Art and the Arab Spring
Aesthetics of Revolution and Resistance in Tunisia and Beyond

Examines art by over twenty-five artists to enable a greater understanding of the 'Arab Uprisings' and of the term 'revolution'.

Siobhan Shilton (Author)

9781108842525, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 July 2021

250 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'Tunisian visual art is an understudied area in which single-author scholarly works in any language are uncommon; this is both a challenge and an opportunity for Shilton's book, which must introduce the little-known field of Tunisian art to an unfamiliar audience while also addressing scholars in this small but extant field. Crucially, Shilton does not attempt to write a history of Tunisian art or art of the uprisings, but contributes something vital to this growing conversation.' Anne Marie E. Butler, Art History

The revolutions that began to sweep across countries in North Africa and the Middle East in December 2010 – like other revolutions in diverse modern historical contexts – have often been articulated, internally and externally, in black and white terms of success or failure, liberation or constraint, for or against, friend or enemy. These internal and external clichés are perpetuated by what Jellel Gasteli has called 'icons of revolutionary exoticism'. Paying particular attention to works from the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, this book examines a diverse body of art including photography, sculpture, graffiti, performance, video and installation by over twenty-five artists. Examining how art can evoke the idea of revolution, Art and the Arab Spring reveals a new way of understanding these revolutions, their profound cultural impact, and of the meaning of the term 'revolution' itself.

Introduction. Exceeding Icons of Revolution in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean
1. Aesthetics of Revolution and Infra-thin Critique
2. Contingency and Resistance: Exceeding Icons through Matter and Motion
3. Contingent Encounters: Artists, Artisans and Amateurs
4. Corporeal Resistance and Aesthetics of the Interface
Conclusion. Art and Revolution: Aesthetics and Approaches.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], Asian history [HBJF], Regional & national history [HBJ], History [HB], Humanities [H]