eL Seed’s Incredible West Philly Mural

Finally got a chance to see eL Seed‘s finished mural in West Philly, at Market and Preston streets. (You may remember I posted a progress shot of the mural on Facebook last month.) It’s stunning!

eL Seed is a world–renowned artist and writer whose style combines classic Arabic calligraphy with graffiti. This – his first mural in Philly – was created with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture and Mural Arts Philadelphia, a part of Al-Bustan’s (DIS)PLACED: Philadelphia initiative. A project, which over 18 months will be exploring the theme of displacement across Philadelphia’s diverse communities from the perspectives of four artists-in-residence of Arab heritage.

Before planning his work for (DIS)PLACED: Philadelphia, eL Seed and Al-Bustan met with members of the West Philly community in which his new mural would live. And after those meetings, eL Seed decided to paint the following quote from W. E. B. Du Bois: “I believe that all men, black and brown and white, are brothers, varying through time and opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and the possibility of infinite development.”

Click here to hear more about this new mural and his other works around the world in my interview with eL Seed for the 5th Episode of the Streets Dept Podcast!