The Noise of Cairo: Arts After the Arab Spring

Although the outcome in Egypt of the 2010 Arab Spring (and its continuing reverberations) was not quite what optimistic revolutionaries had in mind, the uprising in Cairo had an enormous effect on a cultural level. Filmmaker Heiko Lange presents a broad overview of freedom's impact on everything from street-level artistic expressions (murals, paintings on roads, graffiti) to galleries, to dance companies, and music. Told primarily through the perspectives of 12 artists representing various genres—whose comments are interspersed with footage of the protests and everyday life in the city—the essential message here is that Egyptians feel a greater connection to the arts since the Arab Spring, and those who create art have wider latitude to make works about liberty or anything else on their minds. In fact, one artist says, some people are looking to the art world in Egypt to instruct them on what to think about current events. Not everything is wonderful: with the Egyptian army assuming control of the government and an unexpected crackdown on the civilian population, the situation was certainly unstable at the time of filming (and continues to be so). But as a vibrant snapshot of blossoming creativity in a society undergoing tumultuous upheaval, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)