International Street Art: Information is Beautiful
- the24hrtourist
- Apr 24, 2020
- 2 min read
Street artists take the covid-19 crisis into their own hands, sharing public health information to the people living in some of the most densely packed areas of Nairobi.
Historically art has been considered something that belongs in clean airy galleries, reserved for the pensive stare of those that 'truly understand it'. But I'm from Bristol, the home of internationally recognised street artist Banksy, and I love walking the streets of cities around the world to see what's on offer in public spaces for all eyes to see.
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
- Banksy -
Graffiti art often carries an anti-establishment or anti-capitalist message - as well as being, by its very nature, a public act of rebellion or defiance. Thought of as an eye-sore by many, it carries stigma and is considered in lots of countries to be criminal offence.
But today, these art pieces are, like their closed-door counterparts, respected by the art community. While many artists do still use public spaces to ask difficult questions or write messages of dissent, lots of pieces are created for decorative purposes, or to represent a place and time.
This week one street artist has turned his attention to a new need, art as a public service. Still following the grass-roots graffiti tradition of art 'for the people', he is sharing public health messages on the walls of some of the most over-populated slums in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.
“We decided as artists to go around to write murals, to spread the message of the coronavirus. We wanted to emphasise the common enemy of the virus, that people should be aware of it, they should not take this virus for granted, they should be serious,”
- Artist Josphat Ndemo, 25, talking to Africa CGTN -
In places where social distancing isn't really an option, and city-wide lockdowns would be a humanitarian disaster. These notices focus on practical ways people can help reduce the spread of the disease, while continuing to go about their essential business.
If you could send a message to the world right now in the form of street art what would it look like? How would you represent what you want to say? And, in 100 years, if someone discovered your wall, what do you think they would learn about the world today?
They say a picture paints a thousand words... what's in your picture?
Nairobi, Kenya has a well established street art scene and once borders reopen you can visit Kenya and check out some of the sites. The artists will give you a guided tour of their art in four areas of the city: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/kenya/nairobi/activities/the-nairobi-street-art-tour/a/pa-act/v-122316P1/355332
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