Primavera àrab (Arab spring)

This work is part of the “Mani-Festa” series. As Josep Sou explained so well, “the contemplation, identification and subsequent learning” of this artist’s work “leads to a social behaviour that needs to be completely reaffirmed”. The hope of this crowd of hijab-garbed women corresponds to a collective illusion that needs to be bolstered.

Several demonstrations were held in Egypt in February 2011, leading to the fall of the Mubarak regime. This was part of a broader movement for emancipation and civil empowerment that went under the umbrella term of ‘The Arab Spring’. This canvas shows a demonstration in Alexandria. The women on the streets sought democratisation and gender equality — things Islamic fundamentalism had denied them. Media footage and pictures of this ‘citizens’ festival’ revealed the wind of change. Miró recreates one of those scenes and turns it into one of his paintings because, as Fernando Castro puts it, that is a way of “facing history based on civic references, helping us grasp what we care about”.

The artist, in his pictorial reworking of the image, alters some of the colours of the garments to enhance the chromatic vibration of the whole. He intensifies the optimism on the faces and on the only pair of hands we are able to see. The position of three small flags enhances the presence of a little girl. She is probably accompanying her mother, hoping that the future will bring the hoped-for reforms.

Santiago Pastor Vila