Conclusion

Summary

A wide-ranging corpus of art exploring revolutions in countries from Tunisia to Syria moves beyond what Jellel Gasteli dubbed ‘icons of revolutionary exoticism’. This art forges a way between the essentialising internal and external visions perpetuated by iconic or iconoclastic images, encouraging a more nuanced understanding of the revolutions. It also enables spectators to develop a greater consciousness – mediated through their senses as well as through their intellect – of the meaning of the term ‘revolution’. Diverging from the idea of a completed cycle that is implied by this term, ‘revolution’ comes to signify not simply liberation but also uncertainty and fragility. It accommodates transition and negotiation. By contrast with iconic representations, this art creates a space and a moment in time for reflection on specific local experiences of revolt or on the wider complex phenomenon of the Uprisings. It encourages patience and humility in attempting to understand their diverse and still unfolding trajectories. This art frequently points to the emergence of new or ongoing forms of constraint, as a result of reductive and, at times, extremist visions.