Berlin?s Graffiti Has a Story to Tell.

Posted by David Swift on January 31st, 2018

Germany’s art scene has always been in the limelight and Berlin, in particular, has been singlehandedly instrumental in keeping it right up there with the likes of New York, Paris, and London. Berlin has always had a colourful and long association with graffiti.

The graffiti movement kick-started in the 70’s with its politically engaged murals and bubbly lettered slogans and today it holds the distinction of being referred to as, the graffiti Mecca of the urban art world.

Germany is filled with a bunch of internationally acclaimed urban and street artists and most of them have their origins or are associated in some way or the other to Berlin. Observers from around the world have coined Berlin as the most “bombed” city in Europe owing to the sheer extent of its graffiti art scene. Any form of graffiti or street art in Berlin is deemed illegal unless the owner of the sprayed area lends his explicit permission.

Twenty years ago, the city allocated almost million to erase graffiti and a lobby was set up to secure places for street artists to practice legally. Moreover, owing to UNESCO bestowing upon it the title of ‘City of Design', legal authorities can't even do much to get rid of the graffiti. Having said that,

the sheer magnitude and richness of the graffiti on display has made Berlin a tourist hot-spot. Millions of people from all across the globe visit this city every year to check out the graffiti and street art which has, in turn, helped the city fill up its coffers and thereby ease its debt.

 

As a matter of fact, Berlin plays host to the works of some of the world's most popular and prominent street artists. Right from the hipster neighbourhoods of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg to the Berlin Wall and pretty much every alley in between, Murals, graffiti, and other semi-legal creations are ruling the roost.

There are even massive apartment buildings which have one entire side painted over while there are several others which lay low in back alleys or doorways. If you’re looking to explore the entire Berlin’s street art scene, make sure you plan a long holiday as a few days just wouldn’t cut it.

Currently, there’s a museum dedicated to graffiti and art for public spaces which display designs by local and international street artists which opened up in Berlin. As a matter of fact, the inauguration of this museum, The Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, had several street arts exhibited on the facade of its building to kick it off.

As per the museum director, Yasha Young, the museum has been constructed as a means to convey the story of Berlin's vivid street art scene right from where it began up until now.

Berlin also has a dedicated urban art blog, Freundeskreis Street-Art Berlin, which describes itself as the first German, non-mainstream, urban art blog. This blog gives keeps its readers up-to-date with Berlin’s growing street art scene while also offering round the clock news from their counterparts, such as Reclaim Your City.

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David Swift

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David Swift
Joined: September 20th, 2017
Articles Posted: 10

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