Milan Hulsing had been drawing the bizarre scenes of corruption in Egypt and the increasing unrest among its people. But the ink was scarcely dry on the paper before thousands of angry Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo and the Dutch artist saw his clay and desert-coloured images coming to life.

Milan's wife works for the Dutch embassy and right now that means around the clock, so he is looking after the children. He told RNW how he spent years in Cairo working on his graphic novel Stad van Klei (City of Clay) which was published in the Netherlands last week. At the very same time as the biggest popular uprising in Egypt's recent history.

Milan Hulsing based his book on the novella al-Khaldiya (Across the Bridge) by the dissident Egyptian writer Mohamed el-Bisatie. The main character is Salem, a fairly undistinguished civil servant who dreams up the town of Khaldiya. He tampers with all manner of documents in the state archives so that, on paper, Khaldiya actually exists. At this point money begins to pour in, including the salaries of the imaginary town's imaginary police force.

Spark
Hulsing says this paper reality of corruption and inequality is the real cause of the uprising.

"A lot of international newspapers have been calling it an Islamist revolution, but that's not accurate. The real cause is corruption and the abuse of power by the police."

The spark which ignited the protests was the death of a young man in Alexandria. He had filmed police officers who were dividing up a drugs haul between them, so they clubbed him to death.

During the early, peaceful protests Milan went to Tahrir square with his son and daughter.

"I met friends and acquaintances there, the atmosphere was still good, it was like a holiday."

Too much idealism
Hulsing says the demonstrators have the broad support of the people, but at the same time he has his doubts about too much idealism.

"Almost everyone is involved somehow in this corrupt system, so how do you change that? Let's hope for a transition that allows for reconciliation."

Milan Hulsing hasn't seen his book yet, because the Egyptian postal service is on strike.

(imm/hs)