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The idea came up in early 2012
I wanted to document the 25 January Revolution graffiti
As only the young people who made the revolution can document it
The books published by the state were very selective
They didn't document anything that said: 'Down with Mubarak'
In the early days of the revolution, I collected photos of graffiti
I believed that they'd later become important documents
That made sense at first because the works were few
I stored the images on my computer
But the movement kept growing
I started making my series
But I felt that now was an important time for artists to collaborate
I decided to invite the graffiti artists so we all work together
A few months later, Hefnawy called me up
and told me he wanted to show me something
He showed me the tear gas bombs he had re-created
He had made a huge amount of them
But he wasn't sure what to do with them
Then I remembered the graffiti pieces that Hany had made
Hany had finished pieces by then; so did Hefnawy
I also remembered Ammar's murals about tear gas
The one you painted in Luxor, which showed people running amid clouds of tear gas
I thought great. Now we all have semi-finished pieces
We started thinking of possible exhibition spaces
Qasr Al Dobara Palace was our first choice
It was abandoned for a long time
Its wall was broken; the doors had been torn down; but it was there
Hefnawy's work wasn't suitable for a white cube gallery
We needed a run-down building to reflect the events of the revolution
to exhibit the tear gas canisters
Street children and tea sellers from the square used the palace for shelter
This palace was used during clashes that took place in Simon Bolivar Square
Protesters prepared molotov coktails inside
Security forces threw tear gas canisters at it
So in addition to its architectural value, the palace was also part of the events
But lately, we weren't able to occupy it
The police put barb wire around it
They put barb wire and hired guards
That was just four days later
Yes. We were unlucky as it was accessible for months before that
Hotel Viennoise is also an old run-down building
And we're trying to make the artworks overlap as they are shown in the space
Hefnawy's canisters with Ammar's murals, my modelled walls and Ganzeer's piece
I think this would help show the idea of the exhibition
In Arabic, *** and freedom share almost the exact same spelling
The exhibition partly talks about the idea of freedom
It also talks about how we've failed at achieving it
about how we're losing it again