"Your wall can(not) divide us"

Exhibition by the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti

This exhibition features photos of street art pieces from a range of conflict-affected societies. Engaging with street art can be useful for academics and policy makers alike. It makes an important contribution to understanding local conflict-dynamics and visions of peace. Street art tells narratives about everyday concerns and opinions, where multiple and often contradicting narratives by different artists and communities can be publicly viewed. This holds particular value in situations of conflict and censorship, as art can talk about issues that have no space in the mainstream political discourse.

Street art can have a range of different functions – some are displayed in this collection. These functions can both contribute to peace and social change, but also to foster or underline conflict and division. Functions that can be seen in this exhibit include: resistance, political communication, identity expression, memorialisation of events or people, and inspiration. Street art can also add to the division of spaces or to mark territory or promote exclusive political messages. In other contexts, painting murals together is used to engage communities in local political debates. Thus, there are multiple messages street art can send.

When attempting to interpret and decode street art and its insights for conflict-affected societies, there is a range of factors to consider such as the spatial, temporal, political economy, and representative dimensions. In other words, we should think about when a piece is produced, where a piece is produced and who produced what can be seen on the wall. Combined, these elements paint a complex picture of what street art can tell us about local dynamics, everyday lives in peace and conflict, differential power distributions, and competing imaginaries of a post-conflict order.

If you want to learn more about arts and conflict follow our project on conflict graffiti on Twitter  @congraffiti  or the  Facebook page  of the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti (ICCG).

Note: Maps are only accurate to the city/district level.

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1

Cyprus

Where we find graffiti is just as important as its content. Spaces shape and are shaped by graffiti. In conflict-affected societies this is powerful since spaces and place are often highly contested. This piece is painted on the United Nations controlled Buffer Zone wall. It was first erected in Nicosia in late 1963 and since 1974, has divided the whole island of Cyprus and its two warring communities. The message of defiance and hope for peace is expounded by its location; space adds to the communicative power of graffiti. That it is also written in English (rather than Greek or Turkish) speaks to an intended, perhaps international, audience.

Photograph taken UN Buffer Zone, June 2019.

Photo credit: Billy Tusker Haworth

2

Cyprus

This series of stencils raises awareness about Transgender rights. The subject of LGBTIQ+ rights has typically been tabooed across Cyprus, where public opinion remains conservative. In both sides of the divided island, LGBTIQ+ communities remain significantly underrepresented in politics, something which has been compounded by the dominance of the conflict in politics. Nicosia’s walls consequently offer an alternative platform for these communities and conversations. This picture was taken in the Turkish Cypriot side of Nicosia, in the gay-friendly quarter. This space is likely considered safer to paint on such themes compared to other locations.

Photograph taken North Nicosia, June 2019.

Photo credit: Billy Tusker Haworth

3

Cyprus

This large mural in the southern city of Limassol was painted in response to the 2015 Nepali earthquake. It gives the crisis a human face and raises awareness of the refugees that fled, and women and children in particular. It has been refreshed since it was originally painted. The location is telling: Limassol is situated far away from the Buffer Zone and is a popular tourist destination. As such, the street art is more artistic and aesthetically appealing, large in scale and eye-catching to tourists. It shows awareness of turmoil beyond Cyprus’ borders (not always common in conflict zones). It was painted by one of Cyprus’ most famous street artists, Paparazzi, who offers graffiti workshops to tourists.

Photograph taken Limassol, June 2019.

Photo credit: Billy Tusker Haworth

4

Colombia

Medellin’s Comuna 13 was long known for gang violence, military raids, drug cartels and illegal trafficking. The neighbourhood is now vibrant tourist destination thanks to street art. Comuna 13 has become a symbol for the city’s, and indeed Colombia’s, transformation and the hope for socio-economic development. The area displays hundreds of different graffiti and murals. As the one in the picture, many of them engage with the topic of peace and unity.

Photograph taken Medellin, 5 March 2019.

Photo credit: Ruth Daniel

5

Colombia

This picture memorialises an old woman from the community. She plays a special role in Comuna 13’s history. During Operación Marisca, an intense military operation in the neighbourhood in 2002, she is said to have left her house with a white sheet to stop the violence. More members the community then began to wave or hang ‘white flags’ in form of clothes or otherwise to show their resistance to the violence and their desire for peace. The old lady remains a popular source of inspiration for street artists in area.

Photograph taken Medellin, 5 March 2019.

Photo credit: Ruth Daniel

6

Colombia

The Colombian government signed a peace agreement with Colombia’s biggest guerrilla movement, the FARC, in 2016. Despite the treaty, violence remains an issue in many parts of the country. Many art pieces, such as this mural, call for a peaceful future. It reads “Colombia – balas, mas sueños [Colombia, less bullets, more dreams]”.

Photograph taken Medellin, 5 March 2019.

Photo credit: Ruth Daniel

7

Iraq

Names of the protesters who lost their lives during the protests in Iraq that started 01 October 2019. The names are written on the wall of the Tahrir Square in Baghdad to make everyone remember that more than 500 protesters have lost their lives in their call for political change in the country.

Photograph taken Baghdad, December 2019.

Photo credit: Lawk Ghafuri

8

Iraq

A drawing on the wall of Tahrir Square in Baghdad shows Iraq as a tooth decaying due to the external influence of both Iran and United States. The protesters in Iraq have been very clear since day one that they are against the presence of the Iranian agenda and the US agenda in their country and they want Iraq to decide on its own political and economic fate. 

Photograph taken Baghdad, December 2019.

Photo credit: Lawk Ghafuri

9

Iraq

Several murals on a wall of Tahrir Square tunnel in Baghdad that demonstrate messages of resistance and protesters’ feelings. They also demonstrate how street art offers a lens to understand the ‘local’. The first mural on the left-hand side shows the power and role of women in the protests of Iraq. The middle one describes love (Huub) which united all the Iraqis and protesters to chant and protest hand in hand against corruption, lack of services and a failed political system. While the mural on the right shows the disappointment of protesters in the lack of action from UN whilst protesters were being assassinated or murdered by the security forces and armed militias in Iraq.

Photograph taken Baghdad, December 2019.

Photo credit: Lawk Ghafuri

10

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste is a post-conflict society, still dealing with the legacies of Portuguese colonialism and recovering from the violence of the Indonesian occupation (1975 to 1999). Peace is still felt to be fragile and periods of civil unrest since independence in 2002 have underlined this fact. As a result, peace is a dominant theme in the country’s vibrant street art scene. War, conflict, and violence are frequently denounced as this piece explicitly illustrates with its clear message: ‘War? What is a [sic] good for?’ The future should be creative and peaceful, marking a clear difference from the violence of the past; ‘Make art not war’.

Photograph taken Dilli, July 2012.

Photo credit: Catherine Arthur

11

Timor-Leste

Considering the long history of foreign occupation in Timor-Leste, it’s not surprising that national identity is a strong theme in street art. After 450 years of Portuguese colonialism, the East Timorese endured a further 24 years of violent occupation by Indonesia. Timor-Leste finally regained its independence in 2002, beginning a new era for the East Timorese people. For them, the future is about coming together as an independent nation and building a more peaceful, prosperous land. These sentiments are represented in the symbols of the dove alongside the national flag, and the text: ‘Dame ba ami nia Rain, Domin ba ita hotu, Timor ida deit [peace to our land, love to you all, only one Timor]’.

Photograph taken Dilli, August 2012.

Photo credit: Catherine Arthur

12

Timor-Leste

In the early years of independence, processes of building peace and the nation-state have encountered some significant challenges that are common to many post-colonial, post-conflict societies. Internal differences of political parties, regional identity, generational groups, and experiences of the conflict led to tensions that culminated in the 2006 Crisis, a period of civil unrest that saw the worst violence since the Indonesian occupation. During this time, artists took to the streets to paint messages of peace, unity, and love to remind people of what they shared. This piece from 2006 is a call to national unity and a celebration of their unique, shared identity: ‘Timor ida deit [only one Timor]’.

Photograph taken Dilli, 2006.

Reproduced with permission from Arte Moris

13

Hong Kong

In 2019 much of the cityscape of Hong Kong transformed into a site of resistance. Spurred by a controversial extradition bill, the ongoing protests have transformed to a larger pro-democracy movement aiming for distance from Beijing. The Lebron James reference seen in this photograph taken under the highway bridge in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon comes out of Chinese backlash to a tweet by NBA executive Daryl Morey offering support for protestors. Lebron James publicly questioned how informed Morey was in his tweet, in doing so becoming a pariah in Hong Kong. Censored out on the “China Ferry Terminal” sign is the word “China” after suspicion of police assistance attacks on protesters on 21 July 2019 and 30 August 2019.

Photograph taken Hong Kong, 10 November 2019.

14

Hong Kong

This photograph draws attention to the access to the pedestrian bridge in Hung Hum, Kowloon that connects the MTR station to The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. Demonstrably visible are a number of graffiti ‘tags’ in Cantonese. The black characters offer statements – “Free (and return glory to) Hong Kong, Revolution of our Time.” The red posters seen on the posts in the background offer a call for action to recognize the human rights abuses of the Communist party by comparing them with the Nazi party. The poster features the 5 stars from the Chinese national flag manipulated into the shape of a swastika.

Photograph taken Hong Kong, October 2019.

15

Hong Kong

This pedestrian bridge connected to the Tsuen Wan MTR station offers an anonymous Lennon wall where citizens can use sticky notes to post emotions, and their words of motivations. Additional posters all over the walls and ground offer information about police violations, events, and protest locations. This photo was taken on the day before the largest protest against the protest and face mask ban. Lennon Walls and posters are often removed several times a day in this Tsuen Wan bridge by counter-protesters and police, but civilians post them back up amidst the tension – demonstrating the level of organization and communication. 

Photograph taken Hong Kong, 19 October 2019.