7/28/2019 Arab Spring by Guy Martin & Ivor Prickett Exhibition text

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GALLERY

ARAB SPRING:EGYPT & LIBYA

by Guy Martin & Ivor Prickett

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

forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Civil uprisings have erupted and continue

to this day in Bahrain and Syria. Major protests have broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait,Morocco & Oman and minor protests have occurred in Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan

and Western Sahara.

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,

communicate and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and internet

censorship.

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 oor space with the events in

Egypt and then, chronologically, moves, on the rst oor, 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

of February 2011 Hosni Mubarak quietly stood down as president of Egypt, bringing to an end his

30 year reign.

21.04.12 - 09.06.12

www.amber-online.com

7/28/2019 Arab Spring by Guy Martin & Ivor Prickett Exhibition text

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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

sites such as Facebook and Twitter, by the end of the revolution a much broader cross section of

Egyptian society had come from all over the country and from all walks of life. Their collective voice

became too strong to ignore.

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

proud to be Egyptian again, something they felt had been squeezed out of them after years of

oppression.

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 relativesof 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

city and clashes with Gadaf supporters and the notorious security services gradually spiraled out

of control.

After several days of intense ghting 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

the National Transitional Council (NTC) to oversee the revolution and the transfer of power to ademocratic state.

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.

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

cuts became a daily occurrence. It took 6 months of bitter ghting to take Tripoli.

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