Streetheart Podcast

Studying abroad in Barcelona for the past 4 months had made me fall in love with the city—the street performers, food, laid-back lifestyle, history, people, art, and plethora of activities.

Every day I’m here Barcelona surprises and inspires me in a new way. Barcelona is like Paris, New York, or Tokyo—any major city in that there’s always something to do, and you’d need a lifetime to do it in.

But as tourists we don’t get a lifetime to see a city. We get a few days, maybe a week or two if we’re lucky. We see as much as we can before we move on. So for those with limited time, what can we do? How can we maximize our time in a place like Barcelona where there’s just so much to see? Well, seeing as Summer is right around the corner, I’ve created a sample itinerary for your Summer vacation in Barcelona to help you organize and maximize your time in this incredible city:

Day 1
Barri Gotic

This is Barcelona’s historic center and dates back to pre-Roman times. The area is a maze of tiny streets that turn around on each other and open into lovely squares and plazas. Highlights include:

Barcelona History Museum – Barcelona has one of the best city history museums I’ve ever been to. It does an incredible job of explaining the history and importance of Barcelona and has over 4,000 square meters of Roman ruins located beneath the museum that you can walk through. It’s spectacular. There’s a free, detailed audio guide and descriptive explanations of what you’re seeing.

Picasso Museum – While I’m not a huge fan of most of Picasso’s later work, with over 3,000 pieces of art, this museum has a lot to see, and even I was happy.

The Gothic Cathedral – Located in the heart of the Barri Gotic, this Gothic cathedral was built on top of an 11th-century church. You can take an elevator up to the roof for sweeping views of the surrounding historic area.

Lunch: La Boqueria – This is the famous central food market in the Barri Gotic and one of the best places to grab lunch in the area. (Watch out for crowds!)

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art – In the Raval area of town is the city’s modern art museum. They have hundreds of exhibits, especially from Spanish artists. If you love modern art, it’s worth a stop.

Night 1

Parc de la Ciutadella

On the complete other end of the Barri Gotic (it’s a beautiful walk through the historic streets, so you’ll enjoy it) is the Parc de la Ciutadella. Gaudi designed the famous Cascada Fountain when he was an architecture student. On a warm day, I just like to sit and stare at the fountain. There’s also a zoo in the park and some short walking paths. Take a bottle of wine, grab some ham, and have a picnic.

Day 2
Food tour

Barcelona has some of the best food in Spain, and there’s no better way to spend your morning than learning about the food culture of the city. I strongly recommend Context Travel’s food tour, which takes you around the Barri Gothic and the food markets there to highlight the food history and delicacies of the region. One of the most informative and delicious tours I’ve been on in a while, it’s not the cheapest food tour in the city, but I got everything I paid for.

Beaches

No trip to Barcelona is complete without a visit to its famous beaches. After you’ve gorged on food, siesta all day on the beaches, work on your tan, and relax with all the locals who had the same idea. Day one was a busy one, so make day two relaxing.

Day 3

Gaudi

Gaudi is Barcelona’s most famous architect and is considered the father of the modernitsa architecture movement. His unique style, use of nature, and catalog of work draws a lot of attention and visitors to the city. You can find his work spread throughout the city, but in the Eixample area, you can visit these four big sites:

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Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo

Lunch – Take a breather (and a late lunch).

Walking tour– While still in the Eixample area, you can visit all the other modernista movement sites.While Gaudi was the most famous architect of the movement, Barcelona is full of modernista-style buildings by other great architects. You can identify the buildings by the red circle in front of them on the sidewalk. You can also take the Context Travel tour about the movement or simply download a mini walking guide (right) and do it yourself.

Night 3

Visit Placa d’Espanya at night (Thursday)

On Thursdays, the Placa d’Espanya has fountains and lights that line the street towards Montjuïc Hill. At the end is the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, which puts on a spectacular light and water show. Afterwards, walk up the hill to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya for an expansive view of the city. This is also a great place to take a date. Very romantic!

Day 4
Harbor Cable Car

The 1450-meter long harbor aerial tramway with red cars connects Montjuic and Barceloneta. It starts near the beach on top of the 78-meter tower and takes you all the way to Montjuïc Hill.

Montjuïc Hill – When you arrive on the hill from the cable car, you’ll be able to enjoy a good view of the city and visit the Castell de Montjuïc (a large 18th-century fortress), as well as gardens, a Spanish village, and some Olympic stadiums. There’s a lot to do here, so you’ll have plenty of choices.

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya- The Catalunyas take regional pride very seriously. They’re Catalunyas first, Spaniards second, if at all. It was no surprise to me then to find a whole museum dedicated to art of the region. Since it’s high on a hill, you can use the museum’s patio to take pretty epic photos of the city.

Day 5

Relax

On your last day in Barcelona, relax and just enjoy the city. Every city visit needs a free day where you can just slow down and not feel rushed. Use this day to do whatever you want.

Suggestions:

Hit the beach again – work on your bronze a little more.
See anything you haven’t seen – didn’t get time to visit some other sites, museums, or walk through some neighborhoods? Spend your afternoon doing that!
Eat a ton – you can never have enough food in Barcelona.
Drink lots of sangria –every restaurant has its on take on Barcelona’s famous sangria. Try them all!

Other things to do:
Barcelona hosts many other activities beyond just the normal picture-taking sightseeing:

See a soccer match: The first football game I ever saw was in Barcelona. It was FC Barcelona versus Valencia. I still have the shirt I bought that day. Barcelona’s two teams are Espanyol and FC Barcelona (one of the top in the world).

Learn to cook – Since Barcelona is such a food-centric city, if the normal sights and activities bore you, take a food class. There are many one-day cooking classes offered.

Day trip to Figueres – This region is home to Dalí, and you can take a day trip to Figueres, where you can visit the Dalí museum featuring some of his most famous works.

For more suggested eating, check out these places:

• Cerveseria Catalana, Carrer de Mallorca, 236- http://www.yelp.com/biz/cervecer%C3%ADa-catalana-barcelona-2
• La Fonda, Escudellers, 10 – www.lafonda-restaurant.com
• Cal Pep, Plaça de les Olles, 8 http://www.calpep.com
• Allium Restaurant, Carrer del Call, 17 – www.alliumrestaurant.es
• Pinotxo, La Boqueria – http://pinotxobar.com
• Can Majo,Almirante Aixada, 23 http://www.canmajo.es

For your Summer vacation you could squeeze in the real highlights of Barcelona in two or three days, but taking five (or even six) for the above itinerary gives you enough time to gorge on Iberian ham, tapas, and sangria while not rushing around.

Studying abroad this semester in Barcelona, there are a few tips I wish I had known when I first arrived: Barcelona moves slowly—dinner’s at 9, you’re early to the bar if it’s before 2am, and everyone sleeps late and loves their siesta. And since this city moves slowly, so should you. Sleep late, take breaks, eat lots, don’t rush your visit, and just enjoy Barcelona—at a Spaniard’s pace!

I thought I’d save the best, in my opinion of course, for last. If you find yourself vacationing in Barcelona this Summer and are looking to see some incredible street art, there is no better way to  tour this vibrant city and its culture than a Barcelona’s famous street art tour!

Whether you want to see

Barcelona Street Art Tours: http://barcelonastreetstyletour.com

Street Art in Seville

Seville, as a street art enthusiast, is absolutely one of my favorite cities I’ve visited while studying abroad which, was a rather surprising realization. I was immediately drawn to the vibe of the city, a combination of typical Spanish features such as fabulous tapas bars, wine, and flamenco dance but also a vibrant young art scene which I initially noticed when I walked by a large wall by the Guadalquivir River filled with some of the most creative street art we’ve seen anywhere in Europe (below).

As I explored more, I  found myself surrounded by street art in Seville. Particularly graffiti is all over the the place. It is on walls, buildings, blinds, even the garbage containers in the street are full of graffiti and tags. I hadn’t expected to see any street art in such a quaint-looking city so i was thrilled by this discovery. I was so hungry for information about who the artists are and curious as to where exactly the art comes from in the very apparent, vibrant street art culture in Seville.

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Uniquely, Seville’s street art encompasses every single style and form of street art there is. Like the rest of the art world, there are different types of graffiti artists, some realistic, others like to incorporate history into their work, some prefer to make their artwork cartoonish, a few protest against the government in their art, and then there are the ones who just like to fill up space. Almost like a museum collection, you can find examples of every single type in Seville despite its small size.

Here are a couple more pictures I took of my very favorite pieces:

The art on this wall (above) has a little bit a Sevillian history in it. In the middle of each of the lamps is a famous building in Seville. From left to right: La Giralda, Torre del Oro, and Las Setas. The lamps signify the ones usually present during the Feria – a popular fiesta in Seville.

The art pictured above in this image I was initially attracted to because it stuck out with such powerful colors against a background of buildings of all the same neutral beige. Later, I was informed by my friend studying in Seville that there are about four graffitis of this exact unicorn around the city and it represents the artist’s resentment and retaliation against the Spanish government.

The street art has a very powerful way to modernize and add a new sense of contemporary art to an otherwise richly historical city. Seville is the perfect example of that impact. If you’re want to see exactly what I’m talking about, but don’t necessarily have time to visit Seville in the near future, I recommend you watch the video below to get a real taste of the incredible culture of street art in this magnificent city.

Multimedia Report

Some of the most influential books, sayings, poems of all time were published with no name. They are out there, on people’s bookshelves, framed on walls, quoted in movies, with no one to claim them. They transcend without ownership. This concept is easily applicable in relevance to the anonymity of street art and what it means to typical art culture and viewing practices. Much different than traditional art and even early graffiti, the anonymous works that are found on construction walls, street corners, and shop grates rather than hung in museums, and pose a difficult yet exciting complex for the street art, or, art-history enthusiast that happens upon them.

Often hilarious, poignant, or simply gibberish,  anonymous street art works, whether wheat-pasted, spray-painted, hand-painted or a combination of all three, project a purity of artistic expression, singularly representing art for art’s sake. On the other hand, they may lack a point whatsoever, which is an idea equally as intriguing. No matter the case, they remind society of the freedom of art, how it can mean everything or nothing at all. It is absent of profit, of fame, of definition, it exists for the sake of self expression.

Thinking about the impact of anonymous street art can warrant a tremendous amount of varied, and maybe even contradictory thoughts, which may come out as a jumbled mess with no end. Like anonymous street art itself, no conclusion can truly be made or question answered. Street art, in a way, demands to be felt. It demands to be noticed. It provokes thoughts in every person that wanders down a street and come across a beautiful piece of art near some bags of garbage.

First, what exactly is anonymous street art? It is simply impossible to determine an exact definition. If one were to Google “anonymous street art,” the first two pages are filled with various articles on Banksy. Is Banksy really anonymous? Nobody knows his (assuming it’s one person) real identity, yet, he has become enough of a celebrity that many argue that his work, which was first created illegally, should be protected or preserved. Clearly, Banksy is not anonymous in the traditional use of the word, but in the street art culture, he invented it. The style of his art revolves around his hidden identity and his signature, a route which many street artists have copied. Both Keith Haring’s subway drawings to Shepard Fairey’s OBEY were anonymous until they were discovered. Perhaps that is the idea after all, a game avoiding discovery.

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So the question remains, at what point does a street artist stop being anonymous? Is all street art anonymous until it becomes more popular? It seems impossible to truly define what is anonymous street art.

But maybe that’s not the point. Perhaps anonymity comes as a result of artists not wanting to be discovered. Perhaps living in the shadows allows an artist to release all inhibitions and truly self express without being hindered by definition.

Coming across an anonymous piece of street art provokes a certain surge of excitement, finding something new that perhaps no one else has ever seen. Without the artist’s identity, without a date, the work seems mysterious as if it just appeared there by itself. In a world where throughout art history, the work is s0 intricately connected to identity, viewing anonymous street art is an almost liberating, new experience that revolutionizes art and the culture associated.  .

For example, when art is discussed in school, students are taught to memorize the artist’s name, title of the work, and date. For art-history, the identity of the artist is integral to understanding the work and how the artist’s work progresses over their life or in relation to the different art historical movements.

One of the pivotal reasons that anonymous street art appeals to so many people is its backlash, or rebellion against the historical art-viewing process. Many indoctrinated art history students and teachers express they have a tough time processing these anonymous street works, and many of them, as a result, are leaders in efforts to discontinue street art overall. Barring the fact that street art is still widely ignored by universities, the anonymity of the artist is a concept still adamantly rejected by professionals in the art industry.

That being said, imagine if all of art history was taught without the identity of the artist. Suddenly, all of art would be open to wider interpretations without being stuck in a meaningless cycle of artistic movements and personalities. A whole new world of limitless meaning is created without the boundary of a “right” answer. Anonymous street art radically poses the question of how much an artist’s identity really matters to art-viewing.

Separate from both legal art and graffiti, anonymous street art sets up a complex relationship with the viewer who wants to both appreciate the work and find out who the artist is. But in the end, does it matter if the artist’s name is known? What does one get from a name? There are those who may obsessively try to figure out who did the work and where they come from, but for some, the art is enough and the anonymity is part of the masterpiece.

I’m lucky enough to know an anonymous street artist personally. His work can be seen in and around a multitude of cities in multiple countries to which he bears no credit, no permanent ownership, no control over his audience. To him, and others like him, his real-life Clark Kent/Superman-esque secret is far more important than any of that.

The name is Ostertag.

*Disclaimer: I will refer to the artist as “he” throughout this article in order to respect the artist’s wishes to remain anonymous.

This street artist thrives off random thought, impulse, and his incredibly unique pattern making talent. Ostertag is a collection of stickers, in various sizes and shapes, some typed, some individually marked splashed around cities on poles, bike stands, walls, mailboxes, nearly any blank space he can find, really.

The simplicity of his simultaneously intricate work is remarkable. His work is absolutely unmistakable and hard to miss.  An original Ostertag design will either read a certain, quirky random message, or will leave viewers staring, trying to decode a hidden message/language impeded in the patterns. His work is impossible to replicate, not one design is like the next, which is what makes these designs, or any art for that matter, so impressive. Ostertag’s casual approach to displaying his designs, is emblematic of the true essence of street art. A rebellion against pretension.

It wasn’t until I met this artist when I really understood the thrill and excitement of street art. How it is a lifestyle, a passion, a whole secret world, and at the same time one can have an entirely separate identity void of art of any kind. Lawyers, doctors, janitors, just about anyone could have one occupation and life and be a world famous street artist at the same time without anyone knowing.

Leaving a piece of you somewhere is a privlage unlike anything else and that’s exactly what street art is: the ability to leave ones own, personal mark on the world. Whenever I visit this artist I take some stickers with me that, in efforts to spread his work, he lets me post them along my many travels wherever I wish.

I’ll never forget walking down the streets of Paris last month, a city I’d never visited before, and doing a double-take after seeing an Ostertag sticker on a brown pole in the middle of the street. I knew I was walking where Ostertag once walked and that, to me, was when I finally understood what street art is capable of making one feel. It makes one feel a connection, a sense of ownership of unchartered territories, a sense of belonging, a feeling of influence, an unrivaled ability to touch lives, something every human longs for.

Ostertag kindly offered to do an exclusive interview for “Streetheart” last week. Of course, the interview had to be conducted using only audio in order for Ostertag to continue his anonymous crusade around the world leaving his mark on every street corner and street sign for years to come.

Street Art in Hong Kong: The Umbrella Revolution

A colorful “invasion” of Hong Kong that formerly brighten the days of passers-by has been suppressed by government workers taking orders to keep public areas free from street art. In the wake of Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central”,  government should embrace the upcoming cultural movement in accepting and celebrating more unconventional form of art such as the paintings on the walls that are repeatedly being painted over all over the city.

It all started on Sept. 26, when hundreds of students gathered in a courtyard in Central Hong Kong, demanding an end to Chinese oppression and control. China’s modern history with Hong Kong has been complicated, to say the least. For more than 150 years, Hong Kong belonged to Britain. Then in 1997 Britain handed the thriving metropolis back to China in a political deal called “One Country, Two Systems,” which allowed Hong Kong to maintain some of the freedoms and independence mainland Chinese people do not have, such as freedom of expression, press and the right to assemble.

But this summer China started to backpedal. It announced to Hong Kong that those elections could proceed only if the Chinese government selected all the candidates. To the people of Hong Kong, that meant they wouldn’t have much control over their own government after all.

Soon after this news, the students hit the streets, and thousands from Hong Kong rushed to join them in the days that followed. These protesters have come from all over China and all hold different, yet similar ideologies, all demanding seize of government suppression. Most recently the Umbrella Revolution has focused on spreading their message through various forms of street art. This street art is called the “invasion” and has been popping up all over Hong Kong. The government time and time again paints over these murals and arrests, tear gasses, or punishes any one involved. Such self expression that is celebrated and accepted in most modern societies is a major point of content in Hong Kong. Protestors against the removal of these murals have invaded the city under the Umbrella Revolution and their fight continues even now. It seems as though this will be a long road until street art or any form of true self expression prevails against China’s stifling government.

“Sometimes Hong Kong feels like a non-fun zone,” said student-citizen Every-Wortman. “Some restrictions make sense, because there are so many people here. But I hope slowly government can be not to be too strict on certain rules, and it will continue to change as people fight for public space and expression in said spaces.”

To understand how the protests have escalated to this point, click this link, so as we watch the conflict develop.

Street Art Project, by Google Cultural Institute

One of the many beauties of street art is its ability to reach the most public audience of any other form of art in existence. That being said, because the canvas is mostly a wall and semi-permenant, only people visiting said street get the pleasure of viewing it. That is, until now…

Google recently announced it was bringing street art online through several galleries from around the world, Google  revealed it is doubling the number of high-resolution images available to more than 10,000, while also making it available through Chrome, Chromecast, and Android Wear so anyone can appreciate them.

This initiative is titled “The Google Art Project” and is part of the overall Google Cultural Institute. The Google Cultural Institute is the subsection of Google that has been working with art and cultural institutions to digitize offline exhibits. For street art specifically, Google has been working with 86 art organizations from 34 countries to help preserve some of the cool urban creations on walls and buildings around the world.

For this venture, Google partnered with many organizations such as The Mural Arts Program with the hope of preserving street art long after the paint has faded from the walls. The Mural Arts Program is one of the organizations, aforementioned, participating around the world in the preservation of street art through digital means.

The digital collection contains more than 10,000 images, 160 new exhibits and animated “GIF-iti” art from around the world, bringing street art, of all kinds, off the walls to computers and mobile phones a with just a simple Internet connection.

This new Google initiative to savor the creations of street artists for an even more public audience, utilizes technology and its ability to provide a way to preserve these artworks and make them available anywhere and anytime.
For the Mural Arts Program, partnering with Google was an opportunity to reach an audience beyond a certain state or neighborhood that may not have been able to see its work otherwise.

“Google reported it’s latest venture stating, “last June, we added street art from all over the globe—including 5Pointz—to the Google Art Project. Today, we’re doubling the number of public artworks to more than 10,000 high-resolution images. Eighty-five art organizations from 34 countries are sharing pieces, ranging from Sweden’s most famous street festival, to water tanks wrapped with art among New York city’s rooftops, to the abandoned walls of Buenos Aires that are a source of inspiration for street artists from all over the world.”

Amit Sood, director of the Google Cultural Institute and head of the new art project, went on to note,

“You don’t need to be tied to your desktop to enjoy these fantastic collections. All these images are now available on a device near you with Chrome, Chromecast, Android Wear and your mobile devices. Turn your TV screen into a vibrant backdrop and add some color to your smartwatch with our new Street Art Watch Faces.”

Los Angeles

This week I returned back to the US for my cousins wedding in my hometown, Los Angeles. Despite the many hours of traveling, I was pleasantly reminded where my intrigue and fascination of street art really originated. Aside from being the birthplace of several pioneer street artists, Los Angeles is home to some of the most important displays of street art in the world. Los Angeles is known as being a creative mecca in many senses; It’s known for its tremendous amounts of creatives along with the inherent importance to which self expression is held in its culture. L.A is covered in thousands of murals of street art representational of all forms, some dating as far back to the 1960’s. From Retna, to Banksy, to the thousands of anonymous displays sprinkled throughout.

Although present in nearly every area of Los Angeles, few areas of L.A. provide a more condensed collection of the best in local street art than the Arts District, located on the eastern edge of Downtown. I decided, with my newfound purpose to report my experiences with street art, to take the famous Downtown LA Art Walk. This free of charge art walk brings together art-lovers from all around the Los Angeles Area and out of state to witness the ever-evolving streets of Downtown LA every month on the 2nd Thursday of each month from 6pm-10pm. Many of the Downtown Art Walk activities take place in and around the galleries predominantly on Spring and Main street, between 2nd and 9th street. Honestly, if you drive to Downtown LA, you can’t miss it. As I walked and talked to more and more people I grew to understand the palpable culture within this monthly celebration. One man informed me that for the true, art buyers and fans, he suggests arriving early to experience a more relaxing stroll through the different galleries and art exhibits. When I initially arrived, I was daunted and semi-overwhelmed by the amount of people that crowded the streets. Everyone was meeting up with friends, indulging in the local experience, dining on the many food trucks, and watching the various street performances. There was a very astounding sense of community, albeit very welcoming, everyone was greeting each other as if they were old friends. Later, I learned the majority of people there are monthly visitors so there is a very strong sense of vibrant community. There are many, many  different galleries and all completely different from one another. I saw then why people continuously come back because there’s no way to see them all in one trip! I left after two hours of walking and once I’d reached the end of one gallery, I thought I’d completed the tour to its entirety. Clearly I was incredibly wrong, but it definitely left me itching to go back and determined to experience every single thing this tour has to offer. Click here for directions.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

It’d be impossible, or mindless to have a blog or even interest about Street Art and not know about “Exit Through the Gift Shop”.  “Exit Through the Gift Shop” was released in January 2010 and is an excellent documentary shadowing famous street artist “Banksy” and his many works. It is described as “modern art and celebrity put under the microscope.” A fundamental concept in beginning to understand street art and its culture.

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” offers an interesting perspective on the popularity of street art while examining the public’s interpretations of what modern art exactly is. The film follows the life of Thierry Guetta, an eccentric immigrant who develops a love for filming street artists. At the beginning of the film, Thierry is represented as sort of an odd, yet legitimate and successful business man. This original perception comes increasingly under question from the audience as they witness Thierry’s peculiar actions in what appears to be good-natured, kind of, incompetence.

 

The first half of the documentary is largely based around the underground culture of street artists, and the meaning and passion behind their work. It repeatedly mentions that it “needs to be captured” as it is commonly removed; an act displayed several times throughout the film. The film does a good job at examining the motivations behind street art in order to tear down the perception that it is largely just vandalism. Shots of events from Thierry’s life develop an emotional connection between him the viewer, which helps to legitimize what are essentially thought of as crimes.

The second half of the movie revolves around Thierry’s final spiral into an “artist” himself. Many characters begin dropping the subtlety act about Thierry’s odd persona, going as far as directly calling him incompetent, crazy, etc. It’s in stark contrast to the beginning of the film, and underscores what I believe is a completely different message entirely. What is art, and who defines what good art is? The contrast between Thierry’s humorously awkward splattering of paint and Banksy’s politically-charged works is apparent.

As the end nears, it really seems that the documentary is challenging public perceptions of art and the “art scene.” Thierry makes millions of dollars (entirely from the works of others and in spite of himself) simply by offering eccentric commentary on “his” creations to pretentious onlookers. Even Thierry’s adopted name, “Mr. Brainwash,” seems like a subtle remark on the events. The real artists featured earlier in the movie openly question the “idiots” who bought into the whole ordeal. It seemed as if everything up to that point had been a satirical commentary on the state of modern, publicly acceptable “art” in contrast to “real” art on the streets. It’s subtle and is never explicitly stated, but that’s also what makes it effective.

Streetheart Amsterdam

This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting Amsterdam. I found this beautiful city to be so unique and for a such a small city, it felt as if every inch was packed with different things to look at. Street art, I found, was not the most prevalent of things I saw.  With such a crowded city, buildings, shops, houses, canals, bridges, took up most of the space with few blank spaces from street artists aside from sporadic graffiti tags and a few stickers. But, luckily I’d done my research before visiting this wonderful place and was proved wrong in my assumed absence of street art. In fact, there is an entire museum devoted to it.

Street Art Museum Amsterdam was founded by Anna Stolyarova, originally from Ukraine and now lives in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The museum that spans a couple miles, holds more than thirty murals for visitors to see. The murals are dispersed and hidden within the walls of Geuzenveld-Slotermeer, and were specifically commissioned for the area to “enhance the bond between the residents, art in public space and the neighborhood”, according to Stolyarova.

The museum focuses on the connection between the new production techniques of the contemporary art movement of graffiti/street-art to its more historic origins. Moreover, through the true stories of these murals, visitors get a picture of the local residents of Amsterdam as well as the history of the district, its ups and downs, and special characteristics.

One can visit all of the pieces within three hours for a very low price. The museum’s curators carefully select the artists and give them full freedom of artistic expression. The museum provides the artists with the residence opportunity in what is known as Nieuw-West. Today, Street Art Museum Amsterdam is a project run by the non-profit foundation Glamorous Outcasts and is one of the newer, most successful museums in all of Amsterdam.

Street Art in Paris

Do we reserve the right of free speech? Does our native country defend that right against all odds? What is freedom of speech, of press? How far is too far?

All of the questions above, among millions of others were put to the test when an act of terrorism occurred in Paris last month. From January 7-9th, gun-men (later discovered to be affiliated with Islamist militant groups) opened fire near the offices of the satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo. The gunmen killed a total of 12 people in the attacks and were noted yelling “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad” and “God is Great” in Arabic while shouting the individual names of the journalists working for the magazine. It is said that the magazine’s satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad enraged and provoked the attackers that day.

Nearly every country has some limits on freedom of speech and it is still one of the most contested subjects in every single society. Yet, recently after, Paris president Francois Hollande and leaders from Germany, Italy, Turkey, Britain as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories marched among French and other flags defending the honor of entitled freedom of expression and against terrorism.

“No person, no human being should be subjected to violence, still less death for anything that they have said, written or drawn,” Respect MP George Galloway said regarding the attacks.

There is a “fundamental difference”, declared the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, in a speech to parliament on January 13th, between the “freedom of impertinence” and “anti-Semitism, racism, apology for terrorism, Holocaust denial”.

Journalism, among other forms of expression, was the main target in this act of terrorism. Needless to say this posed and continues to pose a tremendous amount of questions such as, How far is too far? Can we really, as journalists, as bloggers, freely and safely express ourselves without serious, even fatal risk?

I had the opportunity to visit Paris two weeks ago and what I saw was completely opposite of what I’d imagined I would find after such a tragedy. Street performers flooded each street we passed, murals of street art, some relating to the recent attacks framed the city. It was as if these attacks only revived the culture rather than hindered it. It was incredible to witness such retaliation in a peaceful, passive way and showed what a profound impact self expression, including street art messages can have on an entire city and culture of people.

 

 

What is Street Art?

Street Art:

The beauty of street art, or urban art, is that it has an insurmountable amount of definitions. There are millions of “street artists” that themselves don’t identify as artists per say. Traditionally speaking, street art is any art developed in public spaces. That can mean anything from graffiti art work, to “tagging”,  stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting,  street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. 

Now, street art is going mainstream. Auctioneers, collectors, and museum directors are scrabbling to learn urban art vocabulary and develop positions on the big street art issue. Meanwhile, many people don’t recognize this artwork like art and sometimes people relate this art with vandalism.

In an interview with the Queens Tribune, New York City’s Queens Museum of Art Executive Director Tom Finkelpearl said public art “is the best way for people to express themselves in this city.” Finkelpearl, who helps organize socially conscious art exhibitions, added, “Art gets dialogue going. That’s very good.” However, he doesn’t find  graffiti to be art, and says, “I can’t condone vandalism… It’s really upsetting to me that people would need to write their name over and over again in public space. It’s this culture of fame. I really think it’s regrettable that they think that’s the only way to become famous.”

It is definitely the most controversial form of art in nature aside from its tendency to provoke and translate various social controversies. The artist usually tries to leave some kind of message like political issues, feelings, their personal emotions. And these expressions are exposed in the street where the public can enjoy and valuate them. However, it still stands that most street art is unsanctioned, and many artists who have painted without permission, (Banksy, Shepard Fairey)  have been glorified as legitimate and socially conscious artists.