Chafic Mekawi, a child of the rich cultural heritage and modern architectural marvels of the middle east, began his artistic voyage amidst the canvases of classical painting and the grand edifices of ancient structures. Guided by the heritage of Lebanon and inspired by the rapid urban transformation of Dubai, Chafic’s early years were a tapestry of diverse influences. As he ventured into architecture and later embraced AI, his work started to echo a unique blend of East and West, tradition and futurism, all culminating in his latest creation: a mesmerizing series of artworks for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Here, Chafic reimagines the world of sports through an artistic lens, seamlessly merging athletic vigor with the cultural essence of the Middle East, creating an extraordinary celebration of sports and art.

Can you share with us your journey as a designer? How did you first get started in the field of design?

‘I’m very lucky to have grown up in an artistic environment, where I was able to freely explore art and design practices. My very first exposure to art was through classical painting, I did that for a vast majority of my childhood and teenage years. I was trained professionally by an artist back home in Lebanon and later I started getting more interested in architecture. That was the result of me growing up between two cities: the city of Dubai and the city of Beirut. I think being able to witness the remarkable urban transformation of Dubai from the late 90s to today and at the same time growing up in Beirut, seeing the influence of different architecture movements historically on the city, that’s what really got me interested in design and what prompted me to study architecture.’

And How did your interest in AI develop?

‘I would say my journey with AI design has been really marked by two major elements: the first reason was a creative outlet and the second was Representation.’

‘The first one was related to the stage I was at in my life. I had just started my master’s degree at Oxford and I had fallen into a career with little creative expression so it started as a need, it started as an outlet for the designer in me to experiment and explore freely.’

‘Secondly, most of the art and architecture movements that I was taught were coming from the west, with the avant-garde movements in the late 19th century and the evolution of modern art movements after WWII. The works that I did study from the Middle East often did not have the same exposure or credibility as its Western counterparts, so for me there was a real need for representation. Seeing different elements of Islamic and Arab Art front and center, like the persian carpet in my grandmother’s house, the Finjein coffee cup with its decorative motif, the palm trees that I had grown up with in Dubai.’

How did you come to merge the fields of Design and sports imagery in your work? What inspired you in this unique combination?

‘Sports were a big part of my life growing up as well. I was fortunate to have trained in various sports throughout my childhood, one of the ones I fondly remember playing was tennis. I started getting interested in the culture of tennis, watching players like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, and seeing them hone their craft from an early age was very inspiring for me. I was the guy that goes to swimming practice on Monday and then goes to painting classes on Wednesday.

Growing up as a designer I was always interested in how I could mix these two parts of my life. My artworks always begin with a question, in this case my question was “what if I merge different vernacular elements of the East with Paris Olympic and Architecture?”. This is really what prompted it.’

What drew you to create a series of artworks themed around the Paris 2024 Olympics? And How do you use AI to capture the essence of sports and the Olympics in your artwork? 

‘A few years back I was working as an architect at Expo 2020. It wasn’t necessarily sports related but it was a mega event similar to the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup that happened in Qatar. I have seen the impact that these mega events have on a city from both the cultural and the development perspective and I was interested in how governments use these events as a branding tool, what happens when a city, in this case Paris, becomes an arena for sports. I wanted to merge sports with both western and eastern culture, like the ‘Carpet Court’ series or the ‘Olympic Tapestry’ series as part of my Paris 2024 Olympics artworks. Design and AI enabled me to delve into these themes to show that actually sports and art are not that different when we look at it historically and that they should be celebrated together.’ 

What themes or messages are you trying to convey through your Paris 2024 Olympics artworks?

‘Particularly with the Olympics, the architecture behind the different sports involved has been standardized for quite a long time. For over a century, the Tennis Court has been relatively the same, the Track & Field Stadium has been the same… I wanted to challenge that, and evoke a sense of wonder, combining traditional with contemporary, so my first message was: challenge the norm. The second one was to celebrate different cultures. The athletes competing in the Olympics come from all corners of the world. They are competing from Italy, Lebanon, USA, Ethiopia, etc… I wanted to represent that visually and AI just opened an entire new paradigm for me to explore these themes.’

How do you see the role of AI in the future of art and design?

‘To answer this, it would be relevant to take a look back at history and how technologies have disrupted creative practices. While art and technology might appear to be completely different fields, the reality is that they have always been closely connected. When early humans decorated cave walls, they were employing a tool: pigments. Photography had a similar democratizing effect on the art scene. When the first commercial photographic process was introduced by Louis Daguerre in 1839, the innovation had significant backlash among artists and critics. Before this, creating visual art was reserved for those with extensive training, but now with the advent of photography, capturing portraits became accessible to a wider range of people. With time, people started accepting photography as an art form, where you can manipulate different variables to produce a composition, and it has even contributed to new artistic movements.’

‘At its core, art is about using tools to give form to imagination. With the advent of AI, we are witnessing another disruption, sparking a debate among the art community. While there are definitely concerns that need to be addressed relating to the ethics of AI, what this tool has brought forward is the ability for artists to produce new imaginaries which otherwise would not have been possible. When paired with other design tools, such as photography and 3d modeling, I think you can create some really interesting work.’

 in particular in sports imagery?

‘When it comes to AI and the world of sports imagery, I think we’re already starting to see it now. I would say we’re going to see more AI Generated Adv campaigns. It’s moving at such a rapid pace that I think we’re going to see these transformations within probably two to five years. I just hope that it will be done with credibility and that people don’t only rely on AI, but instead match it with different crafts like photography, architecture, and sketching. That’s when you can create something truly powerful with AI.’

In his Paris 2024 series, Chafic not only challenges the conventional norms of sports imagery but also celebrates a rich tapestry of global cultures. Through the lens of AI, he captures the essence of athletic prowess and architectural grandeur, inviting the world to witness the seamless harmony between sport and art.