French street artist Ememem covers the "wounds of cities" with his mosaics

Known for his urban art called "The Art of Healing Cracks", Ememem told AA about the time he first started his art and how he created his designs.

Ememem said that he has been working on mosaics for more than 20 years and that he started doing this job in 2016, adding that he first did repair work at home.

"Then I started thinking about how we could use mosaics in different ways. Then we started doing 'flaking', or pavement dressings, in public areas," said Ememem, explaining that in 2012 he had a workshop in Lyon, France, and started filling the cracks in the pavement in front of his workshop with small red tiles.

Ememem stated that he repaired the hole he encountered in front of his studio years later with ceramics, and said, "After that, I realized that my house was in front of the studio, but in fact it was a work of art belonging to everyone who passed by that street. Therefore, I felt like I was giving it to them as a gift."

Ememem, who said about the cracks he saw on the sidewalks, "For me, these cracks are like a wound in the city that needs to be healed and cared for," described his work as a "dressing."

Ememem said that he mostly uses Roman mosaics in his designs and that he occasionally does large-scale works, adding that repairing a small hole with mosaics contributes to people's imagination.

"People can dream different things by looking at mosaics," said Ememem, noting:

"These pavement dressings, which we call The Art of Healing Crack, are about taking care of ourselves, our environment and our neighbors, and being good to them. It's a kind of poetic expression for us, it's our only form of expression."

Ememem explained that it was difficult to work spontaneously, that before making his work, he took measurements of the holes or cracks and then created the composition in the workshop.

Ememem said that after the designs were completed, he assembled the mosaics late at night and added that he had also created his designs on sidewalks in Ireland, Norway, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the USA.

Ememem said he plans to make his designs in China towards the end of the year, adding, "My dream is to make a mosaic in one of the pits on the surface of the Moon. But I haven't figured out how yet."

Ememem, who stated that he used materials such as glass dough, tiles, pebbles and ceramics when making his designs suitable for the potholes, explained that since the designs are stepped on, he was careful not to let people slip and used appropriate materials.

Ememem said, "Durability and long-term life are important to us. The most suitable materials for this are ceramics and mosaics."

When asked about his preference for anonymity and his use of the pen name "Ememem", he replied, "It seems more logical to me that the work of the artist or craftsman should be in the foreground, not their personality."

Ememem, pointing out that this art has spread to many parts of the world, said, "This was our aim when we first started. I want to bring flaking to the forefront more than myself, more than my personality."

Street artist Ememem, who said that he was inspired by the sound of a motorcycle in choosing the pen name "Ememem" and that this was the only information he shared about his private life, noted that Ankara is a big city and that since it is a living city, there are fractures and cracks here too.

"Ankara is a beautiful city, it inspired me a lot," said Ememem, adding that he received positive feedback from people about his designs.