Reading socio-political and spatial dynamics through graffiti in conflict-affected societies

Abstract

This paper argues that graffiti can provide a form of socio-political commentary at the local level, and is a valuable, yet often overlooked, resource for scholars and policymakers in conflict-affected societies. Graffiti, in its many forms, can provide rich insight into societies, cultures, social issues, trends, political discourse, and spatial and territorial identities and claims. Thus, this, paper suggests that graffiti is a valuable source of knowledge in societies undergoing social and political transformation, to hear the voices of those often left out from the official discourses. Despite advances in the field of arts and international relations and the focus on the local and the everyday, peace and conflict scholarship and policy still lack systematic engagement with arts-based contributions and how to read them. The paper attempts to address this gap by outlining four core dimensions to consider when attempting to interpret and decode graffiti: the spatial, temporal, political economic and representative dimensions. This can also be viewed as an inquiry into the where, when, who and what. These four elements make up an analytical guide and enable scholars to better understand graffiti, and its political meaning and messaging.

Keywords:

• Street art
• peace
• conflict
• graffiti
• space
• everyday

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We will discuss later how this is contradicted by commissioned pieces.

2 We use ‘hotspot’ here as distinct from ‘spot theory’, which refers to writers’ perspectives in choosing locations for their pieces and the wider contextual elements that shape where graffiti is located as a ‘spot’ (Ferrell and Weide 2010). We use ’hotspot’ for the specific context of observed spatial patterns of graffiti occurence (clustering) as noted from geographic information system (GIS), urban management and other perspectives.

3 Bloch (2019b) also makes this point, challenging ‘broken windows’ notions of violent crime and graffiti correlation with added ethnographic reflection and mixed-methods data.

4 See for example, https://twitter.com/OpenDoorsyouth/status/877895713564246016

5 https://alshahidwitness.com/street-art-peace-mosul/

6 https://twitter.com/LeonaONeill1/status/1123884930809958400

7 https://twitter.com/LeonaONeill1/status/1125314577133187073

8 One of the authors lived in Erbil, the base for many international journalists, before, during and after the reign of IS, and witnessed these dynamics.

9 https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g297478-d7178986-Reviews-Comuna_13_Graffiti_Tour-Medellin_Antioquia_Department.html

10 Information provided by graffiti tour guide, personal conversation, 4 February 2019, Medellin.

11 Field observation, 4 February 2019, Medellin.

12 To this end ICCG has created an exhibition that makes some of these images accessible to different audiences. See an online version at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fea681e836974047bf0487d898601bfb

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC, grant No: AH/S001484/1).

Notes on contributors

Birte Vogel

Birte Vogel is a Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. She is a Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded project The Art of Peace: Interrogating Community Devised Arts Based Peacebuilding and a Co-founder of the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti (ICCG). [email protected]

Catherine Arthur

Catherine Arthur is a Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, UK. Her first monograph, Political Symbols and National Identity, was published in 2019 with Palgrave. [email protected]

Eric Lepp

Eric Lepp is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is a Co-founder of the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti (ICCG). [email protected]

Dylan O’Driscoll

Dylan O’Driscoll is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Middle East & North Africa Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Sweden. [email protected]

Billy Tusker Haworth

Billy Tusker Haworth is a Lecturer in Disaster Management at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, UK. He is a Co-founder of the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti (ICCG). [email protected]