As Arab Spring enters a new chapter this week with Egypt’s Islamist president making decrees granting him near-absolute powers, it looks like this piece by Fintan Switzer is perfectly timely.  This is where the artist and the activist intersect, on a wall and in the street, and it has for centuries; a place to seek redress, to plead your case, speak your mind, demonstrate your power in the most public way. This piece from this summer will likely retain its relevance until it fades from the sun and the rain and snow.

 

Fintan Switzer “Waltz with the Philistine”. Killarney, Ireland. (photo © Fintan Switzer)

This realistic and lyrical depiction on a metal door in Killarney, Ireland is called “Waltz with the Philistine”, an old testament story symbolizing fear and bravery and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. For Fitzer, it’s an age-old analogy that is repeating in the streets everywhere today. “David and Goliath is a story which I think runs parallel with the Arab Spring.  Similar to David, the people of these heavily oppressed countries somehow manage to overthrow giant tyrants (with varying results) using mostly primitive weapons in comparison to the arsenal used against them,” says the artist.

Fintan Switzer “Waltz with the Philistine”. Killarney, Ireland. (photo © Fintan Switzer)

Fintan Switzer “Waltz with the Philistine”. Killarney, Ireland. (photo © Fintan Switzer)

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