ABOUT THE SPEAKER
eL Seed - Artist
French-Tunisian artist eL Seed blends the historic art of Arabic calligraphy with graffti to portray messages of beauty, poetry and peace across all continents.

Why you should listen

Born in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed travels the world, making art in Paris, New York, Jeddah, Melbourne, Gabes, Doha and beyond. His goal: to create dialogue and promote tolerance as well as change global perceptions of what Arabic means. In 2012, for instance, he painted a message of unity on a 47-meter-high minaret on the Jara mosque in Gabes, Tunisia. This piece and others can be found in his book, Lost Walls: Graffiti Road Trip through Tunisia

Most recently he created a sprawling mural in the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood of Cairo that spans 50 buildings and can only be viewed from a local mountaintop. Intending to honor the historic garbage collectors of the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood, the piece reads, "Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first."

More profile about the speaker
eL Seed | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

eL Seed: Street art with a message of hope and peace

eL Seed: Ulična umjetnost s porukom nade i mira.

Filmed:
1,581,298 views

Rođen u Francuskoj, u obitelji iz Tunisa, eL Seed uživa u žongliranju s više kultura, jezika i identiteta. Posebice u svojoj umjetnosti koja postavlja arapsku poeziju u stil inspiriran uličnom umjetnošću i grafitima. U ovom tihom, strastvenom govoru, umjetnik i TED stipendist opisuje svoju najveću ambiciju: stvoriti umjetnost toliko lijepu da joj ne treba prijevod.
- Artist
French-Tunisian artist eL Seed blends the historic art of Arabic calligraphy with graffti to portray messages of beauty, poetry and peace across all continents. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

U 2012., kada sam oslikao
minaret na džamiji Jara
00:12
In 2012, when I paintedobojen
the minaretminareta of JaraJara MosqueDžamija
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u mom rodnom gradu Gabes,
na jugu Tunisa,
00:17
in my hometownrodni grad of GabNisu kao jaés,
in the southjug of TunisiaTunis,
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nisam mislio da će taj grafit privući
toliko pozornosti na grad.
00:19
I never thought that graffitigrafiti would bringdonijeti
so much attentionpažnja to a cityGrad.
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00:25
At the beginningpočetak, I was just looking
for a wallzid in my hometownrodni grad,
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U početku sam tražio bilo kakav zid
u mom rodnom gradu,
a dogodilo se da je minaret
sagrađen 94'-te.
00:29
and it happeneddogodilo that the minaretminareta
was builtizgrađen in '94.
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I 18 godina tih 57 metara betona
ostalo je sivo.
00:33
And for 18 yearsgodina, those 57 metersmetara
of concretebeton stayedostao greysiva.
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00:38
When I metsastali the imamImama for the first time,
and I told him what I wanted to do,
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Kada sam se prvi puta susreo s imamom,
i rekao mu što želim napraviti,
00:42
he was like, "Thank God you finallykonačno camedošao,"
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reagirao je s "Hvala Bogu, napokon si došao",
i rekao mi kako već godinama čeka
da netko
00:44
and he told me that for yearsgodina
he was waitingčekanje for somebodyneko
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napravi nešto na zidu.
00:47
to do something on it.
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00:49
The mostnajviše amazingnevjerojatan thing about this imamImama
is that he didn't askpitati me anything --
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Najnevjerojatnija stvar s tim imamom bila je da
me nije tražio ništa
00:53
neitherni a sketchSkica,
or what I was going to writepisati.
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niti skicu,
niti tekst kojeg sam mislio napisati.
00:57
In everysvaki work that I createstvoriti,
I writepisati messagesporuke
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U svaku sliku koju napravim,
upisujem poruke
sa svojim stilom kaligrafita --
mješavinom kaligrafije i grafita.
01:00
with my stylestil of calligraffiticalligraffiti --
a mixmiješati of calligraphyKaligrafija and graffitigrafiti.
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01:05
I use quotescitati or poetrypoezija.
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Koristim izreke ili poeziju.
01:08
For the minaretminareta, I thought that
the mostnajviše relevantrelevantan messageporuka
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Za minaret, mislio sam da
najvažnija poruka
koja će biti napisana na džamiji
treba biti iz Kurana,
01:10
to be put on a mosquedžamija
should come from the QuranKur'an,
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pa sam izabrao ovaj stih:
01:13
so I pickedizabran this versestih:
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"O čovječji rode, stvorili smo te
od muškoga i ženskoga,
01:15
"Oh humankindčovječanstvo, we have createdstvorio you
from a malemuški and a femaležena,
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i napravili te ljudima i plemenima
kako bi ste se upoznali."
01:18
and madenapravljen you people and tribepleme,
so you maysvibanj know eachsvaki other."
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Bio je to univerzalan poziv na mir,
toleranciju i prihvaćanje
01:21
It was a universaluniverzalan call for peacemir,
tolerancetolerancija, and acceptanceprihvaćanje
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izrečen od strane koju se inače u
u medijima ne prikazuje kao dobru.
01:25
comingdolazak from the sidestrana that we don't usuallyobično
portrayprikazati in a good way in the mediamedia.
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01:29
I was amazedzadivljen to see how the locallokalne
communityzajednica reactedreagirali su to the paintingslika,
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Bio sam zadivljen reakcijom
lokalne zajednice na sliku,
i kako su bili ponosni što minaret
privlači toliku pozornost
01:33
and how it madenapravljen them proudponos to see
the minaretminareta gettinguzimajući so much attentionpažnja
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međunarodnih novina
iz svih dijelova svijeta.
01:37
from internationalmeđunarodna presstisak
all around the worldsvijet.
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01:41
For the imamImama, it was not
just the paintingslika;
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Za imama to nije bila samo
slika;
bilo je nešto dublje od toga.
01:43
it was really deeperdublje than that.
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Nadao se da će minaret postati
gradski spomenik,
01:45
He hopednadao that this minaretminareta would becomepostati
a monumentspomenik for the cityGrad,
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i da će privući ljude u ovaj
zaboravljeni dio Tunisa.
01:48
and attractprivući people
to this forgottenzaboravljen placemjesto of TunisiaTunis.
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01:52
The universalityuniverzalnost of the messageporuka,
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Univerzalnost poruke,
politički kontekst
Tunisa u tom vremenu,
01:54
the politicalpolitički contextkontekst
of TunisiaTunis at this time,
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i činjenica da sam prepisivao
Kuran grafitima
01:57
and the factčinjenica that I was writingpisanje
QuranKur'an in a graffitigrafiti way
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nisu bili beznačajni.
02:00
were not insignificantbeznačajan.
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Ponovno su ujedinili zajednicu.
02:02
It reunitedujedinila the communityzajednica.
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Povezivanje ljudi, budućih generacija
02:05
BringingDonosi people, futurebudućnost generationsgeneracije,
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02:08
togetherzajedno throughkroz Arabicarapski calligraphyKaligrafija
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kroz arapsko pismo
02:11
is what I do.
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je ono što ja radim.
02:13
WritingPisanje messagesporuke is
the essencesuština of my artworkilustracije.
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Pisanje poruka je
srž moje umjetnosti.
Smiješno je da se čak i
ljudi koji razumiju arapski
02:16
What is funnysmiješno, actuallyzapravo, is that
even Arabic-speakingArapskog people
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moraju jako usredotočiti kako bi
odgonetnuli što sam napisao.
02:20
really need to focusfokus a lot
to decipherdešifrirati what I'm writingpisanje.
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02:24
You don't need to know
the meaningznačenje to feel the piecekomad.
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Ne morate znati značenje kako biste
osjetili djelo.
02:28
I think that Arabicarapski scriptskripta touchesdotakne
your soulduša before it reachesdoseže your eyesoči.
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Mislim da arapsko pismo dirne vašu dušu
prije nego li dođe do vaših očiju.
U njemu postoji ljepota
koju ne trebate prevoditi.
02:31
There is a beautyljepota in it
that you don't need to translatePrevedi.
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02:35
Arabicarapski scriptskripta speaksgovori to anyonebilo tko, I believe;
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Arapsko pismo govori svima, vjerujem;
02:37
to you, to you, to you, to anybodyiko,
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i tebi, i tebi, i tebi, svima,
i onda kada saznate značenje,
02:41
and then when you get the meaningznačenje,
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02:43
you feel connectedpovezan to it.
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povežete se s njim.
02:45
I always make sure to writepisati messagesporuke
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Uvijek se pobrinem napisati poruke
koje su važne za mjesto
u kojem slikam,
02:47
that are relevantrelevantan to the placemjesto
where I'm paintingslika,
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ali poruke koje imaju
univerzalnu dimenziju,
02:50
but messagesporuke that have
a universaluniverzalan dimensiondimenzija,
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tako da se svi mogu povezati s njom.
02:53
so anybodyiko around the worldsvijet
can connectSpojiti to it.
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02:56
I was bornrođen and raiseduzdignut in FranceFrancuska, in ParisPariz,
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Rođen sam i odrastao u Francuskoj,
u Parizu,
a počeo sam učiti kako pisati i čitati
arapski kada sam imao 18.
02:59
and I startedpočeo learningučenje how to writepisati
and readčitati Arabicarapski when I was 18.
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03:03
TodayDanas I only writepisati messagesporuke in Arabicarapski.
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Danas poruke pišem samo na arapskom.
Jedan od razloga zašto mi
je to toliko važno
03:07
One of the reasonsrazlozi
this is so importantvažno to me,
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su reakcije koje sam
doživio po svijetu.
03:10
is because of all the reactionreakcija that
I've experiencediskusan all around the worldsvijet.
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U Rio de Janeiru, preveo sam
portugalsku pjesmu
03:15
In RioRio dede JaneiroJaneiru, I translatedpreveo
this Portugueseportugalski poempjesma
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Gabriela Torresa Barbose,
03:19
from GabrielaGabrielarresrres BarbosaBarbosa,
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koji je odavao počast siromašnima
u favelama,
03:21
who was givingdavanje an homagepočast
to the poorsiromašan people of the favelaFavela,
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i oslikao njome krov.
03:24
and then I paintedobojen it on the rooftopna krovu.
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03:27
The locallokalne communityzajednica were really
intriguedzaintrigirala by what I was doing,
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Lokalna zajednica bila je jako
zainteresirana za to što sam radio,
ali čim sam im rekao
značenje napisanog,
03:30
but as soonuskoro as I gavedali them
the meaningznačenje of the calligraphyKaligrafija,
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zahvalili su mi jer su se osjećali
povezano s djelom.
03:33
they thankedzahvalio me, as they feltosjećala
connectedpovezan to the piecekomad.
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03:38
In SouthJug AfricaAfrika, in CapeRT TownGrad,
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U Južnoj Africi, u Cape Townu,
lokalna zajednica Philippi,
03:40
the locallokalne communityzajednica of PhilippiPhilippi
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ponudila mi je jedini betonski zid u slamu.
03:43
offeredponudio me the only
concretebeton wallzid of the slumstraćara.
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Bila je to škola, i na nju sam napisao
03:46
It was a schoolškola, and I wrotenapisao on it
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citat Nelsona Mandele,
03:49
a quotecitat from NelsonNelson MandelaMandela,
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koji kaže, "(na arapskom)",
03:50
sayingizreka, "[in Arabicarapski],"
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što znači, "Čini se nemogućim
dok se ne napravi."
03:53
whichkoji meanssredstva, "It seemsčini se
impossiblenemoguće untildo it's doneučinio."
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03:56
Then this guy camedošao to me and said,
"Man, why you don't writepisati in Englishengleski?"
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Prišao mi je jedan čovjek i pitao,
"Čovječe, zašto ne pišeš na engleskom?"
i odgovorio sam mu, "Smatrao bi tvoju
zabrinutost opravdanom da si me pitao
04:00
and I repliedodgovorila to him, "I would considerrazmotriti
your concernbriga legitčitljiv if you askedpitao me
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04:04
why I didn't writepisati in Zuluzulu."
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zašto ne pišem Zulu jezikom."
Jednom u Parizu bilo je to događanje,
04:06
In ParisPariz, oncejednom, there was this eventdogađaj,
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i netko je dao da mu se oslika zid.
04:09
and someonenetko gavedali his wallzid to be paintedobojen.
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04:14
And when he saw I was paintingslika in Arabicarapski,
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I kada je vidio da oslikavam na arapskom,
toliko se naljutio, zapravo histerično,
i tražio je da prekreče zid.
04:16
he got so madlud -- actuallyzapravo, hystericalhisteričan --
and he askedpitao for the wallzid to be erasedizbrisan.
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Bio sam ljut i razočaran.
04:20
I was madlud and disappointedrazočaran.
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Ali tjedan kasnije, organizator me pozvao
da se vratim,
04:22
But a weektjedan laterkasnije, the organizerOrganizator
of the eventdogađaj askedpitao me to come back,
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i rekao mi da postoji zid odmah ispred
kuće onog čovjeka.
04:26
and he told me that there was a wallzid
right in frontispred of this guy'stip je housekuća.
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Tako da, taj čovjek --
04:30
So, this guy --
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04:31
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
on je prisiljen gledati ga svaki dan.
04:33
like, was forcedprisiljeni to see it everysvaki day.
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Na početku htio sam napisati,
"(na arapskom)",
04:35
At the beginningpočetak, I was going
to writepisati, "[In Arabicarapski],"
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što znači ''Evo ti ga", ali --
04:38
whichkoji meanssredstva, "In your facelice," but --
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(Smijeh)
04:40
(LaughterSmijeh)
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04:42
I decidedodlučio to be smarterpametnije
and I wrotenapisao, "[In Arabicarapski],"
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Odlučio sam biti pametniji,
i napisao sam "(na arapskom)",
što znači "Otvori svoje srce."
04:46
whichkoji meanssredstva, "OpenOtvoren your heartsrce."
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04:49
I'm really proudponos of my cultureKultura,
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Jako sam ponosan na svoju kulturu,
i pokušavam biti njezin glasnik
kroz svoju umjetnost.
04:52
and I'm tryingtežak to be an ambassadorAmbasador
of it throughkroz my artworkilustracije.
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04:57
And I hopenada that I can breakpauza
the stereotypesstereotipi we all know,
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I nadam se da mogu slomiti
stereotipe koje svi znamo,
ljepotom arapskog pisma.
05:02
with the beautyljepota of Arabicarapski scriptskripta.
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05:05
TodayDanas, I don't writepisati the translationprijevod
of the messageporuka anymoreviše on the wallzid.
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Danas više ne pišem prijevode
poruka na zid.
Ne želim pokvariti
poeziju kaligrafije,
05:11
I don't want the poetrypoezija
of the calligraphyKaligrafija to be brokenslomljen,
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obzirom da je to umjetnost koju možete
cijeniti neznajući značenje
05:14
as it's artumjetnost and you can appreciatecijeniti it
withoutbez knowingpoznavanje the meaningznačenje,
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05:18
as you can enjoyuživati any musicglazba
from other countrieszemlje.
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isto kao što uživate u glazbi
iz drugih zemalja.
05:21
Some people see that
as a rejectionodbacivanje or a closedzatvoreno doorvrata,
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Neki to vide kao odbijanje,
ili zatvorena vrata,
ali za mene, to je više pozivnica --
05:25
but for me, it's more an invitationpoziv --
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u moj jezik, u moju kulturu,
u moju umjetnost.
05:27
to my languagejezik,
to my cultureKultura, and to my artumjetnost.
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Hvala vam.
05:31
Thank you.
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05:32
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
Translated by Vanja Kovač
Reviewed by Ivana Kordic

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
eL Seed - Artist
French-Tunisian artist eL Seed blends the historic art of Arabic calligraphy with graffti to portray messages of beauty, poetry and peace across all continents.

Why you should listen

Born in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed travels the world, making art in Paris, New York, Jeddah, Melbourne, Gabes, Doha and beyond. His goal: to create dialogue and promote tolerance as well as change global perceptions of what Arabic means. In 2012, for instance, he painted a message of unity on a 47-meter-high minaret on the Jara mosque in Gabes, Tunisia. This piece and others can be found in his book, Lost Walls: Graffiti Road Trip through Tunisia

Most recently he created a sprawling mural in the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood of Cairo that spans 50 buildings and can only be viewed from a local mountaintop. Intending to honor the historic garbage collectors of the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood, the piece reads, "Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first."

More profile about the speaker
eL Seed | Speaker | TED.com