Here we are at the Tashkeel booth in Art Dubai. You have projects around the world, a documentary on your work being released, and you’ve just designed a scarf with Louis Vuitton. Tell us, how did everything begin?
I grew up in Paris. I discovered graffiti at the same time that I discovered breakdancing—it was towards the end of the 90s. At that time I was more serious about dancing than graffiti, but I was always painting, ever since I was a kid. And then, around the age of 16, I got my first can of spray paint.
Now, growing up, I wasn’t reading or writing in Arabic and I only spoke “Derja” (Tunisian spoken Arabic). Having been raised by Tunisian parents in Paris, I always felt an inner conflict about my identity. One day, I decided to be Tunisian and knew that in order to be truly Arab, I needed to know the language. And so in 2000, I began taking intense language courses in the evenings and that’s when I then discovered Arabic calligraphy.
At that time, I had stopped doing graffiti and I thought: “If I am going to start again, I want to do something different and integrate Arabic calligraphy with the graffiti that I used to do.“
Who are your personal masters and references?
An Arabic calligrapher that I consider to be a master is Hassan Massoudy. He is the first person who started to break the rules in the world of calligraphy. He is the first artist who introduced color into this very conservative medium.
Other references in the world of graffiti include Hest1 who is French but is currently living in Indonesia.
And Shuck2. He is one of the biggest French calligraffiti artists. He started out in the ‘90s but then he was insulted by a calligraphy artist and simply stopped.
Are there any calligraphers that got offended by you taking it to the streets?
For sure! Even standing right behind me now as I am talking to you, there is one who doesn’t like me. I am doing something different and that scares people.
eL Seed Untiled 4 (Secrets and Mysteries Collection) courtesy of Tashkeel and Karim Jabbari
What can you teach us about the calligraffiti movement?
Calligraphy is an art that is transmitted from teacher to student. It’s really a monopoly that is cultivated. “Only I do it.”
But why not launch a movement? This is a renaissance of an Islamic art.
Calligraffiti is a movement that actually started in 1979. A lot of people think that I created this word—and actually everyone who does calligraffiti thinks that they invented the word—but in fact, in 1979, an exhibition was launched in New York called “Calligraffiti” and that is where it comes from.
Calligraffiti is a graffiti technique that integrates calligraphy, as we know it—the Latin and Arabic forms, but the writing instrument is a can of spray paint. And, it is done in the street, never on paper.
Do you think of Islam when you do this?
Of course. You cannot take Islam out of calligraphy. You can’t disassociate it. This is a sacred art, even though we are not writing passages from the Koran.
