Amid the crumbling buildings and trash in a Cairo neighborhood there’s something special going on. Tunisian-French artist el Seed created a beautiful mural that spans 50 buildings.
At first glance the mural doesn’t look like anything more than just a chaotic design of graffiti, but if you stand back and read the Arabic “calligraffiti,” from a nearby hillside, it gives a powerful message: “If one wants to see the light of the sun, he must wipe his eyes.”
What you see is not what you think #perception #athanasius #zaraeeb #mubarakcha3abMasr
Posted by eL Seed on Monday, March 21, 2016
el Seed calls the piece, Perception, because he wanted people to look past the physical appearance of the area. According to the NY Times, the project took el Seed only a few weeks and was done in total secrecy from the Egyptian government due to the country’s strict rules against artistic impression.
The mural apparently caught Egyptian officials off-guard and were pleasantly surprised. The Egyptian Embassy tweeted the following:
We're totally amazed this morning by @elseedart's newest project in Manshiyat Nasr in Cairo. See for yourself: pic.twitter.com/nbMkmB5Nnb
— Embassy of Egypt USA (@EgyptEmbassyUSA) March 15, 2016
