From Freedom of Expression to Expression of Freedom: Responding to Socio-Political Change in the Classroom

On January 25th, 2011 the Egyptian reality changed. Civic society becamea tangible being in the minds of a long too complacent world- filling thestreets, shaking the ground and uttering demands that as recent as January24th would have had you questioned, jailed or, at worst, killed. This changebrought violence and even death, but it also introduced vocabulary into oureveryday lives- words that had previously been absent- democracy, choice,rights and freedom of expression.As educators, we quickly became aware of the gravity of challenges aheadand our responsibility to capitalize on the opportunities this presented uswith. This paper sets out to outline the structure of the “Freedom Pavilion”project at the American University in Cairo, and its role in illustrating thepower of design to convey meaning, mobilize society and effect change.The American University, with a campus in Tahrir square, was both figurativelyand literally a witness to the events of January 25th and its subsequentrevolution, that took place at its doorstep. As part of its role to bearwitness to these events, upon returning to classes on February 13th- a mere36 hours after the overturned president succumbed to the uprising of theEgyptian people- AUC launched a project to collect artifacts from the revolution-namely the “University on the Square” initiative. The project outlinedhere is a design response to that initiative.Beginning with the premise of exercising our freedom of expression throughthe expression of freedom, this project challenged students to present spacesand forms that could at once embody our newly born freedom, preserveits existence, promote the ongoing dialogue to maintain it and functionallyhouse the artifacts that bore witness to it. Programmatically, this “FreedomPavilion” project was required to house the “University on the Square” collectionand at the same time create a space for free exchange of ideas,respectful debate and political discourse through elements like a speaker’scorner, temporary exhibition space and public domain.Projects developed in this studio ranged from abstractions of the revolution’snarrative, to experiential spaces relaying the multi-sensory encounterof moving from oppression to freedom, to conceptual installations using theoverlay of material, form and experience to relay meaning. Students challengedthemselves to balance hope with realism, fact with romanticism andpragmatism with symbolic vision.This paper will present the power of bringing civic engagement into thestudio and integrating critical discourse, particularly with respect to its impacton motivating students, challenging their assumptions and fosteringtheir creativity. In a visual essay this presentation will illustrate the variousspatial experiences Egyptian students have chosen to represent this pivotalmoment in history, their role in it and their chosen vehicle for the expressionof freedom.

Volume Editors
Martha Thorne & Xavier Costa

ISBN
978-0-935502-83-1