An image of some of the signs that had been collected from protests all around the world. This inspired me to look into art in protests and the power they had all over the world.

After researching I discovered Peter Hapaks article and photography series. He documented portraits of people who had been involved in a protest. Each was interviewed and asked to bring something that was significant and reminded them of the protest. I was inspired by the series and have started to collect objects and save articles that trigger an emotion in me; whether its frustration or pain, and am trying to incorporate this idea of an object having a significant sentimental value that triggers pain.

“Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, says, “Mohamed suffered a lot. He worked hard. But when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity.”

“El Teneen, a prominent Egyptian graffiti artist, wears a homemade gas mask.”

“Ahmed Harara is a Cairo dentist who was blinded in one eye by a rubber bullet during clashes in January. In November, he was shot in his other eye. Now he is completely blind. “As they say in America, power of the people will change everything,” Harara says.”

“Yahi Abdel Shafy, left, is a Salafi and a doctor who works in the field hospital in Tahrir Square. Egyptian protester Saleh Mohamed, right, uses a Maalox mixture on his eyes to counter the effects of tear gas.”

“Egyptian protester Nehal Marei. Right, a tear-gas canister in Egypt.”