Is graffiti
art? Should it be funded or does this
ruin its anti-establishment character and make it something else entirely? (For instance, does the spray-painted
artwork done before the hockey championship around Trnavske Myto and the
Zochova bus stop count as graffiti?) Is
a street where protestors were killed a particularly appropriate or
particularly inappropriate place for graffiti?
1st part of my comment:
ReplyDeleteMy positive attitude towards graffiti and especially street art particularly attracted me to reading this article. I was very pleased to learn about such and event as was the one organized by Women on Walls in April. However, I noticed three major controversies concerning this event in Cairo, according to the article – the location, the artists' approach towards old graffiti and the funding of the event. I would like to express my opinion on all three of them.
Firstly, probably the greatest controversy of the graffiti event was it's location, the Mohamed Mahmoud Street. For us to understand why so many voices has criticized this choice of site, it is vital to know about the events that took place in this area in previous years. The political situation in Egypt has for long been problematic and controversial. According to Wikipedia, the conflicts, however, were brought to the boil in the 2011-12 revolution. From 1981 to 2011 the position of Egyptian president was held by military leader Hosni Mubarak. He was forced to step down of his office after the violent 18 days long demonstration in February and was alleged of corruption and abuse of power. This, nevertheless, was not the end of the Egyptian Revolution. After Mubarak's reign the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Force (SCAF) – a political body consisting of 20 senior military officers – came to power, however, the political situation did not improve. Serious violations of human rights have appeared during the 18 months long reign – violations such as censorship, torture, killing, military trials and involuntary virginity testing. In November 2011, the protesters started gathering in the streets again to oppose the SCAF rule. The major sites of these demonstrations were Tahrir Square and Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo. According to BBC, the response of the security forces and the riot police was ferocious and violent. Fighting, the extensive usage of tear gas and even shooting the demonstrators all occured during the November clashes. As stated by the Health Ministry, thorughout the 9-day protest 23 people were killed and over 1,500 more were injured. The SCAF was dissolved and the Revolution ended in the first democratical elections in 2012 in which the Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi was elected president. After the Revolution, walls of Mohamed Mahmoud Street became a graffiti mural commemorating the events of 2011.
Personally, I fancy the idea of graffiti being created in such places as Mohamed Mahmoud Street. I cannot see a better way of honoring the deceased protesters than painting street art – because the attractiveness of graffiti that lays partly in it's illegality seems to me quite closely comparable to the bravery and illegality of the demonstrators. The graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street includes portraits of those killed or injured during the demonstrations, caricatures of political figures and revolutionary slogans. Thus, the majority of is has close connection to the protests. And even though I think that the work of the Women on Walls – encouraging female artist to paint street art, increasing the awareness of sexual assault and abuse on women – is important and of much value, I agree with the standpoint of the artists who have objected to the choice of location. If a tradition already exists in a place, and especially if the tradition honors the bravery of political victims, it should not be devalued by the creation of a different project, however meritorious.
2nd part of my comment:
ReplyDeleteThe second controversial issue of the Women on Walls project regards the approach of the female artists' towards the older graffiti on the street. Painting over older or damaged graffiti is an essential problem of the whole street art community. Generally, it is viewed as inappropriate and disgraceful to spray over another street artist's work, particularly when the piece is of higher artistic value or carries a social message. However, I believe it is quite acceptable to destroy an already damage older graffiti. I do not know precisely about how the Women on Walls approached the old graffiti, if they painted over only the damaged works or if they sprayed also over the unharmed ones, but I completely agree with the objections if the allegations are true. Even if someone is creating an event as important as the Women on Walls project, they should pay attention to the basic rules of politeness.
The last problem concerning the project on Women on Walls is the funding. I clearly understand why Mia Grondahl chose the commercial path for this event. It would be impossible to fund such a huge project without commercializing it. Moreover, it is vital for a project of which true aim is to raise awareness on the issue of women abuse, to be advertised and promoted, otherwise it would not be successful in spreading the message. On the other hand, there sure are various other places is Cairo where such and event could have been organized without interfering with and dishonoring the memory of the Egyptian Revolution and it's victims.
In conclusion, I approve of the idea behind the latest project of Women on Walls initiative because I find it important to support female artist especially in the less developed countries and over and above that to point out the violation of women rights that are accepted in the society. However, I agree with all of the objections that were held against the project – objections against the choice of location, funding and the approach towards older graffiti.
I agree with Matus. Also when deciding if graffiti is or isn’t an art, there will always be a problem with it. Art is one of the most subjective things and I can’t even imagine everybody to have same opinion about it. But I think graffiti is an art. It’s true that some pieces are ugly or don’t have any deeper message but I things that’s something we can say also about some paintings. That’s also why I agree that people who do graffiti should have more opportunities to express themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I want to talk about is that we aren’t so badly at this. We have some events when people can paint graffiti on walls, for example, Bratislava street art. This month there will be the fifth street art festival in Bratislava. It’s really a successful project and lot of people who paint graffiti come there. I found more about this project only about a month ago when I was walking near our school and there were this graffiti. They were all nice and there were a lot of them so I didn’t think it’s just some random place and I was right. In that place took place last years Bratislava street art festival.
Rebeka Zanechalova, 3.A