In 2013, artist Mahmoud Mohamed Abd El Aziz (Yassin Mohamed) was detained by Egyptian police after attending a protest against the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Egypt’s military had recently overthrown democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and installed el-Sisi, who initiated an aggressive policy of crackdowns on public dissent, banning organized gatherings and specifically targeting supporters of Islamist and pro-democracy leftist parties. For the next five years, Yassin was repeatedly arrested and⁣ transferred from prison to prison for the crime of participation in antigovernment demonstrations. Overcrowded group cells precluded any chance for privacy, and Yassin felt compelled to remain completely withdrawn in order to avoid harassment by fellow prisoners affiliated with religious extremist groups. Drawing, according to Yassin, offered him solace, and he depicted his surroundings as filled with hopeful symbols like flowers, which he ...