French-Tunisian calligraphy artist eL Seed’s works are equal parts craftsmanship and call to humanism. As his medium of work is Arabic, the language of Quran, it also evokes theology, which in fact has been the intention of the artist on some occasions.
His acclaimed work - and which first brought him into prominence - was calligraphy of a verse from the Muslim holy book. “Oh humankind, we have created you from a male and a female, and made you people and tribe, so you may know each other” - eL Seed inked beautifully in black and white on a minaret of a Tunisian mosque in Gabes, the artist’s hometown.
Since then eL Seed’s work appeared in many parts of the world. Between commissioned work and his own projects, eL Seed makes trips to different countries to choose the location of his next work. This time, the internationally renowned artist has chosen Bangladesh, where he just finished a brief visit in June.
“In every two/three years I pick a location for my project. I go to the place and try to get a feeling of the environment,” eL Seed said while he was in Dhaka.
Location is very important for a calligraphic work, he said. It functions as one of the three ‘layers’ in his particular type of art.
The first is the outward aesthetic of the piece, how it appears to the eyes of the viewer, eL Seed explained. Since calligraphy is written words, the second layer to a work is what it says. And the final is why the work is placed where it is.
These aspects are very important to eL Seed, the location especially given his works are meant to be permanently placed, as opposed to being exhibited for a limited time.
