Street art in Portugal

The streets of Porto seem to be particularly riddled with both boring tag lines and more interesting pieces of graffiti. From stencils on street walls to large murals, some pieces seemed commissioned whist others were more natural. Lisbon also had quite a lot of street art gracing its walls.

On my first day arriving in Portugal, I got lost. Wandering the streets of Porto, I came across these two cat portraits in the same street. Having just passed about seven or so cats in the past five minutes, I had to smile at their relevance.

‘Street of Cats’

‘Love Porto’

I also enjoyed keeping my eye out for some repeating motifs and styles. Godmess, Costah  and Hazul are some of the big names when it comes to graffiti, and their style can easily be picked out on the streets and lanes.

I really admire the geometric patterns of the artist Hazul and the use of sibling motifs, similar in style but slightly different in form, that find themselves repeated on the city walls.

 

Whilst a lot of street art seems to be tucked away, some of the major streets are decorated- one of them being Rua Das Flores. On this street, power boxes have been spruced up with some talent and spray paint. I loved the sayings by the artist Godmess, but sadly Google translate does not provide me with anything I can even begin to understand. I think it is something made by locals, for locals, and the rest of us can only smile at the enigma, as we do with a conversation or an inside joke that goes way over our heads.

From what I saw Porto was definitely the hub of street art, but Lisbon also had some gems to offer. Being a pun-lover myself, and always interested in playful use of language, I am particularly partial to the #selfieless image. It isn’t unique to Lisbon, as photos with the hashtag have been posted from Valencia, Barcelona, Berlin and London- and it may be pasted in other cities around Europe that I’m not aware of. I can’t help but think about the differences between the words and meanings of selfless and selfieless- are those who are disconnected socially, both on and offline, left with a less valued sense of self? I think it’s possible that being selfie-less is not that far away from feeling self-less (without a sense of self worth), in an age where photos are a such an important way of connecting with others, especially for young people. After seeing this artwork, I will make a greater effort to be a more selfless and reach out to others where I can.

Basel: Street art

Lots of murals and paintings decorated the walls of many Basel buildings. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of plain black tag graffiti scrawled carelessly across some of the beautiful old buildings, which I found a real pity. The city also houses some great statues and fountains… unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to seek them out.

A vibrant city

Detail of an abstract mosaic on the walls of the University

Traditional style mural

Painted passageway

Rhino statue decorating someone’s doorstep

Heidi

Camden Street Art

Camden has it’s fair share of street murals and graffiti style paintings. I enjoyed the colour and vibrancy they added to the bustling streets, the mix of styles and subjects creating a fresh and diverse ensemble.

One mural which caught my eye depicted soft portraits, of which one depicts a young indigenous Australian in ceremonial body paint. The fairy like hair/headdress adds an ephemeral element to the painting, like a ghost of the past or perhaps the lost stories of the dreaming. According to the tag at the top right, it’s a piece by Dale Grimshaw a well established London Street artist.

It was touching to see this here- the presence of a culture so tragically disrupted by the British invasion, so often forgotten and abandoned. An accusation perhaps? Or a reminder of a history so often pushed aside? A question about the benefits of British imposed ‘society’? The Dumbo reference and the roller coaster are lost on me. The futility of entertainment, and it’s human cost? I’m not sure exactly what the message is here, but it speaks to me, connecting me with the tragic history of my homeland.

Street Art in Angoulême #2

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It would have been nice to have had a little more time to go exploring in Angoulême, and to discover more of its famous murals. The ones I did see though, I found pretty impressive. I spied one from the bus, a wall painted with a picture of a weir, water rushing under a low bridge… and then turned the corner and there was the very same scene right before my eyes, only this time in three dimensions!

Street Art in Angoulême

We will plant trees more than we ever did before – Fred le Chevalier.

Street poetry #2

There are several possible ways to read this little slogan, but I think the most fitting translation is “We don’t talk, we trust”.

City Streets

Since Bordeaux has a lot of pedestrianised streets (especially on the weekends) cars are not very useful en centre-ville (in the city centre). For this reason, a lot of people either ride bicycles, motor-bikes or scooters. Whilst I did spy a few motorcycles, scooters were much more common place. There were a lot of different colours and styles- and some were parked in very odd places. Here are a few photos of the more interesting scooters I saw, as well as a bit of graffiti/street art (thankfully not on the beautiful old stone walls of the city, but on more modern structures). You can see in the picture of the traffic light that there are little sensors installed on most pedestrian crossings in France. The sensor recognises that a person is waiting to cross the street and changes the lights so the traffic stops to let them cross- no need to press a button the way you do in Australia. Last but not least is a picture of a beautiful cement mixer, painted with a desert landscape. I really enjoyed the diversity of vehicles in the streets and seeing the pop of colour and modernity they bought to the place.