Arab Revolutions

About

In late 2010 very few would have predicted a revolution in the stable regimes of the Middle East and north Africa. A string of these countries was to be rocked by a series of uprisings that brought the masses to the streets and spawned the condescending term 'twitter revolution' to the front pages of worldwide media. The first signs appeared when protesters took to the streets of Tunisia after the immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in the city of Sidi Bouzid in December. By February, Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain were experiencing protests of a scale unheard of in the last decades. The revolutions spread like wildfire through countries linked by high unemployment, a young population, and oppressive, long-ruling governments. Syria, Libya and Yemen quickly turned bloody as those in power resorted to force in order to quash the discontent. Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia were mostly peaceful. As of today, the revolutions have overthrown the governments of Egypt and Tunisia. Libya is engulfed in what can only be described as a civil war, pitting the remains of the loyalists of Colonel Gaddafi against a poorly armed militia backed by international powers. Syria, a most inaccessible country, is experiencing the most severe violent backlash from the Government against its own citizens. Yemen is in complete chaos and its ruler has fled. In these revolutions, 255 million people are forging a new, unpredictable future. Arab Revolutions presents photographs and video footage from the civil demonstrations of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain, the clashes of the Syrian cities and the desert warfare of Libya. It features works by some of the world's most renowned photojournalists working on the front line, and by citizens of the countries who have chosen to divulge their footage online. The exhibited photographers are Lynsey Addario (VII Network), Andrea Bruce (VII Network), Yuri Kozyrev (Noor), Guy Martin (Panos Pictures), Dominic Nahr (Magnum Photos), Ivor Prickett (Panos Pictures) and Laura El-Tantawy.