Sharjah building is canvas for eL Seed’s first public artwork in the UAE

Armed with bags of spray cans in shades of orange, red, yellow and pink, eL Seed has spent the best part of the last two weeks standing on a crane-supported platform working on his latest piece of calligraffiti. The completed mural – letters in the French-Tunisian artist’s distinctive style and sprayed on a striped background – now snakes up one of the walls of an abandoned building on Sharjah’s Bank Street. It is the first time the internationally renowned street artist has painted a public space in the UAE.

Art for everyone

The colourful mural is a part of a new public art initiative called Jedariya (Arabic for walls), launched by Maraya Art Centre.

“We want to create landmarks for the many diverse communities living here,” says centre director Giuseppe Moscatello. “Sharjah is home to so many different people from all over the world, yet the one thing we have in common is the public, urban space that we share,” he says. “The demography at the heart of Sharjah is very important to us.”

Marwan Al Serkal, the chief executive of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), which owns the Maraya Art Centre, says Sharjah’s public art initiative began with Maraya Art Park, which was launched in 2013 as a place to give visitors an opportunity to experience art outdoors, away from the walls of a typical art gallery.

“By bringing world-class art projects into our beautiful emirate’s public areas we want to not only foster an appreciation of the arts among all, but also attract artists and art lovers from Sharjah, the UAE, and all over the world as well as encourage and inspire young artists to develop their talents and aspire to greatness,” he says.

Original article by Anna Seaman

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Sharjah building is canvas for eL Seed’s first public artwork in the UAE