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

Translator: Miriam Castro Huerga Reviewer: Carme Paz

In 2012, when I painted the minaret of Jara Mosque

En 2012, cando pintei o minarete da mesquita de Jara

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

na miña cidade natal de Gabés, ao sur de Tunisia,

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

nunca imaxinei que o graffiti puidese atraer tanta atención a unha cidade.

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

Ao principio, só buscaba un muro na miña cidade,

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

e o minarete construírase no 94.

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

E durante 18 anos, eses 57 metros de formigón permaneceron grises.

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

Cando coñecín o imán por primeira vez, e lle dixen o que quería facer,

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

respondeu: "Grazas a Deus que apareciches por fin",

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

e contoume que levaba anos esperando que chegara alguén

to do something on it.

que fixese algo con el.

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

O máis sorprendente deste imán foi que non me pediu nada,

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

nin un bosquexo nin o que ía escribir.

In every work that I create, I write messages

En cada traballo que creo, escribo mensaxes

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

con meu estilo de "caligraffiti", unha mestura de caligrafía e graffiti.

I use quotes or poetry.

Uso citas ou poesía.

For the minaret, I thought that the most relevant message

Para o minarete, pensei que a mensaxe máis relevante

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

para unha mesquita debería proceder do Corán,

so I picked this verse:

así que escollín esta estrofa:

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

"Oh, humanos, creámosvos dun home e dunha muller,

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

e fixémosvos pobos e tribos para que vos puiderades coñecer."

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

Era unha chamada universal á paz, á tolerancia e á aceptación,

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

partindo de que non acostumamos ter unha boa imaxe nos medios.

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

Sorprendeume ver como reaccionou a comunidade local perante a pintura,

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

e o orgullo que sentían ao ver que o minarete recibía tanta atención

from international press all around the world.

da prensa internacional do mundo enteiro.

For the imam, it was not just the painting;

Para o imán, non era só unha pintura;

it was really deeper than that.

era más profundo que iso.

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

Esperaba que este minarete fose un monumento para a cidade,

and attract people to this forgotten place of Tunisia.

e atraese xente a este lugar esquecido de Tunisia.

The universality of the message,

A universalidade da mensaxe,

the political context of Tunisia at this time,

o contexto político de Tunisia nese momento,

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

o feito de que estaba escribindo o Corán en estilo de graffiti

were not insignificant.

non carecían de significado.

It reunited the community.

Reuniu a comunidade.

Bringing people, future generations,

Reunir xente, futuras xeracións,

together through Arabic calligraphy

a través da caligrafía árabe

is what I do.

é o que fago.

Writing messages is the essence of my artwork.

Escribir mensaxes é a esencia do meu traballo.

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

O que é gracioso é que incluso a xente que fala árabe

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

precisa concentrarse moito para descifrar o que estou a escribir.

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

Non fai falla coñecer o significado para sentir a peza.

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

Creo que a grafía árabe toca a alma antes de chegar aos ollos.

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

Hai beleza nela que non precisa tradución.

Arabic script speaks to anyone, I believe;

A grafía árabe fálalles a todos, creo;

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

a ti, a ti, a ti, a todo o mundo,

and then when you get the meaning,

e cando entendes o significado,

you feel connected to it.

sénteste conectado con ela.

I always make sure to write messages

Sempre me aseguro de escribir mensaxes

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

que sexan relevantes para o lugar onde pinto,

but messages that have a universal dimension,

pero que sexan mensaxes cunha dimensión universal,

so anybody around the world can connect to it.

para que o mundo enteiro poida conectar con elas.

I was born and raised in France, in Paris,

Nacín e crieime en Francia, en París,

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

e comecei a aprender a ler e escribir árabe aos 18 anos.

Today I only write messages in Arabic.

Hoxe só escribo mensaxes en árabe.

One of the reasons this is so important to me,

Unha das razóns polas que isto é tan importante para min

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

é por todas as reaccións que recibín polo mundo.

In Rio de Janeiro, I translated this Portuguese poem

No Río de Xaneiro, traducín este poema portugués

from Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa,

de Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa,

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

que é unha homenaxe á xente pobre da favela,

and then I painted it on the rooftop.

e despois pinteino nunha terraza.

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

A comunidade local estaba intrigada co que estaba a facer,

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

mais tan axiña como lles dei o significado da caligrafía,

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

agradecéronmo porque se sentiron conectados coa peza.

In South Africa, in Cape Town,

En Suráfrica, en Cidade do Cabo,

the local community of Philippi

a comunidade local de Philippi

offered me the only concrete wall of the slum.

ofreceume o único muro de formigón do suburbio.

It was a school, and I wrote on it

Era unha escola e escribín nela

a quote from Nelson Mandela,

unha cita de Nelson Mandela,

saying, "[in Arabic],"

que dicía: [en árabe],

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

que significa "Parece imposible ata que se fai."

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

Un día, achegóuseme un tipo e díxome: "Por que non escribes en inglés?"

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

e eu respondinlle: "Consideraría lexítima a túa preocupación se me preguntases

why I didn't write in Zulu."

por que non escribo en zulú".

In Paris, once, there was this event,

Unha vez, nun acto en París

and someone gave his wall to be painted.

alguén ofreceu o seu muro para pintalo.

And when he saw I was painting in Arabic,

Cando viu que eu estaba a pintar en árabe,

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

toleou, --de feito, púxose histérico-- e pediu que se borrase a parede.

I was mad and disappointed.

Eu estaba enfadado e decepcionado.

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

Mais, unha semana despois, o organizador do acto pediume que regresara,

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

e díxome que había un muro xusto en fronte da casa dese tipo.

So, this guy --

Así que, ese tipo...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

like, was forced to see it every day.

ía ter que velo á forza todos os días.

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

Ao comezo, ía escribir: [en árabe],

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

que significa "Na túa cara", pero...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

Decidín ser máis elegante e escribín "[en árabe]",

which means, "Open your heart."

que significa "Abre o teu corazón."

I'm really proud of my culture,

Estou moi orgulloso da miña cultura,

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

e tento ser un embaixador a través da miña arte.

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

Espero poder romper os estereotipos que todos coñecemos,

with the beauty of Arabic script.

coa beleza da grafía árabe.

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

Hoxe en día, xa non escribo a tradución da mensaxe no muro.

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

Non quero romper a poesía da caligrafía.

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

e como é arte podes apreciala sen coñecer o significado,

as you can enjoy any music from other countries.

igual que podes gozar da música doutros países.

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

Hai xente que o ve como un rexeitamento ou unha porta pechada,

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

mais, para min, é máis unha invitación

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

á miña lingua, á miña cultura, á miña arte.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)