Dubai's Design Disruptors - Declaration by eL Seed
Hear from some of the designers who are disrupting Dubai's design landscape.
el Seed Declaration Art 10 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
eL Seed is a French-Tunisian multimedia artist, whose work is rooted in the art of calligraphy. His artworks, displayed on global city walls, serve to communicate purposeful messages, as each stroke of the letters and words seek to build an affinity with the viewer.
Such works of public art can profoundly influence a city, revitalizing public spaces, commemorating historical milestones and inspiring hope for the future.
el Seed Declaration Art 05 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
Background to Declaration, Dubai Opera, Downtown Dubai
The first three-dimensional work by the artist, the concept was initially conceived and displayed at Tashkeel, Dubai in 2014.
Understood to be a declaration of love to Arabic Calligraphy, this piece additionally declares el Seed’s love and gratitude to the city of Dubai, the city that he calls home.
The words that form the sculpture are taken from a quotation by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai: “Art in all its colours and types reflects the culture of the nations, their history and civilization”.
el Seed Declaration Art 09 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
El Seed uses significant quotations and poems as the basis of his work, displaying his love for the ancient art of calligraphy but also its relevance to us today.
His messages, adorned on public walls all around the world, are created with the intent to communicate, each stroke of a letter or word seeking to build an affinity with each person who views it.
el Seed Declaration Art 04 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
On the walls of Dubai Opera, he has built his first three-dimensional sculptural work. It can be read as a conversation between language, art, and the viewer. Bringing his art into 3D was a way to allow it to materialize.
The work is still tied to his instinctive visual language, but by releasing the letter forms he has discovered new territories for expression that celebrate and elaborate his deep respect and love for culture in public space.
el Seed Declaration Art 06 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
eL Seed
eL Seed (born 1981, France) is a French-Tunisian multimedia artist who fuses the beauty of Arabic calligraphy with the roughness of graffiti, by writing on walls. He writes messages relevant to the community where he creates his artwork.
The wall is a pretext to open conversation with the public. After a wall is complete, the conversation exists only between the viewer and the art piece. The essence of his work is rooted in the ancient art of Arabic Calligraphy.
eL Seed is a contemporary artist whose practice crosses the discipline of painting and sculpture. He uses the wisdom of writers, poets and philosophers from around the world to convey messages of peace and to underline the commonalities of human existence.
el Seed Declaration Art 03 by Dubai Culture by Dubai CultureDubai Culture & Arts Authority
He uses his art as an echo of the stories of the communities that he meets around the world, and aims to connect and amplify their voices. Whenever he works within a community, he spends a long time learning and being inspired by residents of the community,
researching locations to find the best places to present an art installation that reflects the voice of the community. He is working within and to underline his key principals, of love, respect, and tolerance.
His work has been shown in exhibitions and in public places all over the world including most notably on the facade of L'institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, on the DMZ between North and South Korea,
in the slums of Cape Town and in the heart of Cairo’s garbage collectors neighbourhood. In 2021, eL Seed was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the Young Global Leaders, for his vision and influence to drive positive change in the world.
In 2019, he won “The international award for public art” for his project in Cairo Perception.
In 2017, he won the Unesco Sharjah prize for Arab Culture. He was named a global Thinker in 2016 by Foreign Policy for his project Perception.
In 2015, the international organisation TED recognised him as one of the year’s TED Fellows, for advocating peaceful expression and social progress through his work. He has also collaborated with Louis Vuitton on their famous Foulard d’artistes.
