CITY AIR MAKES ONE FREE
Tell us about your experience of the city and share your ideas for how you would make your city better.
Street art has existed in cities for centuries: creative marks in public spaces often by anonymous faces; art free of official sanction. Street art, street performance and street theatre appear as organic modes of expression, grown in the streets, climbing on to the walls from the pavements, and touching the everyday urban subconscious. Enduring works of street art have become city symbols, even tourist attractions.
The word ‘graffiti’ has its roots in the Italian word ‘graffiare’ – to scratch or carve – and generally refers to any form of public marking. This form of urban expression dates back to Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and Mesopotamia. Graffiti has long been associated with alternative forms of expression, strongly linked with the growth of subcultures and political resistance. However, these alternative modes of expression have become so popular that they have even been appropriated by commercial advertising. The work of street artists such as Banksy has been shown in established art galleries, ‘legitimising’ it as a genre of art.
Now cities around the world host annual street art festivals, when well-known artists are invited from around the world [or just show up]. The streets become an open gallery with no closing hours, and each empty space becomes a canvas. The open spirit of street art emphasises the importance of each individual’s interaction with society and their surroundings.
El Guitarrista’ by El Mac, 2011 - Avant-Garde Urbano, an international festival of artistic interventions in the urban space, is held in Tudela de Navarra, Spain. LA-based artist El Mac described this piece on his blog: ‘The mural was painted in an old Gypsy neighbourhood… the history and culture in this area runs deep. Christians, Jews and Muslims have all shaped the identity of old Tudela, and it was inspiring to soak some of this in’.
Dan Witz - Nuart is an annual street art festival based in Stavanger on the West Coast of Norway. This artwork is by American artist Dan Witz.
Phlegm - At Nuart. This artwork is by British artist Phlegm.
Branimirova Street graffiti wall - MUU street art museum is a project dedicated to forming a more coherent street art scene in Croatia. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In 2010 Branimirova Street was transformed in a MUU project to bring art into neglected areas of the city.
Images:
El Mac at Avant-Garde Urbano 2011, 5 October 2011, Creative Commons license. Image by Ana Alvarez-Errecalde and Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, flickr.
Dan Witz installations, 29 September 2011, Creative Commons license. Image by kalevkevad, flickr.
Work by Phlegm, 29 September 2011, Creative Commons license. Image by kalevkevad, flickr.
Branimirova Street graffiti wall, 28 September 2011. Image by Josephine Dorado, flickr.
My city has inspired me to…
…value its open spaces
…start politics
…leave!
…participate in dialogue between religions
…to think over the balance between the individual and community
…start addressing the problems you can see through the lens of its agglomerativity
…London is my city - and this year it has inspired me to give speeches to spread the word about the new Olympic Park and the power of urban planning and regeneration to change people’s lives
…work beyond the standard terms
…da študirah!! (to study)
The German artist Ludwig Meidner believed that the experience of life in the city required a new and different type of artistic approach. He wanted to try and capture the unseen forces and energies in a city, as well as the urgency of metropolitan life.
‘Let us paint what is close to us, our city world! The wild streets, the elegance of iron suspension bridges, gas tanks which hang in white-cloud mountains, the roaring colours of buses and express locomotives, the rushing telephone wires (aren’t they like music?), the harlequinade of advertising pillars, and the night… big city night.’
Image: Ludwig Meidner, ‘I and the City’, 1913. Oil on canvas. 23 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches.
This self-portrait is part of a series of street scenes that celebrate the frenetic dynamism of Berlin.
This post is an excerpt from ‘The City Speaks’ exhibition.
We built the city and the city built us
In July 2012 ‘The City Speaks’ will open in the city of Maribor in Slovenia, the first of many cities across at least nine countries to host the exhibition. Maribor is the European Capital of Culture 2012, and the exhibition takes place alongside a vast celebration of culture and creativity.
‘The City Speaks’ – the second partnership between Maslaha and the British Council’s Our Shared Europe project – explores how individuals and communities have been inspired by cities and how they, in turn, changed the spaces in which they have lived through different forms of creative expression.
Over the past year Maslaha has worked with a wide range of collaborators to bring the grit and romance of the city to life – from street artists Candy Chang and JR to renowned academics Richard Sennett, Doreen Massey and Ricky Burdett; to local theatre practitioners, graffiti artists, art historians, archivists, comic illustrators, architects and many more.
Renowned exhibition designers Lucienne Roberts and John McGill have developed a dynamic 3D design to the exhibition which allows it to be built anywhere, and its towers capture the looming intensity of the city. The accompanying soundtrack, produced by composer Dave Randall (who has worked with Faithless, Dido and Slovo), is a beautiful ode to the sounds of the city, articulating the soul of the urban organism as it sprawls across a timeless palimpsest.
The City inspires, it remembers, it provokes and it empowers. Here are many reasons how and why, a tribute to the achievements of the humanity that survives and thrives both because of and despite the conflict and challenge of urban life.
Over the next few months, this blog will be tracking ‘The City Speaks’ as it travels across Europe, passing through many cities, and gathering more examples and inspiration from each city it touches.
You can also submit your ideas, and tell us how your city speaks to you.
Image by Ricardo Cabral, City Stories 2010
A great website - submit your film and tell the story of your street.
From the website:
It’s where you are, who you are and how you live… your place on the map. MyStreet is a living archive of everyday life, encouraging you to make your mark and bring your area to life.
Use video to record the experiences and people of a place that means something to you.
Watch other films online and discover more about other people’s lives and places. These films are part of the MyStreet community - an ever evolving slice of life, linked to the MyStreet map, search for them easily by postcode.
MyStreet asks you to contribute in any way you like.
- Watch our archive of films, already made.
- Create a film about ‘your street’.
- Submit your film, share it and enter the annual competition.
MyStreet is your story, your patch, wherever and whatever that may be.
