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ARAB SPRING:EGYPT & LIBYA

by Guy Martin & Ivor Prickett

21.04.12 - 09.06.12

The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests taking place across the Middle East and North Africa that began on Saturday 18 December 2010. To date, rulers have been to this day in Bahrain and Syria. Major protests have broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and Western Sahara. forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Civil uprisings have erupted and continue Morocco & Oman and minor protests have occurred in Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan

The protests have shared techniques, mainly of civil resistance, in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches and rallies, as well as the use of social media to organise, censorship. communicate and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and internet

Guy Martin and Ivor Prickett both chose to document what would become the Egyptian revolution, followed by the uprising in Libya. The exhibition begins on the ground floor space with the events in Egypt and then, chronologically, moves, on the first floor, to Libya, where, in Misrata, on 20th April Guy Martin was seriously injured in the same incident that saw the deaths of photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros.

After nearly three weeks of sustained protests the Egyptian people, who had taken to the streets and risked their lives for freedom, got what they so desperately wanted. On the evening of the 11th 30 year reign. of February 2011 Hosni Mubarak quietly stood down as president of Egypt, bringing to an end his

EGYPT
Although the foundations and momentum for this popular revolt leads back to a small group of activists and internet bloggers, who began speaking out against the regime through social networking Egyptian society had come from all over the country and from all walks of life. Their collective voice became too strong to ignore. sites such as Facebook and Twitter, by the end of the revolution a much broader cross section of

It was empowering for Egyptians to come to Tahrir Square and speak openly about their contempt for the dictatorship after 3 decades of living in fear. Many people would say, that they were simply oppression. proud to be Egyptian again, something they felt had been squeezed out of them after years of

Even after the regime in Tunisia had fallen, observers had seemed unable to believe that Egypt would

be next. The miraculous speed with which the protesters in both countries managed to overthrow their entrenched leaders undoubtedly inspired the people of Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya to follow suit.

LIBYA
The catalyst for Libya came on 15 February when the lawyer Fathi Terbil, who represents relatives of more than 1,000 prisoners allegedly massacred by security forces in Tripolis Abu Salim Jail in 1996, was arrested. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Benghazi, Libyas second of control. city and clashes with Gadaffi supporters and the notorious security services gradually spiraled out

After several days of intense fighting and huge losses on both sides, Benghazi was liberated on Sunday the 19th of February. Other major cities soon fell and in Benghazi the opposition formed democratic state. the National Transitional Council (NTC) to oversee the revolution and the transfer of power to a

When full-scale battles broke out towards the end of February, people began to realise that freedom

in Libya was going to be harder won than in Egypt and Tunisia. Daily life all but ground to a halt. cuts became a daily occurrence. It took 6 months of bitter fighting to take Tripoli.

People stayed at home, depressed, disillusioned, and bored. Medical supplies ran low and power

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