'I want to make beauty from this ugliness', says Gaza's first calligraffiti artist

Belal Khaled puts the finishing touches on a 50-metre long artwork in Gaza in July 2021 [Majdi Fathi]

'The soul that fights in us' are the words which Palestinian artist Belal Khaled spent four days drawing onto the 50 metre long, seven metre high bombed wall of a building in Gaza. With a flat brush and a bucket brimming with colours, Belal translated the Palestinian people's feelings into a thick calligraphic piece that winds around itself.

"We chose this phrase to express every fighting spirit in every young man, woman, child and every soul in our Palestinian society. All their souls are fighting for the liberation of Palestine," Belal tells MEMO.

Belal is a Palestinian artist who was born in Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip. He has been creating pieces made up of calligraphy for more than 15 years. "I started practicing this art when I was 14 years old," he explains. After graduating from university, Belal concentrate on this art form to become the first person to bring calligraffiti – the art of combining calligraphy, typography and graffiti – to Gaza. From cars, handbags, walls as well as human bodies, Khaled leaves his prints everywhere.

"I created my own identity for Arabic calligraphy by inserting it on all the necessities of life, such as cars, shops, walls and clothes."

Belal Khaled works on his next piece of art in July 2021 [Majdi Fathi]

"The art of calligraffiti is the art of discovering what you believe," Belal says. "Converting fonts into paintings is my own style. I am trying to spread the culture of Arabic calligraphy and its beauties to the world. Our Arabic language has its own charm that it carries and adds a certain beauty to the letters."

Through this art form, Belal hopes to encourage people to return to writing Arabic using a pencil and paper, and not rely solely on typing.

His artwork has now been displaced in the US, UK, France and a number of other European countries.

I want to make something beautiful out of this ugliness. I want to find life and beauty in the midst of all this death and destruction.