A Conversation with Artist Ramy Essam: Still Singing for The Egyptian Revolution

December 3, 2014 @ 1:00pm
Research Hall 163
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia 

Presented by the Middle East Studies Program and the Arab Studies Institute

Ramy Essam is best known for his heady performances in Tahrir Square during the 18 days of the January 25 Revolution. His song, "Irhal!' ("Leave!"), became an anthem for the mass street protests against Hosni Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship: "We are all united, we demand one thing: Leave! Leave! Leave!" He played hours before the "Battle of the Camel" — the surreal pro-Mubarak offensive on Tahrir Square — and during the clashes was hit on the head with a rock. A foreign camera crew filmed him there the next day, head bandaged and defiant: "We will stay here until Hosni Mubarak goes. … I will sing again, I will not stop singing until [he] goes.” (AL-MONITOR)