The Middle East Studies Program at GMU and the Arab Studies Institute
present
A Conversation with Artist Ramy Essam
Still Singing for The Egyptian Revolution
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
6:00 PM, Research Hall 163
George Mason University
Open to the Public
Ramy is bringing his guitar to share some (new) tunes
Free Pizza Will Be Served
Catch his tracks on iTunes and YouTube
Ramy Essam is best known for his heady performances in Tahrir Square during the eighteen days of the January 25 Revolution. His song, "Irhal!` ("Leave!"), became an anthem for the mass street protests against Hosni Mubarak`s thirty-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)
