Graffiti - A Positive?

When I was thinking about how Serbia goes about projecting its world image, at events such as the European Water Polo Championships, I couldn’t help thinking about the graffiti that greeted me last time I went to Beogradska Arena. Climbing the steps that led to the arena I was greeted by a two metre high ‘kurac’ or cock sprayed by an imaginative Belgrade artist. 

It’s not that graffiti, or the use of rude words and phrases in such daubings, is a solely Serbian phenomenon, it’s just that there seems to be so much of it in Belgrade. And I don’t imagine that Belgraders and Serbs want foreign visitors asking what the welcoming ‘kurac’ means.  

One shouldn’t necessarily expect genius to emerge from such an artistic space as a tunnel wall but there are instances when graffiti can be more than a rude eye-sore. The graffiti on the way to Ada is an example. Not everyone might approve, but what are the alternatives: a blank wall that won’t stay that way for long, or someone describing anatomical parts and functions. 

For me the way forward for Belgrade would be to encourage graffiti art and murals upon obvious ‘urban canvases’. Rather than leaving them for people to tag and graffiti the local government should seek to encourage those interested in graffiti to bid for, design and paint potential ‘urban canvases’. The trick would be to overcome associations with government and accepted social norms, but I believe that the right sponsorship and approach might promote a positive street image regarding such a move. 

In this way Belgrade could seek to beautify itself in a way that is inclusive of young people and at the same time a means of taming what is currently an extremely anti-social phenomenon. And by encouraging the beautification of ‘urban canvases’, Belgrade’s former vandals might just end up promoting Serbia.