Aliaa Magda El Mahdy’s Art as a Prophecy

Was the nude photos that sparked such heated debate in Egypt an act of prophecy?, probably not, but they seem like they appeared at the right moment, seconds before the Egyptian government caves under public pressure and the religious fanatics have a glorious moment of forcing the current leaders of the country to rethink the idea of a secular state.

The provocative move made by El Mahdy was the first cry in the fight for keeping Egypt a secular non religious society in which the governing body keeps it well apart from the religion that is not helping any country progress, much like in Turkey – before the current president took over everything and destroyed Ataturk’s vision of a religion free Turkey.

Those simple, black and white photos, with touches of red in them, seem so harmless that one can be easily tempted to think that they were a part of a student project, or some recreated photos from the past, however they were a wake up call to many around the world, showing just how far Egypt is on many subjects and how easily it could crash into the religious middle ages once again.

Now it seems that keeping Egypt out of religion’s hands is not going to happen, it looks like many of those early revolutionaries in Tahrir square are now living a nightmare, a very dark night is falling.