Animal
"Religions managed to declare this after-life as the more valuable and perfect and to debase our mortal life to a mere preparation for the life to come." - Sigmund Freud
When religion and regime coalesce, the frantic temple priests rule, and we lose our sense of humanity.
“Animal” is one of my latest digital paintings. It is one of a series of imaginary soldiers portraits that I've been working on this past year. Put together, they are reflections of what I describe as the regime’s religion. This specific piece is about one of the most scandalous events of army brutality. In the year following the Egyptian 2011 spring uprising, the Egyptian army performed forced virginity tests on female detainees, who were arrested during protests. The infamous event was known in the media as “SCAF (Supreme Council of Army Force) virginity tests”.
This horrible crime reminded me of the brutal ritual performed on brides on their wedding nights in some rural traditional societies. The proof of the bride’s virginity, or the “proof of blood” is still performed until today in some areas in Egypt as part of the wedding ceremony. It might be important to note that sometimes the same operation is also performed on female farm animals before they are bought.
(http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests)
When religion and regime coalesce, the frantic temple priests rule, and we lose our sense of humanity.
“Animal” is one of my latest digital paintings. It is one of a series of imaginary soldiers portraits that I've been working on this past year. Put together, they are reflections of what I describe as the regime’s religion. This specific piece is about one of the most scandalous events of army brutality. In the year following the Egyptian 2011 spring uprising, the Egyptian army performed forced virginity tests on female detainees, who were arrested during protests. The infamous event was known in the media as “SCAF (Supreme Council of Army Force) virginity tests”.
This horrible crime reminded me of the brutal ritual performed on brides on their wedding nights in some rural traditional societies. The proof of the bride’s virginity, or the “proof of blood” is still performed until today in some areas in Egypt as part of the wedding ceremony. It might be important to note that sometimes the same operation is also performed on female farm animals before they are bought.
(http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests)
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