Street Art for Hope and Peace | eL Seed | TED Talks

Translator: Maider Lizoain Reviewer: Jone Aliri Lazcano

In 2012, when I painted the minaret of Jara Mosque

2012an, Jara mezkitako minaretea margotu nuenean

in my hometown of Gabés, in the south of Tunisia,

nire Gabés herrian, Tunisia hegoaldean,

I never thought that graffiti would bring so much attention to a city.

ez nuen inolaz ere uste graffitiak horren arreta handia eman ahal zionik hiri bati.

At the beginning, I was just looking for a wall in my hometown,

Hasieran, herriko pareta bat bilatzen ari nintzen besterik gabe

and it happened that the minaret was built in '94.

eta kontua da minaretea 1994an eraiki zela.

And for 18 years, those 57 meters of concrete stayed grey.

18 urtez 57 metroko hormigoi zati hori grisa izan zen.

When I met the imam for the first time, and I told him what I wanted to do,

Imama lehen aldiz ezagutu nuenean eta nire asmoa azaldu nionean,

he was like, "Thank God you finally came,"

bere erreakzioa hau izan zen: «Eskerrak azkenean etorri zaren»

and he told me that for years he was waiting for somebody

Urteak zeramatzan paretan zerbait egingo zuen norbaiten zain.

to do something on it.

The most amazing thing about this imam is that he didn't ask me anything --

Imamaren alderik harrigarriena zera zen, ez zidala deus eskatu --

neither a sketch, or what I was going to write.

ez zirriborrorik, ez zer idazteko asmoa nuen ere.

In every work that I create, I write messages

Sortzen ditudan lan guztietan, mezuak idazten ditut

with my style of calligraffiti -- a mix of calligraphy and graffiti.

nire kaligraffiti estiloarekin -- kaligrafia eta graffitiaren arteko nahasketa.

I use quotes or poetry.

Zitak edo poesia erabiltzen ditut.

For the minaret, I thought that the most relevant message

Minaretearen kasuan, mezkita batean jartzeko mezurik egokiena

to be put on a mosque should come from the Quran,

Koranekoa izan behar zuela uste nuen

so I picked this verse:

ahapaldi hau hartu nuen beraz:

"Oh humankind, we have created you from a male and a female,

«Oh gizadia, gizon eta emakumeetatik sortu zaitugu,

and made you people and tribe, so you may know each other."

eta jendea eta tribua egin dizkizugu, elkar ezagutu dezazuen».

It was a universal call for peace, tolerance, and acceptance

Dei unibertsala zen bakeari, tolerantziari eta onarpenari

coming from the side that we don't usually portray in a good way in the media.

komunikabideetan normalean modu txarrean irudikatzen den eremutik zetorrena.

I was amazed to see how the local community reacted to the painting,

Harrituta gelditu nintzen komunitatearen erreakzioa ikustean,

and how it made them proud to see the minaret getting so much attention

eta nola sentitzen ziren harro minaretea jasotzen ari zen atentzioaz

from international press all around the world.

munduko prentsan.

For the imam, it was not just the painting;

Imamaren ustez, ez zen soilik margolana;

it was really deeper than that.

hori baino askoz sakonagoa zen.

He hoped that this minaret would become a monument for the city,

Minaretea hiriko monumentu bihurtuko zelako itxaropena zeukan,

and attract people to this forgotten place of Tunisia.

eta jendea erakarriko zuelakoa Tunisiako toki ahaztu hartara.

The universality of the message,

Mezuaren unibertsaltasuna,

the political context of Tunisia at this time,

garaiko Tunisiako testuinguru politikoa,

and the fact that I was writing Quran in a graffiti way

eta Korana graffiti moduan idatzi izana

were not insignificant.

ez ziren gauza hutsalak.

It reunited the community.

Komunitatea berriro elkartu zuten.

Bringing people, future generations,

Jendea, etorkizuneko belaunaldiak, batu

together through Arabic calligraphy

kaligrafia arabiarraren bidez;

is what I do.

hori da egiten dudana.

Writing messages is the essence of my artwork.

Mezuak idaztea da nire artearen funtsa.

What is funny, actually, is that even Arabic-speaking people

Barregarria dena, berez, zera da, arabiar hiztunak ere

really need to focus a lot to decipher what I'm writing.

asko kontzentratu behar direla idazten dudana deszifratzeko.

You don't need to know the meaning to feel the piece.

Ez duzu esanahia jakin behar pieza sentitzeko.

I think that Arabic script touches your soul before it reaches your eyes.

Uste dut idazkera arabiarrak arima ukitzen duela begietara iritsi aurretik.

There is a beauty in it that you don't need to translate.

Itzuli behar ez den edertasuna dauka.

Arabic script speaks to anyone, I believe;

Idazkera arabiarra edonori mintzatzen zaiolakoan nago;

to you, to you, to you, to anybody,

zuri, zuri, zuri, edonori,

and then when you get the meaning,

eta esanahia harrapatzen duzuenan,

you feel connected to it.

horri konektatuta sentitzen zara.

I always make sure to write messages

Beti ziurtatzen dut idazten ditudan mezuak

that are relevant to the place where I'm painting,

margotzen ari naizen tokiarentzat egokiak direla,

but messages that have a universal dimension,

baita dimentsio unibertsala daukaten mezuak izatea

so anybody around the world can connect to it.

edonor konektatu ahal izateko.

I was born and raised in France, in Paris,

Frantzian, Parisen jaio eta hazi nintzen

and I started learning how to write and read Arabic when I was 18.

eta arabieraz idazten eta irakurtzen ikasten hasi nintzen 18 urterekin.

Today I only write messages in Arabic.

Orain arabieraz soilik idazten ditut mezuak.

One of the reasons this is so important to me,

Hori oso garrantzitsua da niretzat, eta, arrazoietako bat

is because of all the reaction that I've experienced all around the world.

munduan zehar bizi izan ditudan erreakzioak dira.

In Rio de Janeiro, I translated this Portuguese poem

Rio de Janeiron, poema portugaldar hau itzuli nuen

from Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa,

Gabriela Tôrres Barbosak

who was giving an homage to the poor people of the favela,

faveletako behartsuen omenez idatzi zuena,

and then I painted it on the rooftop.

eta, gero, zabaltzan margotu nuen.

The local community were really intrigued by what I was doing,

Komunitateak jakinmina zeukan nire lanaz,

but as soon as I gave them the meaning of the calligraphy,

baina kaligrafiaren esanahia azaldu bezain pronto,

they thanked me, as they felt connected to the piece.

eskerrak eman zizkidaten, piezarekin konektatu balute bezala.

In South Africa, in Cape Town,

Hegoafrikan, Lurmutur Hirian,

the local community of Philippi

Philippiko biztanleek

offered me the only concrete wall of the slum.

auzo pobreko hormigoi pareta bakarra eskaini zidaten.

It was a school, and I wrote on it

Eskola bat zen, eta paretan idatzi nuen

a quote from Nelson Mandela,

Nelson Mandelaren zita bat,

saying, "[in Arabic],"

zera zioena, «[arabieraz]»,

which means, "It seems impossible until it's done."

«Ezinezkoa dirudi, egiten den arte».

Then this guy came to me and said, "Man, why you don't write in English?"

Orduan, gizon bat hurbildu zitzaidan galdtuz «Aizu, zergatik ez duzu ingelesez idatzi?»

and I replied to him, "I would consider your concern legit if you asked me

eta nire erantzuna, «Zure kezka legezkoa irudituko litzaidake

why I didn't write in Zulu."

zergatik ez dudan zulueraz idatzi galdetuko bazenit».

In Paris, once, there was this event,

Parisen, behin, ekitaldi batean,

and someone gave his wall to be painted.

pareta bat utzi zidan norbaitek margotzeko.

And when he saw I was painting in Arabic,

Eta arabieraz margotzen ari nintzela ikusi zuenean,

he got so mad -- actually, hysterical -- and he asked for the wall to be erased.

erotu egin zen -- histeriko jarri zen -- eta pareta garbitzeko eskatu zidan.

I was mad and disappointed.

Oso haserre eta etsita nengoen.

But a week later, the organizer of the event asked me to come back,

Baina aste bat geroago, ekitaldiaren antolatzaileak bueltatzeko eskatu zidan,

and he told me that there was a wall right in front of this guy's house.

eta tipoaren etxearen parean beste pareta bat zegoela esan zidan.

So, this guy --

Hortaz, tipoa --

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

like, was forced to see it every day.

egunero ikustera behartuta zegoen.

At the beginning, I was going to write, "[In Arabic],"

Hasieran, «[arabieraz]» idaztekotan egon nintzen;

which means, "In your face," but --

«Hire muturrean», baina --

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

I decided to be smarter and I wrote, "[In Arabic],"

Azkarragoa izatea erabaki nuen eta «[arabieraz]» idatzi nuen;

which means, "Open your heart."

«Ireki bihotza».

I'm really proud of my culture,

Izugarri harro nago nire kulturaz,

and I'm trying to be an ambassador of it through my artwork.

eta horren enbaxadore izaten saiatzen naiz nire artearen bidez.

And I hope that I can break the stereotypes we all know,

Eta espero dut guztiok ezagutzen ditugun estereotipoak hausteko gai izatea,

with the beauty of Arabic script.

idazkera arabiarraren edertasunaz.

Today, I don't write the translation of the message anymore on the wall.

Gaur egun, ez dut mezuaren itzulpena idazten paretan.

I don't want the poetry of the calligraphy to be broken,

Ez dut kaligrafiaren poesia hautsi nahi,

as it's art and you can appreciate it without knowing the meaning,

artea denez eta esanahia jakin gabe antzeman daitekeenez gero,

as you can enjoy any music from other countries.

beste herrialdeetako musikaz gozatu dezakezun heinean.

Some people see that as a rejection or a closed door,

Batzuek errefusatze edo ate itxi bat bezala ikusten dute,

but for me, it's more an invitation --

baina nire ustez, gonbidapena da --

to my language, to my culture, and to my art.

nire hizkuntzara, nire kulturara eta nire artera.

Thank you.

Eskerrik asko.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)