Chant Avedissian
Nasser Speeches, 2014
Gouache on corrugated cardboard. 250 × 300 cm.
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Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), the father of Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism, is a key figure among these icons. Nasser’s charisma, his endorsement of Arab values and culture and his anti-colonial stand, which crushed British-French ambition with the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956, made him the most popular Arab leader of the twentieth century. Here was a president who was of the people, who spoke their language, preferred Um Kathum and Abdel Halim Hafez to Verdi’s ‘Aida’, and aspired the progressive values.