Published: 23 July, 2007, 08:23
Edited: 23 July, 2007, 08:23
Municipal authorities usually consider graffiti to be vandalism rather than a form of art. But for some young artists it is a form of protest or a way of expressing political views. In Switzerland authorities have allowed graffiti artists to create a seri
The objective of the action is two-fold – to reduce the amount of ugly tagging and give space to the art of a new generation.
“We were questioned as representatives of the Geneva council on the problem of tagging. We had a lot of complaints, so on this matter we decided that it was important to allow some space for young people to express themselves and to show us what they can do. So we try to support them financially for these projects,” explains Thierry Vedovati, Swiss social worker.
Actually signature tags which you see all over any city is not what graffiti is about. Those who consider themselves artists do not paint on metro cars or public buildings and create murals on specific spots. Some of the painting are not just art pieces but also powerful messages.
Anti-terror tags and graffiti are now popular all over the world. In Russia, a group of taggers scrawls “WHY?” on cities walls. The question relates to war, terror and injustice.