eL Seed, a french-tunisian street artist has planned the mural for over a year. His team, had a help from the local priest, in the Cairo slum, Manshiyat Nasr, where the garbage of the city is collected and where one of the most developed and profitable recycling systems are. The neighbourhood nonetheless, still has a bad rep. An anamorphic piece rose that covered 50 buildings only visible from a certain point of the Moqattam Mountain. It uses the words of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, a Coptic bishop from the 3rd century, who says: “ He who wants to see the sunlight, one needs to wipe his eyes´´. What makes this mural special for Egypt is Cairo’s intolerance for artists. Agents are being sent to cultural centers and most recently a novelist has been prosecuted on the charges of harming ´´public morality´´.
What seemed surprising was the fact that eL Seed and Co. managed to complete the project without any interference from the police or harassment. The message is clear for Egyptian artists and citizens alike, hope is needed and it gives resilience to pass the hardest of times.
After support from the neighbourhood, through the priest and after exposing his distinctive calligraphy art in France, Brazil and Tunisia, eL Seed said the reactions in Cairo were overwhelming.
Hope was given through a controversial piece.
