Convenor(s)
Klopper Sandra / University of Cape Town
Rabine Leslie / University of California-Davis
In different regions of Africa, populations have welcomed graffiti art as a force to cleanse and beautify the disintegrating and unsanitary spaces of culturally rich but economically impoverished cities and villages. ‘Writers’ or graffiti artists commonly work collectively on the streets of low-income communities. They engage young and old alike who are drawn to their often provocative interventions. Passionately committed to aesthetic creativity and technical ingenuity in the face of a dire lack of resources, they nevertheless challenge the convention of their Western peers who celebrate their status as outsiders. Although the focus of this work varies considerably, it is often didactic, addressing pressing social issues. At the same time, it challenges global hierarchies. Through their writing these graffiti artists revolt against neocolonial domination and rampant consumerism. They re-imagine political landscapes and recreate the look of cities through a sophisticated layering of ideas, images, colors and values. Artists from different countries support each other by creating increasingly lively trans-African networks. The presentations in this panel explore the complex range of socially engaged practices graffiti artists exercise across the continent, underlining the different ways in which their movements have produced new social imagery and a collective sense of civic consciousness.
Mouvements de graffiti à travers l’Afrique: engagement communautaire et révolte postcoloniale
Dans diverses parties de l’Afrique, les populations ont accueilli le graffiti comme une force pour nettoyer et embellir les espaces insalubres de leurs villes et villages riches en culture bien qu’économiquement démunis. Les écrivains ou graffeurs travaillent d’habitude en collectivité dans les rues des quartiers populaires. Ils engagent les jeunes comme les vieux, fascinés par leurs interventions souvent provocatrices. Se vouant avec passion à la créativité esthétique et à l’ingénuité technique face au manque désespéré de moyens, ils mettent au défi la convention de leurs pairs occidentaux de célébrer leur statut marginal. Bien que l’intérêt principal varie d’une région à l’autre, les graffeurs véhiculent des messages, souvent didactiques, liés aux problèmes sociaux urgents, tels que la santé et l’éducation. Leurs œuvres mettent au défi les hiérarchies globales tout en démocratisant les espaces urbains et médiatiques. Par leurs écritures, ces graffeurs se révoltent contre la domination néocoloniale et le consumérisme envahissant. En étalant en couches complexes, idées, images, couleurs et valeurs, ils ré-imaginent les paysages politiques et récréent l’apparence des villes. Les artistes de divers pays se soutiennent mutuellement en construisant des réseaux transafricains de plus en plus animés. Les interventions de ce panel exploreront la gamme complexe des pratiques socialement engagées que mettent en œuvre les artistes graffeurs à travers le continent.
Klopper Sandra / University of Cape Town
Healing the Hood: The Role of Spraycan art in Fostering Community Cohesion in South Africa
This paper explores how, through a series of loosely related developments, the work of Cape Town-based hip hop graffiti artists has changed since the late 1980s. Drawing attention to the impact unforeseen events had on them, such as the apartheid state’s decision to unban political organizations in 1990, the influx of European and British graffiti artists following this decision, the passing of stringent city by-laws aimed at thwarting their activities, and their growing involvement in community projects both locally and abroad, I trace the shift in their work from seeking to attain local and international fame among their hip hop peers to a commitment to making a positive difference through their art. Relying on community initiatives and large corporate sponsors, these artists initially produced murals for communities that were relocated to the Cape Flats during the apartheid era. But their interest has since expanded to impoverished villages in the Western Cape and large urban centres elsewhere in South Africa, where they have created increasingly inventive works that seek to transform the spaces in which socially and economically marginalized communities continue to live throughout South Africa. In the process of exploring this history, I draw particular attention to Falko’s seminal role in nurturing this creative explosion of spraycan art across the country.
Niang Abdoulaye / Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal
La reconfiguration du champ des arts appliqués à travers les graffiti: Discuter les esthétiques, la commodification et l’engagement sociopolitique
Le hip hop a débuté au Sénégal à partir du milieu des années 80. Si ses débuts sont illustrés par la reproduction de modèles extérieurs, ce mouvement social s’est réorienté vers un engagement politique nourri d’une créativité et d’un ancrage davantage locaux. Ainsi, les graffeurs, en s’appuyant sur l’idéal de positivité, qu’il s’agisse de graffiti à thèmes ou purement décoratifs, gagnent en légitimité. Dès lors, Il est de plus en plus fait appel à des groupes comme Doxandem Squad, Mizerables Graff afin de conscientiser à propos du Sida, du choléra, etc. Mais, mieux encore, les graffeurs décident d’eux-mêmes de contribuer à des sensibilisations sur le respect du code de la route, l’importance des études pour les jeunes, mais aussi pour dénoncer les inégalités, la corruption, pousser la population à réagir etc. Cependant, parallèlement, les graffiti sont devenus le lieu de construction d’un business autour de la mode et de la décoration, avec les tableaux d’art, les jaquettes d’albums, les salons de coiffure, etc. En bref, mon but est d’aller au-delà des simplifications abusives et de discuter la complexité d’un art à facettes multiples. Ainsi, j’analyserai les multiples tensions et défis (entre l’activisme sociopolitique et la professionnalisation, la « liberté d’expression » et les contraintes liées au marketing, ou liées à l’aide matérielle de la part d’institutions étatiques ou non, etc.) qui interviennent dans la structuration du mouvement graffiti.
Rabine Leslie / University of California, Davis
The Dissemination of Graffiti Movements for Social Change Across West Africa
Exercising aesthetic ambition, passion and ingenuity in the face of a dire lack of resources, Senegalese graffeurs have made Dakar a transnational hub of urban street art. They have attracted artists from Europe, West Africa and the US to their city. This paper presents the views of artists from Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso who see the Dakarois graffeurs as inspiring their fledgling movements. They support each other, as Togolese artist Sitou Matt Imagination says, “in our goal of being able to establish graffiti a bit everywhere in Africa because for us graffiti can be a tool to change consciousness.” The artists from other West African countries may not enjoy the acceptance and freedom to paint any public wall that Senegalese graffeurs have enjoyed. But like the Senegalese, they make graffiti art a force to cleanse and beautify the disintegrating spaces of their cities. Painting complex layerings of stylized words, images, and colors on city walls, they aim to inspire their people to take responsibility for education, health, public cleanliness, and civic values in general. Through their wild style and mix of languages, they revolt against French neocolonial domination. Artists from Europe and the US in Dakar also see it as an urban hub in the transnational community they are working to build. Together these artists from many cultures present a concrete vision of the multifarious creative exchanges among marginalized and dominant cities and countries.
Gwande Victor / University of the Free State Bloemfontein Campus
Dombo Sylvester / Great Zimbabwe University
Speaking through the walls: Political graffiti and the fight against dictatorship in Zimbabwe, c. 2000 – 2013
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1980, Zimbabwe has been led by Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party. His government has tried to shrink the space for democratic engagement. This has led to the rise of social actors exploring alternative ways of engaging the state. Most of them have used clandestine means such as pirate radio stations, Internet newspapers, mobile phone text messages, protest music, social media, and graffiti. This paper unpacks the role of graffiti in the fight against dictatorship by raising pertinent questions regarding audience, message and impact. In Zimbabwe, graffiti draws largely on issues that are either addressed or deliberately ignored by the state-controlled public media, communicating them in the form of comic relief, satire, irony, raw and uncensored language to an audience without access to predominantly English print and electronic media. Reading political graffiti has allowed these people the opportunity to discuss issues they would not openly discuss, like the rigging of elections, failure of leadership, the Chinese in Zimbabwe and corruption. More importantly, graffiti has attacked the president of the country, a crime that attracts a prison sentence. But Zimbabwean graffiti is interesting not only because its makers are weak. As this paper shows, President Mugabe’s government and its allies have also deployed techniques to respond to their critics, and to silence subversive graffiti artists by erasing their work.