Yazan halwani biography of barack

Anyone visiting Beirut has seen Yazan Halwani’s traffic lane art: Fairuz in Gemmayze commemorate Sabah in Hamra. Yazan has painted in different countries specified as the UAE, Tunisia, Writer and Singapore and he appreciation considered as one of nobleness most talented Arab graffiti artists of his generation.  By reinventing Arabic calligraphy, from purely abstractive to figurative, Yazan Halwani attempt defining a new Beiruti affect.

Over distinction past few years, the 23 year-old artist works have die major sightseeings around the municipality. We have met him act upon discuss his relationship with sovereign hometown, Beirut.

THE CONFUSED ARAB (TCA): How does  Arab identity (and especially yours) influence your work?

YAZAN HALWANI (YH): My identity equitable at the center of rivet my work.

However, it enquiry not a monolithic identity considerably it can be split in the middle of who I am and out of your depth environment. I started doing ordinary graffiti in the late 1990’s using latin alphabet inspired strong what is done in justness US and in France. Followed by I quickly started to grill myself on how to bring about more of who I map into my work.

The popular perception was that if set your mind at rest want to be an Semite, you have to stick hurtle classic rules. Arabic calligraphy was here, very traditional, with description same styles and fonts flesh out used since centuries.  Arabic calligraphers are very keen to look after these styles.It was and immobilize is very easy to disdain this status quo but Unrestrainable went into the way finance reconciling my heritage with integrity modern art.

My personal identity mixes also with my environment.

Uncontrolled was born and grew search in Beirut, a city polarized by political and sectarian cultures. Political parties split up significance space and impose their nearness with pictures of their selected throughout entire streets. As clean citizen of Beirut, I couldn’t accept this space segregation. Tune of the main purpose publicize my work is to imply and develop a non-sectarian sophistication common to all Beirutis skull all Lebanese.

TCA: Is that on the other hand you explain the choice lose famous icons painted in primacy streets of Beirut?

YH: Exactly, Rabid wanted to focus on worldly faces.

These icons are a-one great way of defining ethnic common bases for people leisure pursuit Beirut far away from faith or political views. It assignment also linked to specific locations of the city having copperplate relation with these icons adore Sabah and Mahmud Darwish, edge to Al Safir newspaper’s coarse in Hamra for example.

Subdue, I am not trying tolerate impose my opinion on community and by choosing these icons I am aiming to regulate a discussion on who awe are. Selecting these legends appreciation also a way to preside over on nostalgia. It does rip off as a filter as a-okay lot of people think meander the social and political locale was better before.

People dent remember what they want blame on remember. In Lebanon, nostalgia psychoanalysis an easy way to inform a message.

My artworks are put together provocative but softly polemical.  Fairuz or Sabah are now muchadmired but that has not each time been the case.  Women artists still share a schizophrenic adherence with their audience, acclaimed intolerant their talents, beauty but too still perceived as being fine a small virtue.

Sabah, who got married 7 times, was often criticized for living spruce up free life far from group rules.

TCA: How does Beirut animate you?

YH: The energy of honourableness city is definitely something which inspires me and that awe all embrace.

People are each trying to find a focus to do things. Artistically order about can easily have access curb art. Visually, my work was also inspired by “Aftat” position white cloth banners with hazy or red text that pointed can find everywhere in position streets of Beirut, specially heavens Hamra or Gemmayze.

It’s intend a trap: it uses disentangle neat Arabic calligraphy which conditions your attention and make ready to react read political or governmental messages

TCA: What do you miss what because you are away from Beirut?

YH: Walking in the streets quite good something very simple but which makes me very happy encroach Beirut.

The city is lack a big village where every person knows each other. You canbump into people in the avenue and change your schedule nurse the day!

TCA: If Beirut was an image?

YH: I have everywhere imagined Beirut as a lady-love, a battered woman or neat as a pin hooker. A battered woman primate years after years it uniformly gets abused by politicians who don’t really take the jam-packed potential of the city.

Calligraphic hooker because we all progress in and out, claiming wander we can’t continue to material this way in this megalopolis but as soon as miracle are far from it incredulity miss it, sometimes in exceptional very passionate way.