Beirut Graffiti

I think it’s safe to say that our trip to Beirut to pitch URBN was an unqualified success. I say this because I didn’t want to come home! We met some amazing people over there, had a great experience pitching the concept – including arguing quite vehemently with one judge. As a city, Beirut is amazing. There’s a great atmosphere around the place – the redevelopment is continuing apace – land prices are going up on an almost hourly basis. There’s enough of the Mediterranean familiarity to keep fans of Rome and Barcelona happy, and enough of the Middle East to add some level of exoticism. I’m writing a travel article based on my experiences, so I’ll update this blog when that appears.

However, one thing did grab my attention. For the last few years, I’ve been trying to raise a bit of interest among broadcasters and other in relation to a documentary about Graffiti in the Middle East. I’ve travelled around the region a bit, and I’ve always been a fan of the graffiti and the stencilling that adorns walls, roadsides and anywhere there is space. Obviously, finding support for a documentary about graffiti in the Middle East – regardless of any political elements that might make commissioning editors happy – is not easy. I reckon I’m going to keep going.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from the walls of Beirut. I’m not going to pretend to know what they all mean. I just think they look cool….

These are just some of the best images I took. There are far better resources and images here, here, here and here.

Update

Maya Zankoul, who I was lucky enough to catch up with on Thursday night in Beirut, pointed me in the direction of Beirut/Archewallogy (great name). Well worth checking out. Here’s a music video that came about off the back of the project…

Archewallogy