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In 2012, when I painted[br]the minaret of Jara Mosque

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in my hometown of Gabés,[br]in the south of Tunisia,

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I never thought that graffiti would bring[br]so much attention to a city.

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At the beginning, I was just looking[br]for a wall in my hometown,

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and it happened that the minaret[br]was built in '94.

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And for 18 years, those 57 meters[br]of concrete stayed grey.

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When I met the imam for the first time,[br]and I told him what I wanted to do,

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he was like, "Thank God you finally came,"

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and he told me that for years[br]he was waiting for somebody

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to do something on it.

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The most amazing thing about this imam[br]is that he didn't ask me anything --

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neither a sketch,[br]or what I was going to write.

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In every work that I create,[br]I write messages

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with my style of calligraffiti --[br]a mix of calligraphy and graffiti.

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I use quotes or poetry.

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For the minaret, I thought that[br]the most relevant message

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to be put on a mosque[br]should come from the Quran,

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so I picked this verse:

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"Oh humankind, we have created you[br]from a male and a female,

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and made you people and tribe,[br]so you may know each other."

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It was a universal call for peace,[br]tolerance, and acceptance

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coming from the side that we don't usually[br]portray in a good way in the media.

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I was amazed to see how the local[br]community reacted to the painting,

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and how it made them proud to see[br]the minaret getting so much attention

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from international press[br]all around the world.

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For the imam, it was not[br]just the painting;

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it was really deeper than that.

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He hoped that this minaret would become[br]a monument for the city,

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and attract people[br]to this forgotten place of Tunisia.

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The universality of the message,

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the political context[br]of Tunisia at this time,

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and the fact that I was writing[br]Quran in a graffiti way

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were not insignificant.

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It reunited the community.

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Bringing people, future generations,[br]

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together through Arabic calligraphy

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is what I do.

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Writing messages is[br]the essence of my artwork.

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What is funny, actually, is that[br]even Arabic-speaking people

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really need to focus a lot[br]to decipher what I'm writing.

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You don't need to know[br]the meaning to feel the piece.

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I think that Arabic script touches[br]your soul before it reaches your eyes.

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There is a beauty in it[br]that you don't need to translate.

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Arabic script speaks to anyone, I believe;

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to you, to you, to you, to anybody,

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and then when you get the meaning,[br]

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you feel connected to it.

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I always make sure to write messages

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that are relevant to the place[br]where I'm painting,

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but messages that have[br]a universal dimension,

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so anybody around the world[br]can connect to it.

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I was born and raised in France, in Paris,

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and I started learning how to write[br]and read Arabic when I was 18.

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Today I only write messages in Arabic.

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One of the reasons[br]this is so important to me,

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is because of all the reaction that[br]I've experienced all around the world.

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In Rio de Janeiro, I translated[br]this Portuguese poem

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from Gabriela Tôrres Barbosa,

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who was giving an homage[br]to the poor people of the favela,

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and then I painted it on the rooftop.

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The local community were really[br]intrigued by what I was doing,

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but as soon as I gave them[br]the meaning of the calligraphy,

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they thanked me, as they felt[br]connected to the piece.

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In South Africa, in Cape Town,

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the local community of Philippi

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offered me the only[br]concrete wall of the slum.

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It was a school, and I wrote on it

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a quote from Nelson Mandela,

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saying, "[in Arabic],"

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which means, "It seems[br]impossible until it's done."

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Then this guy came to me and said,[br]"Man, why you don't write in English?"

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and I replied to him, "I would consider[br]your concern legit if you asked me

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why I didn't write in Zulu."

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In Paris, once, there was this event,

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and someone gave his wall to be painted.

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And when he saw I was painting in Arabic,

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he got so mad -- actually, hysterical --[br]and he asked for the wall to be erased.

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I was mad and disappointed.

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But a week later, the organizer[br]of the event asked me to come back,

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and he told me that there was a wall[br]right in front of this guy's house.

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So, this guy --

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(Laughter)

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like, was forced to see it every day.

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At the beginning, I was going[br]to write, "[In Arabic],"

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which means, "In your face," but --

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(Laughter)

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I decided to be smarter[br]and I wrote, "[In Arabic],"

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which means, "Open your heart."

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I'm really proud of my culture,

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and I'm trying to be an ambassador[br]of it through my artwork.

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And I hope that I can break[br]the stereotypes we all know,

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with the beauty of Arabic script.

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Today, I don't write the translation[br]of the message anymore on the wall.

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I don't want the poetry[br]of the calligraphy to be broken,

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as it's art and you can appreciate it[br]without knowing the meaning,

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as you can enjoy any music[br]from other countries.

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Some people see that[br]as a rejection or a closed door,

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but for me, it's more an invitation --

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to my language,[br]to my culture, and to my art.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)