In a city of over 20 million, I was bound to come across some street art. It surprised me that the Chinese word for graffiti is tuya (涂鸦), a word used to describe “scribble”. Traditionally, graffiti is viewed as criminal art or vandalism in China. If caught painting in non-designated areas, artists will be fined, arrested, forced to paint over their work, or possibly held in jail for a few days.
In an attempt to reverse the negative connotations of graffiti, some artists refer to themselves as aerosol artists. Also to development of graffiti in China all the materials must become popular and cheap for everyone as spray paint is a rare commodity in Shanghai.
At the moment the government allows street artists to only paint in certain designated places and are often supervised while doing so.
Despite the ambiguity of the law against graffiti the phenomenon of graffiti is on the rise. I look forward to seeing what other pieces I can find in this bustling city.
11 Responses to A Taste of Street Art in Shanghai
I love seeing street art, interesting to discover it’s lacking in China and also has to be supervised. Some of those pieces are great though. I particularly love the first photo!
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So cool! I love street art!
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It is one of my favourite things to see when I explore a city.
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Street art is so cool and especially cool to see how different countries express themselves!
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You learn so much about a country and its people through their art. Street art is such a raw form of expression.
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Enjoyed your post; thanks for background on graffiti in SH; interesting.
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Thank you so much Sue! Hope you have a great week!
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Excellent.
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Will soon go out of the hunt for some more!
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An interesting post with some beautiful artwork
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Thank you Colline!! I have heard of some other places in Shanghai where I can find some more street art so will hopefully be visiting those places soon! Hope you have a fabulous week!
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