner
A police in every port
They forbid me if I
Feel some jealousy for you
Or if I fly to your embrace
Or if I sleep in your lap
And your heart like the spring
I return like an infant
Weeping from weaning
My love, as if city
Dressed up and unhappy
In every road a difficulty
And in every palace decoration
Forbidden from waking up
With your love, or sleeping with it
Forbidden from debate
Forbidden from silence
And every day with your love
That which is forbidden increases
And every day I love you
More than the before
Translated by:Walaa Quisay