Bahia Shehab: A thousand times no

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Shqiponja Hoxha Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

Two years ago, I was invited as an artist

Dy vjet me pare, isha e ftuar si artiste

to participate in an exhibition commemorating

per te mare pjese ne nje ekspozite perkushtuar

100 years of Islamic art in Europe.

100 vjetorit te artit Islamik ne Europe.

The curator had only one condition:

Kuratori kishte vetem nje kondite:

I had to use the Arabic script for my artwork.

duhet te perdorja doreshkrimin arab ne artin tim.

Now, as an artist, a woman, an Arab,

Pra, si artiste, si grua, si arabe,

or a human being living in the world in 2010,

apo si njeri qe jeton ne kete bote ne 2010,

I only had one thing to say:

kisha vetem nje gje per te thene:

I wanted to say no.

doja te thoja jo.

And in Arabic, to say "no," we say "no,

Dhe ne arabisht per te thene "jo", ne themi "jo

and a thousand times no."

dhe njemije here tjera jo".

So I decided to look for a thousand different noes.

Keshtu vendosa te kerkoja njemije Jo te ndryshme.

on everything ever produced

ne çdo gje te prodhuar ndonjehere

under Islamic or Arab patronage in the past 1,400 years,

nen patronazhin islamik gjate 1.400 viteve te kaluara

from Spain to the borders of China.

nga Spanja deri ne kufirin me Kinen.

I collected my findings in a book,

I mblodha rezultatet ne nje liber,

placed them chronologically, stating the name,

i vendosa kronologjikisht, specifikova emrin,

the patron, the medium and the date.

pronarin, menyren dhe daten.

Now, the book sat on a small shelf next to the installation,

Tani libri eshte vendosur ne nje raft i vogel afer instalimit

which stood three by seven meters, in Munich, Germany,

me dimensione 3 me 7 metra, ne Munich, Gjermani,

in September of 2010.

ne shtatorin 2010

Now, in January, 2011, the revolution started,

Ne janar, 2011, filloi revolucioni

and life stopped for 18 days,

dhe jeta ndaloi per 18 dite,

and on the 12th of February,

dhe me 12 shkurt,

we naively celebrated on the streets of Cairo,

ne festuam ne menyre naive ne rruget e Kairos,

believing that the revolution had succeeded.

duke menduar se revolucioni ishte me sukses.

Nine months later I found myself spraying messages

Pas 9 muajsh gjej vetem time duke shperndare mesazhe

in Tahrir Square. The reason for this act

ne sheshin Tahrir. Arsyeja e ketij veprimi

was this image that I saw in my newsfeed.

ishte imazhi qe pashe ne newsfeedin tim.

I did not feel that I could live in a city

Nuk mund te jetoja ne nje qytet

where people were being killed

kur njerezit vriteshin

and thrown like garbage on the street.

dhe hidheshin si plehra ne rruge.

So I took one "no" off a tombstone from

Pra mora nje "jo" nga nje gur varri nga

the Islamic Museum in Cairo, and I added a message to it:

museumi islamic i Kairos, dhe i shtova nje mesazh;

"no to military rule."

"jo rregullave ushtarake"

And I started spraying that on the streets in Cairo.

Dhe fillva ta shperndaj neper rruget e qytetit.

But that led to a series of no, coming out of the book

Por ajo ishe fillim i nje seri Jo-sh, qe dilnin nga libri

like ammunition, and adding messages to them,

si municione, duke i shtuar mesazhe atyre,

and I started spraying them on the walls.

dhe fillova t'i shperndaj neper mure.

So I'll be sharing some of these noes with you.

Do te ndaj disa nga keto jo me ju.

No to a new Pharaoh, because whoever comes next

Jo nje Faraoni te ri, sepse kush do qe te jete i ardhshmi

should understand that we will never be ruled by another dictator.

duhet ta kuptoje qe ne nuk do te qeverisemi me kurre nga nje diktator tjeter.

No to violence: Ramy Essam came to Tahrir

Jo violences: Ramy Essam erdhi ne Tahrir

on the second day of the revolution,

ne diten e dyte te revolucionit,

and he sat there with this guitar, singing.

dhe u ul aty me kitaren e tij, duke kenduar.

One month after Mubarak stepped down, this was his reward.

Nje muaj pasi Mubarak dha doreheqjen, ky ishte shperblimi i tij.

No to blinding heroes. Ahmed Harara lost his right eye

Jo heronjve te verber. Ahmed Harara humbi syrin e djathte

on the 28th of January,

me 28 janar,

and he lost his left eye on the 19th of November,

ndersa humbi syrin e majte me 19 nentor,

by two different snipers.

nga dy snajper te ndryshem.

No to killing, in this case no to killing men of religion,

Jo vrasjeve, ne kete rast jo vrasjeve te fetareve,

because Sheikh Ahmed Adina Refaat was shot

sepse Sheikh Ahmed Adina Refaat u qellua

on December 16th, during a demonstration,

me 16 dhjetor, gjate nje demostrate,

leaving behind three orphans and a widow.

duke lere 3 jetime dhe nje grua te ve.

No to burning books. The Institute of Egypt was burned

Jo djegies se librave. Instituti i Egjiptit eshte djegur

on December 17th, a huge cultural loss.

me 17 dhjetor, nje humbje kulturore e madhe.

No to stripping the people,

Jo zhveshjes se njerzeve,

and the blue bra is to remind us of our shame

dhe sytjena blu eshte per te kujtuar turpin tone

as a nation when we allow a veiled woman to be stripped

si komb kur lejojme qe nje grua me vello te zhvishet

and beaten on the street, and the footprint reads,

dhe te rrihet ne rruge, dhe gjurma lexon

"Long live a peaceful revolution,"

"rrofte revolucioni paqesor"

because we will never retaliate with violence.

se ne nuk do hakmerremi kurre me violence.

No to barrier walls. On February 5th,

Jo mureve pengese. Me 5 shkurt,

concrete roadblocks were set up in Cairo

postoblloqe u vendosen ne Kajro

to protect the Ministry of Defense from protesters.

per te mbrojtur Ministrine e Mbroitjes nga protestat.

Now, speaking of walls, I want to share with you the story

Meqenese flitet per mure, dua te ju tregoj historine,

of one wall in Cairo.

i nje muri ne Kairo.

A group of artists decided to paint a life-size tank

Nje grup artistesh vendosi te pikturoje nje tank me dimensione reale.

on a wall. It's one to one.

ne nje mur. Eshte nje me nje.

In front of this tank there's a man on a bicycle

Perballe me kete tank eshte nje burre me biçiklete.

with a breadbasket on his head. To any passerby,

me nje shporte buke ne koke. Per çdo kalimtar

there's no problem with this visual.

nuk ka asnje problem me kete pamje.

After acts of violence, another artist came,

Pas aktesh te tjere violence, nje artist tjeter,

painted blood, protesters being run over by the tank,

pikturoi gjak dhe protestantet te shtypur nga tanku,

demonstrators, and a message that read,

disa demostrues dhe nje mesazh qe lexonte,

"Starting tomorrow, I wear the new face,

"Nga neser do vendos nje fytyre te re,

the face of every martyr. I exist."

fytyren e çdo deshmori. Une ekzistoj".

Authority comes, paints the wall white,

Autoritetet erdhen, ngjyrosen murin te bardhe,

leaves the tank and adds a message:

lane tankun dhe shtuan nje mesazh:

"Army and people, one hand. Egypt for Egyptians."

"Ushtria dhe populli, nje dore. Egjypti per egjyptianet"

Another artist comes, paints the head of the military

Nje artist tjeter, pikturon koken i nje ushtari

as a monster eating a maiden in a river of blood

si nje perbindesh qe ha nje te virgjer ne nje lume me gjak

in front of the tank.

perballe tankut.

Authority comes, paints the wall white, leaves the tank,

Autoritetet erdhen, lyen murin me te bardhe,

leaves the suit, and throws a bucket of black paint

lane tankun, dhe derdhen nje kove me boje te zeze

just to hide the face of the monster.

per te mbuluar vetem koken e perbindeshit.

So I come with my stencils, and I spray them on the suit,

Pastaj vi une me stampen time, dhe e sperkat rrobat,

on the tank, and on the whole wall,

tankun, dhe te gjithe murin,

and this is how it stands today

dhe ja si duket sot

until further notice. (Laughter)

deri ne njoftim te ri. (te qeshura)

Now, I want to leave you with a final no.

Tani, dua te ju le me nje jo te fundit.

I found Neruda scribbled on a piece of paper

Kam degjuar Neruda ka shkaravitur ne nje cope leter

in a field hospital in Tahrir, and I decided to take a no of

ne nje spital ne Tahrir, dhe vendosa te marre nje jo

Mamluk Mausoleum in Cairo.

nga Mauzoleum Mamluk ne Kairo.

The message reads,

Mesazhi thote,

[Arabic]

(arabisht)

"You can crush the flowers, but you can't delay spring."

Mund te shtypesh lulet, por nuk mund te ndalosh pranveren"

Thank you. (Applause)

Falemnderit. (Duartrokitje)

(Applause)

(duartrokitje)

Thank you. Shukran. (Applause)

Falemderit. Shukran. (duartrokitje)