eL Seed: A project of peace, painted across 50 buildings
eL Seed: Um projeto de paz. pintado em 50 prédios
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.
an art piece in Manshiyat Naser,
em Manshiyat Naser,
garbage collectors in Egypt,
do Cairo, no Egito,
that I would ever live.
mais incrível que eu já teria.
this humanist intention
tinha a intenção humanista
and neglected neighborhood
shining light on this isolated community.
de iluminar esta comunidade isolada.
this Christian Coptic community
da comunidade cristã copta
under the regime of Hosni Mubarak
sob o regime de Hosni Mubarak,
using the pretext of H1N1 virus.
sob o pretexto do vírus H1N1.
são alimentados com desperdícios orgânicos
are fed with the organic waste
a sua forma de viver.
it felt like a maze.
Manshiyat Naser parecia um labirinto.
on the top of the Muqattam Mountain.
no topo da montanha Muqattam.
then right again, then left
à direita outra vez, depois à esquerda
the trucks overpacked with garbage
entre os camiões carregados de lixo
in the neighborhood.
nos movimentarmos no bairro.
unloaded from those trucks was intense,
daqueles camiões era intenso,
was loud and overbearing.
era alto e difícil de suportar.
in those warehouses along the way.
pelas trituradoras
but everything is perfectly organized.
mas está tudo perfeitamente organizado.
they call themselves,
neighborhood for decades.
one of the most efficient
on a global level.
as dirty, marginalized and segregated
sujo, marginalizado e segregado
with the trash.
was to create an anamorphic piece,
era criar uma peça anamórfica,
from one vantage point.
duma posição estratégica.
by painting over several buildings
pintando vários edifícios
from one point on the Muqattam Mountain.
dum ponto na montanha Muqattam.
is the pride of the community.
é o orgulho da comunidade.
the St. Simon Monastery,
o Mosteiro de S. Simão,
that they carved into the mountain itself.
que escavaram na montanha.
I stood on top of the mountain
no topo da montanha
will I convince all those owners
todos os proprietários
to convince was Father Samaan,
que era preciso convencer
que é o líder da comunidade.
I needed to convince Mario,
eu tinha que convencer Mario,
who moved to Cairo 20 years ago
que se mudou para o Cairo há 20 anos
of the Cave Church.
da igreja-gruta.
He was the key of the project.
Ele foi fundamental para o projeto.
a meeting with Father Samaan,
com o Padre Samaan,
é que eu já tinha pintado
by what I was going to write.
com o que eu ia escrever.
I write messages
escrevo mensagens
to the place where I am painting
onde estou a pintar
can relate to it.
possa identificar-se com elas.
the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria,
de Santo Anastácio de Alexandria,
to see the sunlight clearly
felt connected to the words.
ligada às palavras.
reflecting the spirit of the project.
perfeitamente o espírito do projeto.
all the residents on board.
por todos os residentes.
a dozen blue manual lifts,
uma dúzia de elevadores manuais azuis,
North Africa, Middle East and the US,
Norte de África, Médio Oriente e dos EUA,
and logistics, there we are,
e logística, ali estávamos nós,
from the local community
da comunidade local,
spread over 50 buildings,
a 50 edifícios,
of the calligraphy
que eu desenho com cores.
there some orange.
acolá algumas laranja.
a transportar sacos de areia
on the top of the buildings
and disassembling those same lifts
esses mesmos elevadores
the different buildings.
para os vários edifícios.
buildings on my sketch,
with the community.
com a comunidade.
o interesse de tudo aquilo.
became family names.
receberam nomes familiares.
was the house of Uncle Ibrahim.
do Tio Ibrahim.
an enthusiastic person.
entusiasta.
saved me from his bull
salvaram-me do touro
on the fourth floor.
and came out on the balcony.
e saiu para a varanda.
hanging out on the balcony
pendurado na varanda
estava a pintar.
go to the mountain for 10 years,
à montanha há 10 anos,
who will stop the garbage?
quem suspendia o lixo?
at the end of the project,
no final do projeto,
to look at the piece.
para observar a peça.
to see his house painted,
de ver a sua casa pintada,
was a project of peace and --
era um projeto de paz e
of peace and unity
de paz e unidade
towards the project changed,
em relação ao projeto mudara
the community changed also,
à comunidade também mudara,
is disgusted by is not theirs.
não é deles.
They live from the garbage.
Eles vivem do lixo.
of this whole project?
de todo este projeto?
a place by bringing art to it.
levando-lhe arte.
and opening a dialogue
e de abrir um diálogo
with communities that we don’t know.
com comunidades que não conhecemos.
on the mountain to look at the piece.
por voltar à montanha e observar a peça.
todos os dias, fez com que eu percebesse
every day made my realize
this anamorphic piece.
desta peça anamórfica.
the real image of somebody,
a verdadeira imagem de alguém,
como medos e tensão.
num ambiente daqueles,
to work in such environments,
enquanto pintávamos
while you paint
to reach a lift.
para chegar a um elevador.
das alturas, o baloiçar dos elevadores,
of the heights, the swinging lifts,
of not finishing on time.
de não acabar a tempo.
made us forget everything.
fez-nos esquecer tudo.
of Uncle Bakheet and Aunty Fareeda.
do Tio Bakheet e da Tia Fareeda.
this expression that says, "Ahsen Nas,"
que diz: "Ahsen Nas",
in front of their houses,
em frente das casas deles,
costumavam vir ter connosco.
by the kids of Manshiyat Naser.
com os miúdos de Manshiyat Naser.
refusing anything we were offering them,
sempre o que lhes oferecíamos,
"Porque é que é assim?"
their kids to refuse anything
a recusar tudo
needs it more than they do.
podia precisar mais do que eles.
era o contexto ideal
was the ideal context
our level of misconception
o nosso nível de preconceito
enquanto sociedade
based on their differences.
com base nas diferenças.
on Uncle Ibrahim's house
em casa do Tio Ibrahim
que são criados no telhado
that hold the lifts.
que seguravam os elevadores.
and Aunty Fareeda
que o Tio Ibrahim queria dizer
a project of peace and unity,
de paz e unidade,
that people were coming together.
estavam a juntar-se.
with a smile, offering us a drink
com um sorriso, ofereciam-nos uma bebida
own house for lunch.
em casa deles.
at the first level of a building,
no primeiro andar de um edifício
and offers you some tea.
e oferece-nos chá.
no segundo andar.
on the second floor.
as I did in Egypt.
como no Egito.
we could have finished earlier,
podíamos ter acabado mais cedo,
because of all those tea breaks.
por causa de todas as pausas para o chá.
which is "Nawartouna,"
que é "nawartouna,"
they were always telling us this.
estavam sempre a dizer-nos isso.
para a caligrafia,
for the calligraphy
we rented some black light projectors
alugámos uns projetores de luz negra
who brought light to us.
quem nos trouxera a luz.
are strong, honest, hard workers,
honesta e trabalhadora,
call them "the Zabaleen,"
chamam-lhes "os Zabaleen",
the people of Manshiyat Naser
as pessoas de Manshiyat Naser
who produce the garbage, not them.
o lixo, não são eles.
to this community,
a esta comunidade,
who left something in our lives.
a deixar qualquer coisa na nossa vida.
was just a pretext
para esta experiência humana espantosa.
will disappear, vanish,
desaparecerá, desvanecer-se-á,
who is building a second floor
um segundo andar
and paint over it.
e pintar por cima.
sozinhos.
that we should all think about
em que todos devíamos pensar,
the sunlight clearly
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
eL Seed - ArtistFrench-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."
eL Seed | Speaker | TED.com