EL SEED
EL SEED
eL Seed uses Arabic calligraphy and a distinctive style to spread messages of peace, unity and to underline the commonalities of human existence. His artwork can be found all over the world and consistently aim at unifying communities and redressing stereotypes.
Born in 1981 in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed was distanced from his Arab roots, speaking only Tunisian dialect at home. During his teenage years, in a sort of quest for his identity, he began to delve deeper into his heritage, learning to read and write standard Arabic. It was during this journey that he started developing his calligraphic artistic style, which would later bring him worldwide acclaim. eL Seed discovered that Arabic calligraphy is an excellent way to build a connection between his equally important French and Tunisian origins; over time, the artist began using this same calligraphy to build bridges between all countries of the world. Whenever he works with a community, eL Seed spends much of his time searching for the right quote, one that can encapsulate the voice of the community he is working with and highlight the key concepts of his poetics, such as love, respect, and tolerance.
His works are part of important institutional collections, namely the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and the Chrysler Museum in Virginia.
eL Seed has been exhibiting in shows and in public places all over the world including Nepal’s installation celebrating women strength, “Mirage” in Saudi Arabia’s desert, the facade of “Institut du monde Arabe” in Paris, on the DMZ between North and South Korea and in the heart of Cairo’s garbage collectors neighborhood.
In 2021, eL Seed was selected by the World Economic Forums as one of the Young Global Leader 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 organization TED recognized 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.”
Latest projects: Outside the Cube, Pirelli HangarBicocca, 2024; Art is a pretext, elSeed x MET, 2022; Secrets of Time, Forever is Now Edition II, Piramidi di Giza, 2022; Expo 2020, Dubai, 2021; Like Her, 2021; Mirage, Arabia Saudita, 2020; The Journey, Libano, 2019.
