Street Art or Vandalism

Every week if not everyday I receive emails from one of my favourite collectives - Wooster Collective - a site dedicated to showcasing ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world. Earlier this morning I was shocked by an article posted on Wooster which called for the public to sign a petition to help stop the New Anti Graffiti By-Law in Cape Town South Africa. This new law is meant to take away the legal rights from private property owner's to commission any artworks on there homes besides a house number! While graffiti or street art has had negative affiliations for years in the Western world, in the East, graffiti has been part of a rich history especially in South Africa where it dates back to the 18th Century. The Ndebele people of Southern Africa created their own tradition and style of house painting producing expressive symbols on their houses and walls which were used as a means of communication between sub groups. These symbols proclaimed personal prayers, self-identification, values and rights passage all of which were disguised to everyone but the Ndebele people during war. This tradition and specific style was passed down from generation to generation by the mothers who were the main developers of wall art. In fact wall painting held such prestige that a well painted house would translate into the type of mother or wife the woman made. Over the years new colours have been adopted, patterns have evolved and off course the means of application have changed too with the introduction of new tools. This tradition however, is still very present in different parts of South Africa today.



This new Anti Graffiti by-law not only disregards this rich history but it also makes no clear distinction between vandalism and street art. More importantly though, it takes away the artist's and home owner's rights to freely express themselves. Looking at this from the perspectives of most governments worldwide however, I have to say that I too am not interested in being bombarded by images of gang tags or distasteful scribblings or drawings over advertisements which many people would agree is vandalism. However, graffiti or street art or urban art can be nurtured into colourful murals or public interventions with positive messages. By creating such sanctions on property owner's, the government is creating a city model that lacks creativity, individuality and more than anything diversity! Public art forces audiences of all ages, race and education to interact with art without the pretension of the four walls of a gallery space. It can also bring life to certain areas that may have fallen off the map. For example, before Lula Lounge and the incredible mural by my good friend Jose Ortega on the corner of Federal and Dundas, the infrastructure on Dundas and Dufferin had the uniformity of checkers board like, most neighborhoods here in Toronto. The wall design at Lula and on Federal Street not only brought the community together but it also livened an area which prior to this was known for...I don't know.



Cape Town like most urban centres today, is extremely rich in culture and art. I would have thought that the government would be trying to enforce this tradition by encouraging such community interaction. Will future generations learn more about their history from cream coloured suburbs or from innovative design and architecture? Perhaps the government needs to be reminded that they can work with a model that better suites the spacial conditions of South Africa than copying designs that lack the aesthetics of their own culture. For more on this article please visit the Wooster Collective website and better yet subscribe to receive news about this underground form of art.