KLABU x eL Seed: Passing Through Fire
We’re immensely proud to announce an exclusive collaboration with famed contemporary artist eL Seed, a friendship developed since he painted the KLABU clubhouse in Lesvos, Greece.
On the island, KLABU works on a grassroots basis with our wonderful partner organisation Yoga & Sports With Refugees, and the local community, to help refugees overcome challenges.
eL Seed's Lesvos Clubhouse artwork
Visitors to the artwork
The refugees on Lesvos, from countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea and Sierra Leone, are among the over 114 million people displaced globally due to war and violence. This number was estimated by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in 2023, and it inspired the start of this eL Seed collaboration. However, the number sadly continues to climb every day.
Friendship formed through sports offers a form of escape for refugees from complex asylum procedures, and the desperation that drove them to risk their lives crossing the Aegean sea to Lesvos in the first place. Together the KLABU clubhouse, and the gym run by Yoga & Sports With Refugees, active just outside the Mavrovouni refugee camp, are a focal point for refugees to quickly form friendships, even though most members end up staying on the island for only six months.
Discover the Lesvos Spirit
LESVOS REFUGEE BIBI ZAHRA & EL SEED IN FRONT OF THEIR COLLABORATIVE MURAL
THE 'HOPE FOR LIFE' MURAL IN MAVROVOUNI CAMP
Human relationships and what they inspire have always been a key theme for eL Seed as an artist.
When painting the KLABU clubhouse with the Lesvos community, eL Seed was moved to enter into a personal collaboration with refugee Bibi Zahra who had a passion for drawing. Together they worked with her motifs and painted her home in the Mavrovouni camp.
Watch the 'Hope For Life' story
Coco Olakunle documenting eL Seed's Lesvos artwork
The process of creating the eL Seed 'Always, Always' mural
Experiencing the refugee stories of determination, eL Seed also created a mural on Lesvos that forms a key part of our collaboration.
The artwork was inspired by a quote from Greek poet Odýsseas Elýtis: “Always, always you pass through fire to reach the shining”, which applies very meaningfully to any refugee trying to rebuild a life. The design of this mural influenced the exclusive KLABU x eL Seed collaboration, creating a piece of wearable art.
"Always, always, you pass through fire to reach the shining"
eL Seed's highly sought after artworks are located around the world from Paris to Cairo, Lebanon to South Korea, and have been exhibited in MoMA New York and featured in the TED Fellows program.
He uses his art practice as an echo of the stories and wisdom of the communities that he meets around the world, underlining the commonalities of human existence, and aims to amplify their voices, as he has done to stunning effect in this KLABU collaboration.
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"I believe that art, the same way as sport, is a kind of universal language. In a way I believe that art can change the world, and KLABU would believe as well that sport can change the world. So I think our mission and our values are crossing paths, and that's why we work together."
eL Seed's experience with the refugees on the island moved him to apply the motifs from his piece of urban art to a distinctive KLABU shirt. You can wear a museum piece with this one.
The front of the KLABU x eL Seed "Shine" shirt
The distinctive back of the limited edition shirt
LESVOS SPIRIT MEMBER AKBAR
Shalu, Lesvos fitness coach
There are only 114 shirts available to purchase for a short period, so act now to get your hands on a piece of wearable art and support refugees through the power of sport.
Get yours
