Armed with spray-paint and natural artistic sense, a legion of young graffiti artists in the city are gradually coming into their own, learning from and collaborating with the established few. Slowly, a group of them are perfecting their signatures (or ‘tags’), and experimenting with a wider form of street art that plays with images and words in a large public space.

Word of blog

Keeping to the original underground nature of the art form, much of the movement gains momentum through digital word of mouth, rather than formally sanctioned gatherings. Artists document their work and progress on their blogs, websites and forums, keeping the scene alive online as much as it is out there. “We have painted with most of the local artists here at DFC,” one of the leading graffiti artists in Dubai, SYA, said. “They are all talented guys and girls and well respected in the scene here. As for young upcoming artists, we need more,” he added, carefully avoiding dropping names, following the street artists’ code of relative 
anonymity.

With companies endorsing graffiti as an aesthetic medium for advertising, has the once anti-establishment art form lost its edge?

SYA and fellow graffiti artist and collaborator, Bow, disagree. “The illegality of street art may have given it an edge, but the bottom line is that ordinary people in the city love to be distracted by the sight of something creative,” said Bow. For SYA, his portfolio began with illegal ‘tagging’ (where writers scrawl their names-or ‘tags’-on surfaces) while growing up in the UK. “It was down to the thrill of creating something that was frowned upon, creeping around in the dead of night waiting for the ‘all clear’ to paint your name as big as possible,” he said.

But the thrill is always short-lived. “To be honest, the illegal side of things really don’t interest me anymore.” SYA and other legitimate graffiti artists aim to create artistic pieces.

Public art

To many, graffiti is an art form worthy of appreciation, while to a cynical few, it remains stigmatised as a public eyesore in the form of vandalism.

Speaking to graffiti big-names in the city, it seems that the line between legitimate street art and vandalism is perfectly clear in Dubai. Graffiti artists are encouraged to represent their work at designated art venues in an effort to break down the ‘bad rep’ the oldest form of public art has received over the decades. The most celebrated artists are even commissioned for advertising campaigns.

“We are not promoting illegal graffiti, vandalism or damaging other people’s property. We want to promote the artistic side of graffiti and try and find legal places for young talent to show their creativity outside of a classroom,” Bow said.

Space for a voice

The biggest obstacle keeping graffiti writers and street artists from expanding their art is the lack of space. Newcomers in the field have been making waves at the graffiti wall at Dubai Festival City, which is currently the most active place to paint. “Dubai desperately needs an official area where young artists can paint outdoors and show their talent. We would love to try and set something up like this — a legal wall that everyone can access; (a place where people are) free to paint and free to rock up and watch people paint; a place that nurtures raw artistic talent from all nationalities and all ages,” SYA said.

Most cities historically steeped in street art have ‘walls of fame’, where artists are given free rein to paint and whenever the urge strikes. “People love to watch live graffiti; in fact they are fascinated by it. A free wall by the beach would be ideal in Dubai,” SYA added.

Calligraffiti

A popular form of art in the region marries traditional Arabic calligraphy with the street appeal of graffiti, aptly called ‘calligraffiti.’ It’s slowly gaining momentum in the UAE as a vehicle expressing the voice of the modern Arab youth. A forerunner of this movement is French-born Tunisian native, eL Seed, who uses this medium to revive his Arabic and Islamic personal history that constructs his identity. “I have always been fascinated with calligraphy and forged a strong attachment to this art form since I was a young boy. Calligraphy is a reminder of where I come from, it allows me to get back to my roots. I carry my heritage into my modern reality and calligraphy allows me to express this,” eL Seed told Khaleej Times.The recent Arab revolutions have displayed many instances where the spray can has triumphed as mightier than the sword. But what about in the UAE, where affluent youth are stereotyped as more likely to express themselves in their credit card statements?

According to eL Seed, the fact that young people in the UAE are constantly exposed to various cultures and ideas can only help young artists find their voice. “I think there is definitely a scope for it in the UAE. With hip hop culture and graffiti so popular, I think blending this with personal histories and culturally specific art forms is very important. If we are to keep diversity alive in art and culture then we have to nourish this type of creativity and marriage of art forms.”

Artist profiles

Bow

Bow’s tag is a stylised hair bow, which has become iconic around Dubai. “Apart from loving the way a bow beautifies things, I found that once my Grandma (who always wore bows) had passed away it was a way of me feeling connected to her and that she was still around. With a genuine love for stencil graffiti art and living in Hackney East London with an abundance of street painting everywhere, I felt inspired to start installing my own graffiti ‘tag’ — which being a bow, was the perfect symbol to connect my past, present and future stencil graffiti obsession.”

Bow stencils using card, metal and spray-paint. She’s currently experimenting with the use of spray-paint on different surfaces and street equipment. “Recently though I have been fascinated with typography and stencilling large letters, which is where SYA (my partner) and I connect creatively and have worked on at least 10 collaborations together.”

SYA One

Lured into graffiti art after reading Subway Art, an iconic book about graffiti on the New York City subway, there has been no looking back for SYA . “Your tag usually has to mean something or be a part of you. My tag came by a complete fluke through my art teacher at school. About five years after I had left school, while I was flicking through my school reports, (I noticed) my art teacher had written ‘has potential to be a superb young artist.’ So I took the first letters of ‘superb young artist’ and made it my tag. My friends know me as SYA and very rarely uses my real name.”

eL Seed

eL Seed speaks more than three languages and has lived in many cities over the years. “Graffiti has been a big influence for me since the late 90s. I used to be into ‘Western’ English graffiti but later on I took an interest in Arabic calligraphy and began to take classes in classical Arabic. This greatly influenced the direction I chose to take my art.” He began drawing in childhood, but let his art take a backseat when he got a little older. “When I moved to North America, art once again became a priority. It was after meeting graffiti artist Hest 1 that poured everything into my artistic career and brought together my love for graffiti and Arabic calligraphy,” he added.

eL Seed does not tag his name on walls anymore, as he has “decided to adopt a proverbial tradition in which the name disappears and only the message remains.” His most recent contribution to the street art scene in the UAE was at the Islamic Arts Festival in Sharjah, where he finished a huge mural using 20 spray-paint cans.

news@khaleejtimes.com