Islamic graffiti is a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
created by people who usually relate to the Middle East or North Africa, using Arabic or other languages for social or political messages. It is a popular art genre created by "artists, graffiti writers, designers and typographers from the Middle East and around the world who merge Arabic calligraphy with the art of graffiti writing, street art and urban culture."
Containing social themes, this type of
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
finds expression in a variety of forms. The most common languages used are English and Arabic. Like all other forms of art, graffiti can serve as a medium for instigating political or social change, or as a form of self-expression.
Sociopolitical
Sticker art
Sticker art
Sticker art (also known as sticker bombing, sticker slapping, slap tagging, and sticker tagging) is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers. These stickers may promote a political agenda, comment o ...
refers to the practice of posting images or phrases to convey a message.
![Shop bamako posters marche fadjiguila](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Shop_bamako_posters_marche_fadjiguila.jpg)
A collaborative project called "INSIDE OUT: Artocracy in Tunisia" uses sticker art to promote the spirit of democracy in post-revolutionary Tunisia. Prior to the revolution, only presidential photography could be found in the public space. A group of six photographers, along with a French graffiti artist called JR, replaced these pictures with black and white photographs of anonymous Tunisian people. Their goal is to inspire the people of Tunisia to see themselves in a new light. One of the photographers states: "If people want to tear them down, or write something on them, that's part of the project, that's okay."
Subvertising
Subvertising
Subvertising (a portmanteau of ''subvert'' and ''advertising'') is the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. The cultural critic Mark Dery coined the term in 1991. Subvertisements are anti-ads that def ...
refers to the practice of making spoofs or parodies of political advertisements.
Princess Hijab, an anonymous street artist from Paris, paints Muslim veils on advertisements in the subway. She refers to this as "hijabisation." Since the enforcement of the "burqa ban," in which women are prohibited from wearing the burqa in public places, her art has sparked feminist and fundamentalist questions. It is not known if Princess Hijab is a Muslim or even a woman. "The real identity behind Princess Hijab is of no importance," she has been quoted. Inspired by Naomi Klein's
No Logo
''No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies'' is a book by the Canadian author Naomi Klein. First published by Knopf Canada and Picador in December 1999, shortly after the 1999 Seattle WTO protests had generated media attention around such issues ...
, she drew her first veil in 2006 on the French rapper
Diam's
Mélanie Georgiades (; born 25 July 1980 in Nicosia), better known by her stage name Diam's (), is a French rapper of Greek Cypriot origin.
Biography
Mélanie Marie Georgiades was born on July 25, 1980 in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus. Her mother ...
, who subsequently happened to convert to Islam and now wears a veil. Graffiti on the subways in Paris is considered vandalism. Consequently, Princess Hijab has become highly selective and only paints four to five advertisements a year. She chooses to combine veils with advertisements because they are both "dogmas that can be questioned."
Spray paint
![I am a Muslim and I love my Christian siblings](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/I_am_a_Muslim_and_I_love_my_Christian_siblings.jpg)
Graffiti as a form of communication in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
began in 1987 during the first Intifada. This was a period in which there were no Palestinian TV or Radio stations in the Gaza Strip. Murals commemorated martyrs as well as called protestors to action. Israeli military would force Palestinians to wash off graffiti from their homes. The Dome of the Rock was common among murals in Palestine. In 2006,
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
took over the graffiti scene. Hamas would encourage people to perform the first of the day’s five prayers through street art. Currently, The
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
wall is covered in graffiti. Numerous messages can be found including marriage proposals, notes to friends, and jokes. Also common are messages of peace. One reads: "Mirror, mirror on the wall. When will this senseless object fall?" "Trying to imagine a clear view between Palestine and Israel," is another. Messages such as these splatter across the wall, and some graffiti artists will paint your message for a fee.
Notable graffiti artists
Middle East
From
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Yazan Halwani
Yazan Halwani () is a Lebanese artist and activist from Beirut. Yazan is best known for his public art displays, including graffiti, murals, and sculptures. His murals can be found on buildings across Beirut, and often depict portraits of importa ...
has developed his form of graffiti based on Arabic calligraphy, figures and culture. His style mixes portraiture and Arabic calligraphy on large walls in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. Halwani thinks that graffiti in the Arab world and Beirut should not evolve into a form of vandalism and therefore he says that his murals try to adapt to their environment and not against it.
From
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, a graffiti artist by the name "
A1one
A1one (pronounced ''alone''; fa, تنها, Tanhâ) is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran. His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran.
Life and career
A1one ...
(a.k.a. Tanha)" has been credited with starting the modern street art movement in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. He started his career as an artist in the late 1990s with indoor painting. Now he is an international artist, known for his innovative Arabic and Persian calligraphic street art painted in various countries.
![Tehranurbanartalone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Tehranurbanartalone.jpg)
In 2003, he moved outdoors by spraying a 30x40cm stencil on university walls to express to the "uncommon pressure" at the university which was "endured in silence." However, the motivations behind his art are not protest. He states that his art is simply personal expression: "A drawing on the street is similar to a letter: It proves that there is a writer."
In the Arab World, three major areas of interest can be identified: Lebanon, the
Palestinian Territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
and the Arab states that were involved in the Arab Spring. In these areas, graffiti has been perceived, both by the public and the media, as a barometer of the society. Lebanon’s religious and ethnic diversity and its position at the crossroad of the Mediterranean basin and the Arab World have contributed to the appearance and development of an active youth culture and graffiti is part of it. Secondly, the Palestinian Territories are a space where graffiti is one of the most powerful forms of protest against what its inhabitants perceive as a contemporary form of colonization. Last but not least, the social importance of graffiti and its militant functions have recently been reflected by the international media, within the coverage of the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Sudan. A graffiti artist from Sudan is Diab. The media coverage of the Arab Spring has drawn attention to a type of both artistic and political expression typical for the young people in the MENA region.
Europe
After growing up in Paris during the late 80s and early 90s, graffiti artist eL Seed found himself inspired by hip-hop culture. With parents from Temoula,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, he explored his North African origins by learning calligraphy. Before becoming an artist, he pursued degrees in marketing and business. After befriending a graffiti artist known as Hest1, he began to combine his love of graffiti and calligraphy. Today, he creates both personal exhibitions as well as murals for commission.
Also combining calligraphy with graffiti, Niels Meulman (also known as SHOE) coined the phrase "
calligraffiti
Calligraffiti is an art form that combines calligraphy, typography, and graffiti. It can be classified as either abstract expressionism or abstract vandalism. It is defined as a visual art that integrates letters into compositions that attempt to ...
." Born in Amsterdam, SHOE has worked for ad agencies such as BBDO and the television channel
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. The Metropolitan Museum of Art called calligraffiti "a new explosive art form."
See also
*
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
*
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). '' ...
References
Further reading
* {{Cite book, last1=Zoghbi, first1=Pascal, url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/arabic-graffiti-ghirafiti-arabiyah/oclc/818463305, title=Arabic graffiti = Ghirāfītī ʻArabīyah, last2=Stone, last3=Hawley, first3=Joy, date=2013, publisher=From Here to Fame, isbn=978-3-937946-45-0, location=Berlin, oclc=818463305
Graffiti and unauthorised signage
Islamic art
Graffiti in France