The Jan. 25, 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak unleashed a creative revolution with the spontaneous emergence of a variety of art forms: graffiti, street performances, underground music and satirical online videos. Much of the revolutionary art was a form of protest against social injustice and repression, but it also acted as a visual commentary on the dramatic developments that were unfolding during that time of political turmoil. Relishing their newfound freedom, artists and musicians used their art to express grievances about "social wrongs" and urge action to redress them.
Nine years on, as the anniversary of the revolution approaches, there is hardly a trace of the cultural awakening that symbolized the freedom of expression in the "new" Egypt. An ongoing security crackdown on dissent, in place since 2013, has targeted artists and musicians along with opposition and political figures, journalists and members of the LGBT community, stifling freedom of expression and putting a lid on provocative art and creativity.