eL Seed’s Epic Cairo Mural

Paying homage to the garbage collectors of Cairo Egypt is laudable. Doing it in a massive, sprawling mural spanning more than fifty buildings is something else entirely. Tunisian-born artist known as eL Seed recently completed this enormous project, which took weeks to paint by hand, harnessed to rickety scaffolding and ladders.  In a city that cracks down on public art, eL Seed chose a forsaken area of Cairo called Manshiyat Naser to create this entirely self-funded mural project.  Home to many of Egypt’s garbage collectors, the mural looks fragmented until seen from above, where it forms a beautiful circle of blue, orange, and white. Make sure to click the image to see detail of this amazing work. Via The New York Times, hat tip to Judy C. 

Spelled out in Arabic calligraphy, the mural quotes: “If one wants to see the light of the sun, he must wipe his eyes.”

Proof that art matters, deeply.