Political Graffiti in Critical Times: The Aesthetics of Street Politics

353 Pages·2021·4.404 MB·English

by  Ricardo Campos (editor), Yiannis Zaimakis (editor), Andrea Pavoni (editor)

Political Graffi ti in Critical Times
Protest, Culture & Society
General editors:
Kathrin Fahlenbrach, Institute for Media and Communication, University of Hamburg
Martin Klimke, New York University Abu Dhabi
Joachim Scharloth, Waseda University
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and cultural change in the twentieth and twenty-fi rst centuries.
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Political Graffi ti in Critical Th e Politics of Authenticity: Hairy Hippies and Bloody
Times: Th e Aesthetics of Countercultures and Radical Butchers: Th e Greenpeace
Street Politics Movements across the Iron Anti-Whaling Campaign in
Edited by Ricardo Campos, Curtain, 1968–1989 Norway
Andrea Pavoni and Yiannis Edited by Joachim C. Juliane Riese
Zaimakis Häberlen, Mark Keck-
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Szajbel and Kate Mahoney
Volume 27 A Fragmented Landscape:
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Precariousness: Th e Taking on Technocracy: Protest Logics in Europe
Unfi nished Fight against Nuclear Power in Germany, Edited by Silvia De Zordo,
Austerity in Portugal 1945 to the Present Joanna Mishtal and Lorena
Edited by Renato Miguel Dolores L. Augustine Anton
Carmo and José Alberto
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Th e Virago Story: Assessing Th e Nuclear Crisis: Th e Arms
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Party Responses to Social Publishing Phenomenon the German Peace Movement
Movements: Challenges and Catherine Riley of the 1980s
Opportunities Edited by Christoph
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Daniela R. Piccio Becker-Schaum, Philipp
Th e Women’s Liberation
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Movement: Impacts and
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Outcomes
and Marianne Zepp
Edited by Kristina Schulz
For a full volume listing, please see the series page on our website:
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Political Graffi ti in Critical Times
Th e Aesthetics of Street Politics
Edited by
Ricardo Campos, Andrea Pavoni
and Yiannis Zaimakis
berghahn
N E W Y O R K (cid:129) O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
First published in 2021 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2021 Ricardo Campos, Andrea Pavoni and Yiannis Zaimakis
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Campos, Ricardo (Marnoto de Oliveira Campos), editor. | Pavoni,
Andrea, editor. | Zaimakis, Yiannis, editor.
Title: Political graffi ti in critical times : the aesthetics of street politics / edited
by Ricardo Campos, Andrea Pavoni and Yiannis Zaimakis.
Description: First Edition. | New York : Berghahn Books, 2021. | Series:
Protest, culture & society; 28 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2020042160 (print) | LCCN 2020042161 (ebook) | ISBN
9781789209419 (hardback) | ISBN 9781789209426 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Graffi tiPolitical aspects. | Street art. | Politics in art.
Classifi cation: LCC GT3912 .P64 2021 (print) | LCC GT3912 (ebook) |
DDC 751.7/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020042160
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020042161
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78920-941-9 hardback
ISBN 978-1-78920-942-6 ebook
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction. Political Graffi ti in Critical Times 1
Andrea Pavoni, Yiannis Zaimakis and Ricardo Campos
Part I. Street Activism and Visual Protest in Contemporary Cities
Chapter 1. A Periegesis through the Greek Crisis in Five Graffi ti
Acts: Cartographic and Photographic Dialogues 29
Konstantinos Avramidis and Myrto Tsilimpounidi
Chapter 2. ‘Whatever I Can Do to Put Th ose People in Jail’:
Crisis Turns Spanish Artists to Street Activism 52
Jonna Tolonen
Chapter 3. Walls of Resistance in Critical Times: A Refl ection on
Political Graffi ti and Visual Protest in Southern Europe and
Latin America 74
Yiannis Zaimakis and Leonidas Oikonomakis
Chapter 4. Between the Workshop and the Streets: Graphic
Activism and the Student Movement in Chile (2008–2018) 102
Javiera Manzi, Matías Marambio, Isidro Parraguez and
María Yaksic
Chapter 5. Anti-Trump Graffi ti and Street Art: A Case Study of
Washington, DC 127
Jeff rey Ian Ross
Chapter 6. Vandalizing the Commons 149
Andrea Pavoni
Part II. Socio-cultural Divisions and Anti-gentrifi cation Protests
Chapter 7. Berlin Political Crises, Street Art and Graffi ti from
1945 to 2019 175
Betty A. Dobratz and Lisa K. Waldner
vi | Contents
Chapter 8. Writing in a City in Crisis: Stencil Graffi ti in the Old
Town of Nicosia 201
Pafsanias Karathanasis
Chapter 9. Le Charme Discret de L’Anomie: Contested Spaces
and Surfaces in Via Zamboni, Bologna 225
Anna Giulia Della Puppa
Part III. Political Turmoil and Regime Transformation
Chapter 10. ‘25th April Always, Fascism Never Again’: Th e
Post-revolution Murals in Portugal 251
Cláudia Madeira, Cristina Pratas Cruzeiro and
Ricardo Campos
Chapter 11. Street Art in East Timor: Creative (Re)Constructions
of Identity in Times of Crisis 275
Catherine E. Arthur
Chapter 12. Reigniting the Revolution: An Interview with Abu
Malek Al-Shami 302
Hend F. Alawadhi and Julia Tulke
Afterword. A Public Crisis / A Crisis of Publicness: Political Graffi ti
in the Post-coronavirus Age 324
Rafael Schacter
Index 333
Illustrations
Figures
Figure 1.1 Periegesis map: A square kilometre in Athens city
centre. © Konstantinos Avramidis, 2018. 33
Figure 1.2 Act I: ‘Pavlos Fyssas’ in Athens Polytechnic by
university students. © Myrto Tsilimpounidi, 2018. 36
Figure 1.3 Act II: ‘Athens is the New Berlin’ in Kaniggos Street
by 1UP crew. © Myrto Tsilimpounidi, 2018. 39
Figure 1.4 Act III: ‘Urban Jungle’ in Soultani Street by
Alex Martinez. © Myrto Tsilimpounidi, 2018. 41
Figure 1.5 Act IV: ‘No Land for the Poor’ in Benaki Street by WD.
© Myrto Tsilimpounidi and Konstantinos Avramidis, 2018. 43
Figure 1.6 Act V: ‘Seeds’ in Navarinou Park by Blu. © Myrto
Tsilimpounidi, 2018. 45
Figure 2.1 Piece by artist Ze Carrion. Photographed in Madrid,
Spain, 2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 53
Figure 2.2 Stencil by artist Por Favor. Photographed in Madrid,
Spain, 2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 59
Figure 2.3 Series of posters (27 September 2017 in Spain
marked 42 years si nce the last death penalties ordered by
Franco and excecuted by shooting). From left to right:
‘27S. Juicio al franquismo’ [27 September. Conviction to
Francoism]; ‘1936−2017. Juicio al franquismo’ [1936−2017. Conviction
to Francoism]; ‘Torturados. Desaparecidos. Fusilados.
27S. La lucha continúa. Juicio al franquismo’ [Tortured.
Disappeared. Shot to death. 27 September. Th e fi ght continues.
Conviction to Francoism]. Poster in the middle by Noaz.
Photographed in Madrid, Spain, 2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 60
Figure 2.4 Artwork by artist Vinz Feel Free. Photographed in
Valencia, Spain, 2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 63
viii | Illustrations
Figure 2.5 ‘Lavapiés Ingentrifi cable’ [Lavapiés is impossible to gentrify].
Artwork by artist El Rey de la Ruina. Photographed in Madrid,
Spain, 2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 65
Figure 2.6 ‘¿Madrid? Área de juegos turísticos. El uso correcto de estos
juegos queda bajo su responsabilidad ’ [Madrid? Area for tourist
games. Th e correct use of these games is your own responsibility].
Artwork by artist DosJotas. Photographed in Madrid, Spain,
2017. © Jonna Tolonen. 67
Figure 3.1 Mural on a wall of the self-run factory of VIOME,
Th essaloniki. © Antonis Drakonakis. 80
Figure 3.2 Graffi ti by left-wing student activists depicting
Subcomandante Marcos calling people onto the streets, Chania,
Greece. © Yiannis Zaimakis. 81
Figure 3.3 Anti-capitalist graffi ti on the facade of squat La Quimera,
Madrid. © Luisa Martin Rojo. 86
Figure 3.4 Mural in front of recuperated industrial slaughterhouse
La Floresta, Buenos Aires. Photo: RECUPERAR blog under
Creative Commons Licence. 89
Figure 3.5 Mural commemorating the popular struggles during
Bolivia’s turbulent years, La Paz. © Leonidas Oikonomakis. 92
Figure 4.1 Nos pondrán mil barreras y con más fuerza renaceremos
[Th ey will put up a thousand barriers and with more strength
we will be reborn]. Estudiantes por Chile, 2008. Silk screen
print (27.9 x 21.7 cm). 115
Figure 4.2 Chile no educa, lucra [Chile does not educate, it profi ts].
Taller Mano Alzada, 2008. Silk screen print (38.5 x 54.7 cm). 116
Figure 4.3 Mujer no me gusta cuando callas [Woman, I don’t like it
when you’re quiet]. Brigada de Propaganda Feminista and
Colectivo Serigrafía Instantánea, 2015. Silk screen print
(110 x 77 cm). 117
Figure 4.4 Lo que el pueblo necesita es educación gratuita [What the
people need is free education]. Colectivo Serigrafía Instantánea,
2013. Silk screen print (100 x 70 cm). 118
Figure 4.5 Autoedúcate [Educate yourself]. Colectivo Serigrafía
Instantánea, 2011. Silk screen print (70 x 49.5 cm). 121
Illustrations | ix
Figure 5.1 ‘Fuck Trump’ by Dirty Knucklez. © Jeff rey Ian Ross. 135
Figure 5.2 ‘NO WONDER NAZIS + KKK LOVE tRUMP’.
© Jeff rey Ian Ross. 137
Figure 5.3 ‘Scared Yet’. © Jeff rey Ian Ross. 138
Figure 5.4 XCRETE Presents. © Jeff rey Ian Ross. 139
Figure 5.5 Robbie Conal posters. © Jeff rey Ian Ross. 140
Figure 7.1 Th e fraternal kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and
Erich Honecker, by Dimitri Vrubel, Berlin, 2016. Th e
caption below the picture reads in English ‘My God,
help me to survive this deadly love’. © Betty A. Dobratz. 180
Figure 7.2 Mikhail Gorbachev steering a car through a crack
in the Berlin Wall, painted by Georg Lutz Rauschebar and
recreated in 2009 by G. Schaefer, Berlin, 2016. Note the
upside-down hammer and sickle steering wheel and the
political graffi ti. © Betty A. Dobratz. 181
Figure 7.3 Th e caption ‘diese Stadt ist aufgekauft’ [Th is city has
been bought up] is painted on a building on the border
between Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte, Berlin, 2016.
© Lisa K. Waldner. 185
Figure 7.4 Tuntenhaus is an ex-squat in Prenzlauer Berg
that is now a queer house project. Th e banner on the
entrance is pro-migration and immigration, with the slogan
‘Free movement for all people! Deportations are deadly’.
Berlin, 2016. More information can be found on their
website: https://tuntenhaus.org/?Tuntenhaus.
© Betty A. Dobratz. 190
Figure 7.5 Graffi ti in Prenzlauer Berg stating ‘I am a Berliner. You
are not. TSH’ (with TSH likely referring to Total Schwabian
Hate), Berlin, 2012. © Betty A. Dobratz. 192
Figure 7.6 Graffi ti written on part of the display of Kai
Wiedenhofer’s WARONWALL. (An exhibition about the war in
Syria, which showed how the civilian population was being
harmed by the war. Th e display was shown in Berlin, 23 June–
25 September 2016.) Someone has written graffi ti praising
Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader, on this display of a Syrian
youth who has lost his legs. Berlin, 2016. © Betty A. Dobratz. 193