Artist El Seed’s Mural In City Walk Is A Landmark Moment For Culture In Dubai

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When people say Dubai doesn’t have a culture, they are not talking about Dubai not having different cultures here. How could the? This is a melting pot of over 206 nationalities and we need culture infused with so many different festivities celebrated all the time. For example, today Russian’s are celebrating Christmas in Dubai. They are also not talking about the UAE having culture, you only have to go to the cultural museum to see the bedouin history. So what are they talking about? We don’t see things like street art and stories of the city visual as we go about our daily lives like you would in other cities. 

That is changing all the time. Look at the sheep in D3, or the street art exhibition that comes ever year, or what was done for National Day. But sometimes there is a moment when all that is brought home. When a famous artist creates something iconic. That moment may just have happened at the end of 2016.

This mural was painted in City Walk by el Seed 

Who is el Seed?

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.

Here he is giving a ted talk

‘eL Seed is known for his symphonies of colours and shapes’

“eL Seed’s art adorns walls across every continent. Weaving together traditions from differing artistic spheres, eL Seed is known for his symphonies of colours and shapes. Classic wild style graffiti techniques spell out letters from the Arabic alphabet, which eL Seed skillfully sculpts into breathtaking artistic creations. Difficult to decipher, each composition calls not only on the words and their meaning, but also on their movement, to lure the viewer into a different state of mind. Working primarily with subjects that seem contradictory, eL Seed’s art reflects the reality of our human condition.”

Description on the artists Facebook page

His latest master piece is a sprawling mural in the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood of Cairo that spans 50 buildings and can only be viewed from a local mountaintop

el Seed thanked all those who had supported him in 2016 with this grateful Facebook post

For 2017, it is said that eL Seed is preparing a work at Dubai Creek… watch this space

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