Memorabilia

Sighting: Cairo, July 2014 Arabic translation: (text at top) Memorabilia (memorial picture/post card) It is not easy to carry the trust Depicted is Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the current president of Egypt Basically this is a completely dehistoricized and augmented image of the original Palestinian poster. Here Sisi is depicted as carrying Egypt's burdens and history: the pyramids, Al-Azhar, the shantytowns in the background, etc. It is not a spoof but rather a sympathetic image suggesting that his load is very heavy and requires a herculean effort. Ironically, Al-Aqsa is in the image as if to imply that he is a guardian of Jerusalem as well. Given that the majority of Egyptians are unfamiliar with the original poster, this can be easily pitched as a novel work of art. Adel Iskandar