At the beautiful shores of Rmeileh in South Lebanon, ArabAd organized a Peace Poster Design contest as a creative challenge to promote peace, in the presence of many advertizing companies from the Middle East.
The celebration started at sunset when the graffiti artists began their brushing design, three young artists with an inspiring talent for colors and creative Peace designs. Ze-Mouallem (Rami Mouallem), Fish (Sari Saadeh) and Fever (Ibrahim Hindawi) three young graffiti artists expressing their artful design through colorful spray painting "Peace" their style. On the other side, Hadi Baydoun, also a young Lebanese designer with an air brush, drew the Smart "Open your Mind" car.
Later after sunset, an interactive line-up of Musical acts rolled and people gathered around the first performance, Capoeira. Capoeira is a 400 year-old Brazilian martial arts that combine music, singing, fighting skills, gymnastics, acrobatics, and trickery. They danced and juggled with an amazing grace accompanied by live musicians playing the Brazilian chanting beats. The Capoeira came afterwards; a shy 5 minute-Samba dance surrounded by an engaged audience clapping their hands in favor.
Live music set was played by many progressive Deejays.
Later on, the attendees were invited to check the photo and painting exhibition of the Middle Eastern artists whom expressed their screams for peace with breathtaking images and words. One painting had been engraved with the following sentences, "Does nature need mankind? No. Does mankind need nature? Yes. What good have we to show in history?" The winning design was a picture saying "Peace should reign…not just on paper" a simple sentence. Another stirring image balancing peace which is heavier than anything, "Peace, Priceless, you can't buy, Make it!"
Through these screaming paintings and photos you could feel the brewing ideas and the artists' anger to stop the fighting and spreading peace around. Many political statements were silently hidden in some pictures but spoke louder than then what the eyes can behold.
All in all, a very successful event to promote the peace, love and understanding culture in a country which suffered long years of bitter civil wars, and a smart way for artists to communicate their work.
