Denis Dailleux

Exhibition : Egypte, les Martyrs de la Révolution

Galerie FAIT & CAUSE (FRANCE) From 2014-01-09 to 2014-03-01

In Egypt, under Hosni Mubarak, colossal portraits posted on walls were not a practice of the times; surely the pyramids were enough to affirm the omnipotence of the Rais…

But what is it, nowadays, in Cairo with the portraits of the young martyrs who died as a consequence of the Arab Spring ? Their faces seem to have appeared only briefly on the walls of the city, to – very quickly – be torn away.

It is a particularity of the street in Cairo, to take over at an incredible speed, anything and everything. In a manner similar to the web, so important for the Arab Revolution, where images constantly travel, get posted, commented on, to finally disappear… Like on the walls, the mobilisation is instant, total and global. But short-lived. Hence this body of work with which I wanted to pay an homage to the victims, mostly extremely young men, who took the risk to confront, with bare hands, the armed forces. The portraits of the martyrs from Tahir square are no longer brandished by their friends, and yet it is very important to keep alive the memory of those young men, and as long as possible. 

 Denis Dailleux