Seb Toussaint

Junkies come and disturb me, the wind blows dust into my paint, the toilet holes dug in the ground around the houses smell of digested rice and lamb, the walls are wrinkled and cracked but I know of no better place to paint.

Streetart is for every place on earth that has streets and people with eyesight. I’ve always realised that streetart has a greater impact in places where it isn’t expected.

I’m very grateful that the community of Zavodskoy Paselok are being very open about an artform that doesn’t exist here. I love the way they’ve welcomed us, the questions they’ve been asking and the help they’ve been giving us. I love hearing the kind words coming from old women who were looking at us suspiciously on the first day.

Photo by Spag Bertin

Gulsara chose the word “достук” (pronounced DOSTUK) which is the Kyrgyz word for “friendship”.

In the slum of Zavodskoy Poselok, the small houses are mostly built around narrow courtyards. In each courtyard, several families share the same toilet and the same tap for water. Being friends with your neighbours is a necessity as you basically live together.

2nd and 3rd photo by Spag Bertin

Painting Gulsara’s wall in the slum of Zavodskoy Poselok, Bishkek.

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Zavodskoy Poselok has its own atmosphere but in many ways it feels like any slum I’ve worked in.

It’s a dusty neighbourhood in which human toughness meets human sweetness.

Starting work on Gulsara’s (in the middle of the picture) house.

I start by preparing the wall with a coat of white paint while she gets thinking about the word she wants me to write.

Mahabat chose the word « ынтымак » (« harmony » in Kyrgyz).

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She lives in Zavadskoy Paselok, a slum of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The neighbourhood is inhabited by different ethnic groups from Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia but people live in peace and harmony.

It’s a feeling I got straight away when I arrived here a few days ago.

After « Share The Word Project » in slums/camps of Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Colombia, Egypt, the Philippines, Ethiopia, France, Brazil, India, Iraq, Niger, Palestine, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Mayotte, Venezuela, and Italy, a new episode has started in Kyrgyzstan !

Photo by Spag Bertin

I’ve arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan where I’ll will be painting for one month on a new episode of Share The Word Project.

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The first step is to find a slum to paint in.

I don’t work with NGOs or fixers, and I don’t have sponsors or anyone to tell me where to go. I use satellite images to identify possible slums and then I simply go and visit them by foot.

The aim is to work in a marginalised area of the city, and to paint the words that the inhabitants want to express and share.

I spontaneously go to slums, meet people – who usually think I’m lost – and do my best to explain the project using my hands, a few odd words and a bunch of photos.

I’m here with Spag Bertin, a brilliant photographer with whom I started Share The Word Project in 2013, and with our friend Dudu who’s assisting as usual ! It feels great to be back in the areas where I feel that my work has the biggest impact.

Photo by Spag Bertin

Trying things out in the studio !

For sale, contact me if interested.

Meet Dudu, my friend and assistant on Share The Word Project !

We’re both from Caen in Normandy and met at our football stadium.

When I was still a teenager he taught me how to make huge flags and displays using sheets if plastic. Being a few years older than me, he made sure I knew how to express myself with this medium.

Nowadays, Dudu (also known as شيخ الحج ) helps me with the painting in slums and refugee camps. In most of these places, I do not have access to good spray paint so I have to stick to paint brushes. As much as I enjoy working with brushes, it clearly takes a lot more time than using aerosol. This is one of the reasons why I need someone helping me. Also, logistics can be tricky in certain places and working as a duo makes everything easier and a lot more fun!

Not only is he a very clean painter but he also has 3 compulsory qualities for Share The Word Project : he finds solutions to the wide range of problems slum life throws at us; he adapts easily and blends in with the local communities; and he doesn’t panic. When he was held hostage by a gang in the Ivory Coast, or when we faced 2 men with machine guns in Iraq, we had to stay cold blooded and I knew things would be okay with Dudu! Also he has long arms which is often very handy!

Painting is a game you often play on your own, but I love these moments when we work as a team, with top lad Spag Bertin on the cameras, and Dudu and I on the murals !

Can’t wait to get back at it! Sharing these moments with your best friends make them even more special !The third picture is by Spag Bertin