eL Seed: A project of peace, painted across 50 buildings
إل سيد: مشروع سلام، مرسوم على 50 بناية
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,
في منشية ناصر،
garbage collectors in Egypt,
that I would ever live.
this humanist intention
and neglected neighborhood
shining light on this isolated community.
الضوء على هذه المجموعة المهمشة.
this Christian Coptic community
عن المجتمع المسيحي القبطي
under the regime of Hosni Mubarak
في عهد حسني مبارك
using the pretext of H1N1 virus.
فيروس إتش 1 إن 1.
are fed with the organic waste
على البقايا العضوية
it felt like a maze.
أحسست أنني في متاهة.
on the top of the Muqattam Mountain.
من على جبل المقطم.
then right again, then left
ثم يمينًا مرة أخرى، ثم يسارًا
the trucks overpacked with garbage
شاحنات ممتلئة عن آخرها بالقمامة
in the neighborhood.
للتحرك داخل الحي.
unloaded from those trucks was intense,
من الشاحنات قوية جدًا،
was loud and overbearing.
in those warehouses along the way.
داخل المستودعات المنتشرة على طول الطريق.
but everything is perfectly organized.
لكن كل شيء منظم جدًا.
they call themselves,
neighborhood for decades.
منذ عقود.
one of the most efficient
من أكثر الأنظمة فعالية
on a global level.
as dirty, marginalized and segregated
مهمش ومعزول
with the trash.
أن أخلق قطعة بصرية متعددة القطع،
was to create an anamorphic piece,
from one vantage point.
by painting over several buildings
من خلال الرسم على عدة بنايات
from one point on the Muqattam Mountain.
من على قمة جبل المقطم.
is the pride of the community.
the St. Simon Monastery,
that they carved into the mountain itself.
مقعد، قاموا بنحتها في الجبل ذاته.
I stood on top of the mountain
على الجبل
will I convince all those owners
كل ملاك البيوت أولئك
to convince was Father Samaan,
هو الأب سمعان،
I needed to convince Mario,
كان علي أن أقنع ماريو،
who moved to Cairo 20 years ago
قبل 20 سنة
of the Cave Church.
في الكنيسة الكهف.
He was the key of the project.
فقد كان دوره مهمًا في المشروع.
a meeting with Father Samaan,
مع الأب سمعان،
by what I was going to write.
I write messages
to the place where I am painting
تتوافق مع المكان الذي أرسم فيه
can relate to it.
أن يحس بها.
the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria,
القديس أثناسيوس بابا الإسكندرية،
فإن عليه أن يمسح عينيه.
to see the sunlight clearly
felt connected to the words.
reflecting the spirit of the project.
تعكس بشكل تام روح المشروع.
all the residents on board.
a dozen blue manual lifts,
والعشرات من الرافعات اليدوية الزرقاء،
North Africa, Middle East and the US,
الشرق الأوسط والولايات المتحدة،
and logistics, there we are,
ها نحن ذا،
from the local community
spread over 50 buildings,
of the calligraphy
there some orange.
وبعض البرتقالي.
on the top of the buildings
and disassembling those same lifts
the different buildings.
buildings on my sketch,
على رسمي الأولي،
with the community.
became family names.
was the house of Uncle Ibrahim.
an enthusiastic person.
saved me from his bull
on the fourth floor.
and came out on the balcony.
وخرج من الشرفة.
hanging out on the balcony
go to the mountain for 10 years,
منذ 10 سنين،
who will stop the garbage?
من سيوقف القمامة؟
at the end of the project,
to look at the piece.
to see his house painted,
was a project of peace and --
of peace and unity
towards the project changed,
the community changed also,
is disgusted by is not theirs.
ليست قمامتهم.
They live from the garbage.
هم يعيشون من القمامة.
of this whole project?
a place by bringing art to it.
عن طريق جلب فن إليه.
and opening a dialogue
with communities that we don’t know.
on the mountain to look at the piece.
إلى القطعة.
every day made my realize
كل يوم جعلني أدرك
this anamorphic piece.
the real image of somebody,
to work in such environments,
while you paint
وأنت ترسم،
to reach a lift.
لتصل إلى الرافعة.
of the heights, the swinging lifts,
والرافعات المتأرجحة،
of not finishing on time.
في الوقت المحدد.
made us forget everything.
of Uncle Bakheet and Aunty Fareeda.
العم بخيت والخالة فريدة.
this expression that says, "Ahsen Nas,"
in front of their houses,
by the kids of Manshiyat Naser.
refusing anything we were offering them,
أي شيء نقدمه لهم،
their kids to refuse anything
أن يرفضوا أي شيء
needs it more than they do.
was the ideal context
our level of misconception
based on their differences.
on Uncle Ibrahim's house
على منزل العم إبراهيم
that hold the lifts.
and Aunty Fareeda
a project of peace and unity,
سلام ووحدة،
that people were coming together.
كانت تجتمع مع بعضها.
with a smile, offering us a drink
ويقدمون لنا مشروبًا
own house for lunch.
at the first level of a building,
and offers you some tea.
on the second floor.
as I did in Egypt.
كما شربت في مصر.
we could have finished earlier,
كان بإمكاننا أن ننهي المشروع مبكرًا،
because of all those tea breaks.
كل استراحات الشاي هذه.
which is "Nawartouna,"
وهي "نورتونا"،
they were always telling us this.
ما يقولونها لنا.
for the calligraphy
في كتابة الخط
we rented some black light projectors
استأجرنا كاشفات ضوئية سوداء
who brought light to us.
are strong, honest, hard workers,
ومجتهدون،
call them "the Zabaleen,"
the people of Manshiyat Naser
who produce the garbage, not them.
وليسوا هم.
to this community,
من تركوا أثرًا في حياتنا.
who left something in our lives.
was just a pretext
وستتلاشى،
will disappear, vanish,
who is building a second floor
and paint over it.
that we should all think about
التي علينا جميعا أن نفكر بها
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