Post-revolution souvenirs replace Sphinx, pharaohs in Egypt

By Nehal El-Sherif Apr 23, 2011, 2:06 GMT

A street vendor looks on as he sells items celebrating the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, 03 April 2011. Tahrir square was the epicenter of the Egyptian Revolution of 25 January, thousands of people gathered and occupied the square asking for the resignation of the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Since then, many street vendors have appeared in the square selling items celebrating the revolution ranging from T-shirts and flags to pins and stickers. EPA/AMEL PAIN

Cairo - Forget figurines of the Sphinx, the pyramids or pharaonic kings. Souvenirs from Egypt have taken on a revolutionary and modern tone following the Spring Awakening.

As thousands caught the revolutionary spirit in Egypt, those who make a living selling souvenirs found themselves a corner - whether in central Cairo's Tahrir square, which had been the focal point of demonstrations that forced former president Hosny Mubarak to step down in February, or near tourist-frequented sites - to hawk their new wares.

T-shirts, hats, mugs - even pins and stickers can be bought on the streets, from shops ... as well as online.

Ahmed Adel is selling a mock license plate showing the date of Egypt's revolution - January 25. He stands near a traffic light in Tahrir to sell each for only 2 Egyptian pounds (0.35 dollars), making it the cheapest souvenir.

The stickers can be seen on cars and buildings all over Cairo.

'I feel happy when someone buys the poster, because it means profit for me and also gives me more pride than selling tissues,' said Adel, who was wearing a huge hat with the colours of the flag.

Samar Khazbak, a 19-year-old Egyptian student, bought a sticker and put it on the back of her car

'I bought it because it represents freedom, and I also want everyone to know how proud I am,' she said. 'I will keep it with me for years in order to show it to my kids.'

Adel also sometimes walks up to the Egyptian museum, located near Tahrir square, to offer tourists some of the things he sells.

'Many tourists like what I sell, because other times I have more of these hats, key chains or even shirts like this one,' he adds, pointing to T-shirts in a bag on his shoulder. The T-shirt has slogans such as 'Hold your head high, you are Egyptian' and 'Egypt's January revolution' in both English and Arabic.

While Adel walks around the streets trying to earn enough each day to survive, a young engineer decided he wants to have his own small business, to keep the revolutionary spirit alive among teenagers and young people.

Omar Abdel Fatah designed a simple wristband, divided in three parts - red, white and black, the colours of the flag - with the slogan 'Egypt Reborn' written on it.

'I started the project right after the revolution. When I saw Egypt's flags and T-shirts sold everywhere, I thought I want to always have something on me that says I am Egyptian and this is where the idea of the wristbands came to me,' Abdel Fatah, 25, said.

He began with 2,000 wristbands. Most of them have been already sold.

Sold for 20 Egyptian pounds each, he decided to use Facebook to market his product in schools and universities, as well as to expatriates in the country.

Social networking websites played a great role in the January 25 uprising. Activists used them over the past few years to organize protests and promote their pro-democracy political groups.

Abdel-Fattah also gives away 50 per cent of the profits to a charity organization that helps with micro-finance projects for a poor village in the Sakkara area, south of Cairo.

While businessmen are trying to revive the Egyptian economy through tourism and investing in the stock market, entrepreneurs have decided to launch a 'Made In Egypt' initiative, with all products stamped with a different logo representing the Egyptian Revolution.

Other group of young people are selling shirts with different designs. Some depict two large hands 'planting democracy' in Tahrir. Others a man holding the flag, with the words 'Walk like an Egyptian beneath it.'

Women can buy scarves, veils and bags with the colour of the flag from different shops across the capital.

And Abdel-Fattah is one of these entrepreneurs.

'I really hope I can develop my project into something bigger,' he said.

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