The politics of street art in Yemen (2012–2017)

Abstract

In 2012, as a continuation of street politics developed in places like the antigovernment sit-in in Change Square in Yemen’s capital Sana’a, a small number of visual artists incorporated dissent, transgression, and civil disobedience into their artistic practices. Such is the case of Murad Subay, the painter who initiated the series of street art campaigns analyzed in this article. This case allows us to study the intersections of space, contentious politics, and artistic practices, interrogating how visual expressions located in the streets reflect a vivid political public sphere, understood as a site of critical debate and interaction. Furthermore, it introduces a series of dynamics that make of these campaigns something more than a site for production and circulation of discourses critical of the state. Street art campaigns in Yemen are thus explored sensitizing devices for political awareness.