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

Translator: Clement Cheung Reviewer: Alan Watson

In 2012, when I painted the minaret of Jara Mosque

2012 年

我响我家鄉，突尼斯嘅加貝斯

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

幫哈拉清真寺髹油嗰陣

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

從來都冇諗過

塗鴉可以令咁多人關注一個城市

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

我最初純粹想喺鄉下搵一幅牆

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

無意間得知

呢座尖塔自 1994 年起好之後

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

幅 57 米高嘅石屎牆 18 年嚟都冇粉飾過

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

我第一次同教長見面嗰時

我講佢知我嘅諗法

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

佢就話:「謝天謝地，你終於嚟喇！」

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

佢同我講

咁多年嚟，佢都希望有人粉飾幅牆

to do something on it.

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

最正嘅係

呢個教長冇問過我任何嘢

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

無論係畫乜，定係我想寫乜

In every work that I create, I write messages

每次我創作塗鴉

我都會用一種屬於我嘅風格

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

揉合咗書法同塗鴉

I use quotes or poetry.

我會引用一啲語錄或者詩句

For the minaret, I thought that the most relevant message

我諗既然係座寺廟

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

寫上可蘭經經文就最啱喇

so I picked this verse:

所以我揀咗呢句

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

「眾人啊！ 我確已從一男一女創造你們，

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

我使你們成為許多民族和宗族，

以便你們互相認識。」

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

呢句表達咗回教徒對世界大同嘅渴求

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

同傳媒所塑造嘅回教並唔一樣

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

我好鼓舞，因為家鄉嘅人好鍾意幅塗鴉

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

而各地都有報導呢幅塗鴉

from international press all around the world.

令到地方嘅人引以為傲

For the imam, it was not just the painting;

對教長嚟講，呢幅唔止係塗鴉

it was really deeper than that.

背後意義深遠得多

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

教長希望尖塔可以 代表到呢個城市

and attract people to this forgotten place of Tunisia.

吸引人到訪呢個 被遺忘嘅突尼斯小城

The universality of the message,

塗鴉所盛載嘅信念

the political context of Tunisia at this time,

突尼斯而家嘅局勢

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

同埋我嘅可蘭經塗鴉

were not insignificant.

全部都意義重大

It reunited the community.

因為佢哋將人凝聚起嚟

Bringing people, future generations,

我好想帶領群眾同下一代

together through Arabic calligraphy

一齊領略阿拉伯文嘅書法

is what I do.

Writing messages is the essence of my artwork.

文字訊息係我創作嘅精髓

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

有趣嘅係

連講阿拉伯話嘅人

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

都要花時間思考我寫嘅訊息

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

即使睇唔明，亦可以心領神會

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

我諗阿拉伯文字就係未見其字

就已經可以同我哋嘅靈魂接觸

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

當中嘅美麗，超越一切語言

Arabic script speaks to anyone, I believe;

阿拉伯嘅文字會向人說話

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

向你，向你，向你，向所有人

and then when you get the meaning,

當你掌握到段文字嘅意思

you feel connected to it.

你會馬上心領神會

I always make sure to write messages

我次次髹油都同自己講

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

寫嘅訊息要同個地方有關

but messages that have a universal dimension,

但同時要關乎整個世界

so anybody around the world can connect to it.

以至全世界嘅人都有所共鳴

I was born and raised in France, in Paris,

我喺巴黎出世同長大

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

我 18 歲嗰年開始學阿拉伯文

Today I only write messages in Arabic.

而家我只會用阿拉伯文創作

One of the reasons this is so important to me,

呢種堅持之所以咁重要

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

係源於各地嘅人向我表達過嘅感受

In Rio de Janeiro, I translated this Portuguese poem

喺里約熱內盧

我翻譯過一篇

詩人 Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa 嘅詩

from Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa,

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

詩歌頌揚貧民窟嘅人

and then I painted it on the rooftop.

然後我將呢首詩寫咗喺天棚

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

當地人初初唔明我做緊乜

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

但當我解釋咗首詩畀佢哋聽

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

佢哋好感動

因為覺得有所共鳴

In South Africa, in Cape Town,

喺南非開普敦嘅菲歷彼貧民窟

the local community of Philippi

offered me the only concrete wall of the slum.

裡面唯一嘅石屎牆， 就係學校嘅外牆

It was a school, and I wrote on it

我寫咗一句曼德拉嘅名言

a quote from Nelson Mandela,

saying, "[in Arabic],"

就係「 [ 阿拉伯文 ] 」

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

意思係「人成功前，總認定會失敗」

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

然係有個人走嚟問︰

「做乜唔用英文寫啫？」

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

我就答佢：「我會聽你講嘅，

如果你係問我 點解唔用祖魯文寫嘅話。」

why I didn't write in Zulu."

In Paris, once, there was this event,

巴黎曾經有一個活動

and someone gave his wall to be painted.

有個人想人哋為佢髹牆

And when he saw I was painting in Arabic,

當佢見我喺牆上 用阿拉伯文字塗鴉嘅時候

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

佢成個人癲咗，失控咁滯

並且要求鏟走幅塗鴉

I was mad and disappointed.

嗰刻我又嬲又失望

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

過咗一個禮拜，統籌單位叫我返去

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

話我知嗰個人間屋係對住一幅牆

So, this guy --

所以，呢個人…

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

like, was forced to see it every day.

就被逼日日對住幅塗鴉

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

起初，我喺幅牆度寫 [ 阿拉伯文 ]

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

即係解「就喺你面前」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

之後我靈機一觸

寫咗做「[ 阿拉伯文 ]」

which means, "Open your heart."

解「打開心扉」

I'm really proud of my culture,

我為我嘅文化而自豪

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

我希望用藝術去宣揚我嘅文化

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

我希望借助美麗嘅阿拉伯文字

with the beauty of Arabic script.

去打破大家嘅成見

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

今日，我唔再喺牆上翻譯我嘅文字

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

我唔想破壞書法同詩歌嘅美

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

詩係藝術，唔需要言明，亦感悟得到

as you can enjoy any music from other countries.

正如我哋會聽唔同語言嘅音樂一樣

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

有人認為咁樣係製造緊隔膜

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

但我反而覺得係一個邀請

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

邀請大家去體會我嘅母語、文化同創作

Thank you.

多謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）