Ep 12: Dubai Art World, ft. eL Seed & Afra Atiq

The Dubai Wave Podcast’s epic Season 3 continues with a rare world exclusive! For the second episode of the new season, we are thrilled to present our exclusive conversation with two of Dubai’s most influential and iconic artists, eL Seed and Afra Atiq!

Produced by Dr. Spencer Striker, Digital Media Professor at the American University in Dubai, the show is created with the help of a talented student production team at AUD.

About eL Seed
Born in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed travels the world, making art in Paris, New York, Jeddah, Melbourne, Gabes, Doha and beyond. His goal: to create dialogue and promote tolerance as well as change global perceptions of what Arabic means. In 2012, for instance, he painted a message of unity on a 47-meter-high minaret on the Jara mosque in Gabes, Tunisia. This piece and others can be found in his book, Lost Walls: Graffiti Road Trip through Tunisia

Recently he created a sprawling mural in the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood of Cairo that spans 50 buildings and can only be viewed from a local mountaintop. Intending to honor the historic garbage collectors of the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood, the piece reads, "Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first."

“A street artist born in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed did not learn to read or write Arabic until his late teens, but when he did his renewed interest in his heritage had a profound effect on his art.” — BBC

About Afra Atiq
Afra Atiq is an Emirati award-winning poet, having recently won the 2017 ADMAF Creativity Award. She is the first spoken word poet to win the award. Afra has been featured on several platforms across the globe. She proudly gives back to her community through mentorships and workshops with Untitled Chapters (a thriving hub for Emirati women writers).

She has been a featured performer/speaker at platforms like TEDxFujairah, Step Music Festival, NYUAD Arts Center, Sheraa, as well as at numerous universities and schools. Afra was named Best Performer for 2015-16 by Rooftop Rhythms and has won multiple poetry slams and competitions.

As a scholar, Afra has recently been published in the International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences and conducted social research pertaining to literature and education.

About the Dubai Wave Podcast
The concept with Dubai Wave is to look at big picture Dubai. Each episode focuses on a unique topic, such as Dubai Fitness; Dubai Social Media; Dubai Food Scene; Dubai Music, etc., with the goal to illuminate a 360-degree viewpoint of all the exciting things happening here, the gem of the Middle East. The impressive guest list to date includes the founder of Dubai’s most influential MMA gym, Tam Khan (Dubai MMA); successful entrepreneur, Anas Bukhash (Dubai Entrepreneurship); the editor of What’s On Dubai, Laura Coughlin (Dubai Magazines); the host of Virgin Radio Dubai, Brent Black, (Dubai Radio); and the first Emirati filmmaker to achieve International acclaim and standing, Ali F. Mostafa, (Dubai Film). Previously, Dr. Striker, with help from talented Digital Media and MBRSC students, launched a successful podcast called Digital Media & Tech in Dubai, focused on the Dubai tech industry, with eight episodes to date, featuring some of Dubai’s most exciting digital thought leaders.  

Hosted by:
Spencer Striker, PhD, Digital Media professor at the American University in Dubai
https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerstriker
& Shoug Al Sayegh, Digital Media Student at AUD

Special Guests:

eL Seed:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elseed.artist
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL_Seed
Official website: https://elseed-art.com/

Afra Atiq:
Official Website: https://www.afraatiq.com/
100 Smartest People in the UAE: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/lists/379338-100-smartest-people-in-the-uae-35afra-atiq
TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2AeDs8ljvw

Produced by: Sarbjyoti Sahni

Edited by:
Abdullah Abu Shameh, AUD Digital Media student

Audio engineering by:
AUD Digital Media’s own Anil Mathew James

Special thanks to the AUD Marcom Team.