Anti-Gaddafi Street Art Pops Up in Libya
In classic Chairman Mao fashion, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had his face plastered everywhere in the country as pro-government propaganda. In cities overtaken by Libyan rebels, artists are turning those same images against Gaddafi in works of street art.
In classic Chairman Mao fashion, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had his face plastered everywhere in the country as pro-government propaganda. In cities overtaken by Libyan rebels, artists are turning those same images against Gaddafi in works of street art.
The Guardian has the story, describing a plethora of anti-Gaddafi street art found in Benghazi, a stronghold of the rebels:
There are posters of Gaddafi pumping petrol into a winged camel, Gaddafi with the tail of a snake and a forked tongue, Gaddafi as Dracula, Gaddafi as a clown, Gaddafi being bitten by a dog, Gaddafi getting a boot in the head. The variations are countless. Another popular theme is an often bloodstained Gaddafi terrorising or slaughtering his people or plundering the oil-rich nation’s wealth.
There’s a gallery of photos on the Guardian‘s site. There’s even a Gaddafi monkey among the powerful images, the best of which might be a Libyan flag split by a hand posed in a peace-sign gesture, or perhaps Gaddafi’s face getting split apart by a rebel.
Related:
- Our Cairo/Damascus correspondent Danny Ramadan previously filed a story for us on Egyptian street art and graffiti during the revolutionary protests in the city. Check out the essay and photos.
- You can search Flickr to find other Gaddafi-related street art as it seems to be a popular topic showing up on the walls around the world, including Chicago, Edinburgh and London.
