Murals in North Africa: performing the martyr in the city*

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ABSTRACT In Tunisia and Egypt, in times of unrest, walls become screens for transient political display of resistance. Ephemeral performances are often rapid responses to urgent concerns. This article examines the work of artists and spectators interpolated into a sense of urgency and temporality, which characterises graffiti performances. It looks at the significances of martyrdom made visible in graffiti representations of the body of the martyrs. By analysing the art of the martyrs in contemporary North Africa, this article argues that street art can be more fully understood through the graffiti performance in Tunisia and Egypt, and the way that the public reads such imagery with faithful and political eyes.