Renowned Calligraffitist eL Seed to Exhibit For the First Time in Cairo

There are certain sights that carry inarguable beauty – they capture you, heart and soul. That's the feeling that captivated us back in March when photos began circling of an unprecedented art project in Manshiyat Naser, garnering coverage from international media coverage from The New York Times to BBC. That's when all of Egypt celebrated the brilliance of Paris-born French-Tunisian calligraffitist eL Seed, who's coming back for his first ever exhibit in Egypt kicking off on December 6th at 6 PM at Art Talks in Zamalek.The unconventional artist's thriving career began with drawing, sketching, and spray-painting walls throughout the streets of Paris, which were his first steps in mastering the art of 'calligraffiti' – an art form that goes back to the 70s, combining street art and Arabic calligraphy. His self-funded project in Manshiyet Naser brought life to 7aret el Zabaleen with a touch magical enough to dust the misery off the small ghetto and show how a bit of colourfulness is all it needed to shine. Wrapped up with a quote by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria – a revered Coptic Bishop from the 3rd century – saying "Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first," eL Seed really did wipe our eyes with his work.This wasn't his first huge project, as eL Seed's works of perfection cover up walls, buildings, museums, galleries, and mosques the world over, from streets to exhibitions to road tunnels. He's even laid down his magic on the fashion industry, collaborating with Luis Vuitton for whom he set designs for scarves. Now, after falling in love with Cairo, he's bringing some of his stellar work to our homeland for the first time at ArtTalks, which for years has brought together a plethora of art pieces made by the hands of some of the most renowned artists, Egyptian and foreign. We, for one, are stoked – especially since we get to meet the talented eL Seed himself on opening night.

Will you be there?