While the contemporary art scene is mainly concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria, it is developing fast with the emergence of spaces for artists, and support from the public or from abroad.
Most of the intellectual in the first part of the 20th century were going to foreign school, whether located in Egypt or abroad (mostly Europe), and pioneers were routed in a European tradition.
[1] Main artists : Anwar Sadat accessed the presidency in 1970, and in order to counteract the nasserists left wing, allowed the coming back of Islamism.
However, this development of the Egyptian contemporary art is still facing censorship from the government, the lack of funding from official sources, and the influence of foreign curators on the work exposed.
[15] The birth of "revolutionary graffiti" in Egypt took place during the first days of the revolution when Egyptians protesters convey uncensored political messages against Mubarak's regime.
[16] Since the toppling of Mubarak, graffiti has become an alternative media channel, documenting different political events that taking place in the country and paying homage to activists who died.
[15] Egyptian graffiti artists are also raising awareness on socio-political subjects as diverse as corruption, poverty, media brainwashing or sexual harassment.
The revolution, as Ursula Lindsey points out "has accelerated the valorization of Egypt's burgeoning youth culture and its "underground" and "independent" artists".
[20] These artists are committed to freely expressing themselves, engaging in a civic dialog with the society, re-appropriating in this way a public space from which the previous authoritarian regime deprived the Egyptians.
The large corpus of graffiti available shows a high incidence of national and gender related imagery highlighting the political and social themes that engage different sides of the Egyptian society.
[21] What Cairene graffiti show us is that the Egyptian (post-) revolutionary society valorizes its recent and remote past and cultural heritage to which its identity is tributary.
[26] "Sheikh Imam is a major pillar of the Arabic political song which motivated thousands of workers and intellectuals rebellious against decadent times and ambitious for better tomorrow.
"[27] When Sheikh Imam met the poet Ahmed Fouad Negm in 1962, the two formed an influential duo and developed the popular political song.
The 1967 War brought the duo to reflect the impact of f Arab defeat in their revolutionary songs Misr Ya Bahia [Pretty Egypt], Shayid Kussurak [Build Your Palaces], Ghifara [Che Ghivara], El Fallahin [the Peasants] and Mur El Kalam [Bitter Talk] "The music of Sheikh Imam was marked by a form of totality that made his political song travel beyond the geographical location of its origin.
In 2011, Egypt witnesses a new and distinguished wave of political songs, in which unknown young singers and underground bands played a significant role to keep the protesters' spirit high during 18 days revolution.
[31] Mahragan, usually recorded in makeshift home studios and traded via YouTube and USB sticks, is a mix of either sung (often with auto-tune) or rapped vocals over sampled beats that provide a heavy, energetic, and fast-paced musical soundtrack.
Some of the most popular mahragan performers are Figo, Sadat, Alaa' Fifty Cent, DJ Amr Haha (often stylized as 7a7a), Islam Fanta, Weza, Okka and Ortega.
Classical calligraphy is a source of inspiration for a lot of artworks, and its evolution through the centuries has made it a rich theme in Egyptian contemporary art.