eL Seed in Sharjah
The acclaimed French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed, known all over the world for his calligraffiti adorns the wall of Sharjah Bank Street.
The project is conceived by Maraya in aid of beautifying Sharjah’s streets in order to attract more tourists to the Emirates while involving Sharjah’s diverse youth population with the arts, consists of an elaborate painted calligraphy-styled mural on the walls of the Sharjah Bank Street building by eL Seed.
eL Seed has been busy painting the Sharjah Bank Street wall from first light till sundown. To face the vertical challenge of the enormous facade, he is secured in a harness and rappels and abseils around the building – spray-painting, stencilling and creating the mammoth masterpiece in plain public sight.
eL Seed is famous for his unique style of calligraphy, fusing elements of both the graffiti and Arabic calligraphic traditions, which uses complex design to call not only on the words and their meaning, but also on their movement and flow, luring the viewer into an alternate frame of mind.
The artist found inspiration for the Sharjah art piece in a beautiful poem by acclaimed Iraqi poet Ahmed Bu Snida, which became a well known and beloved poem in Sharjah.
Maraya Art Centre Manager Giuseppe Moscatello, remarked “Street art adds a new dimension to the urban landscape, transforming walls into canvasses that celebrate the culture of the people who inhabit the space. It is a wonderful way to not only add beauty to the everyday but to create a dialogue between the man on the street and the world of art and we look forward to engaging the community and especially the youth in this ongoing project.”
eL Seed (b. 1981, France) is a French-Tunisian street artist, is currently based in Montreal, whose works incorporate traditional Arabic calligraphy. His art, born on the streets of Paris, now adorns well-known locations and landmarks all over the world.
eL Seed’s art has been shown in exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, São Paulo, Chicaco, and Dubai, and he has also painted murals on the walls of various cities including Melbourne, London, and Toronto, in addition to various Tunisian cities. He has also held workshops and demonstrations at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar and at Harvard University.
