In late January 2011, Cairo sounded different. Chants rolled through Tahrir Square, repeated until their rhythms stuck in our heads. Cardboard signs were written, crossed out, and rewritten as events unfolded. Mobile phones were held high, recording fragments of history as they happened. Along nearby streets, walls filled quickly, names, faces, slogans, and drawings layered over one another, turning public space into a running record of the moment. This was the early days of the uprising that began on 25 January 2011, when mass protests spread across Egypt and eventually led to the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak. As political uncertainty grew, creative expression expanded alongside it. Songs, graffiti, satire, and videos moved with the demonstrations, helping people communicate, document, and make sense of what was happening around them. More than a decade later, these moments still shape how the uprising is remembered, not only as a political rupture, but as a cultural one. Yet, this was not the first time culture filled the gaps left by political uncertainty. When Culture Helped Egyptians Find a Voice in 1919 Nearly a century earlier, a similar dynamic unfolded during the…
