For many Europeans, the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia came as a surprise. The countries of the Arab world have so long been represented as static, traditionalist societies with no room for change. The dynamics and the quest for individual freedom, as demonstrated by the young people who took to the streets did in no way fit into this image.
Yet, as the artistic production of this generation clearly shows, young people are highly critical of the distance between the lived reality of the Arab youth and those in power. In their works, they address a variety of socio-cultural and socio-political issues, often with an uncompromising willingness to confront sensitive social taboos that might seem surprising for outsiders.