GRAFFITI IN PODGORICA: STREET ART OR VANDALISM?

graffiti2 PodgoricaWhen you live in Podgorica, you have certainly seen many scrawled messages and mural paintings in bright colors that “decorate” buildings, bridges, monuments and train cars. You may have even heard it by different names. Graffiti. Murals. Street art. Vandalism. Tagging. What is it and when did it start?

The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote their names and poems on buildings. In the US, graffiti began in the late 1960s, but honestly speaking, I never saw this phenomenon in ex-Yugoslavia.

Nowadays, Podgorica is full of graffiti. Many of them can be found on the walls of residential buildings in Blok 5 and the “Preko Morače” district. Some of them are funny, other ones can be considered real works of art. Much more damage is done by the taggings on cultural monuments and in public spaces. The scrawled messages around the “Moscow” pedestrian bridge, on sculptures and even on historical buildings make our capital city much less attractive for visitors.

graffiti3 Podgoricca Blok 5Of course, graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages. Just pay attention: on many walls in Podgorica you can see the message ‘NE U NATO’ or similar.

As graffiti can range from simple spray-painted messages to high-quality mural paintings, I think that we should make a difference between scrawled personal and political writings (and vulgar symbols), and graffiti with an artistic value, although it is sometimes difficult to categorize them.

How can we handle the problem of graffiti? To start with, we could just try to canalize this phenomenon in the right direction.

Let’s put it like this – someone painted over the walls of your building and, of course, you are angry about it. No one has the right to do that without your permission and you can certainly consider it an act of vandals. But would you feel the same way if you saw a really nice or funny piece of graffiti art on a neglected or dirty wall in the city? So the big question is now: can graffiti only be considered “art” if it is done legally? Or can it also be “art” if a mural is made on a property without permission?

graffiti4 PodgoricaIt is clear, if your building and/or district is not well-kept, you tell others that you do not care about them and vandals are more likely to scratch and scrawl messages and tags on your walls. Broken fences, neglected green surfaces and litter are all signs that you don’t care about your living environment. Just one example: Blok 5, where many buildings are defaced by graffiti tags.

So keep the spaces around your building clean and remove such writings as soon as possible, as the vandals are proud of them and they do not want it to be erased quickly. By the way, such ugly and stupid tags tend to attract more of them. So removing it quickly will prevent others from damaging the area.

And there is another solution: discuss the problem with the other tenants of your residential building. As a community, you can do more! Maybe you can ask real “street artists” to make a nice multi-colored mural painting on your walls. In countries of the European Union, many buildings are decorated with mural paintings (see the photo of “legal graffiti” on a building in Stockholm!)

graffiti5 PodgoricaSuch mural projects, especially when they involve local artists and students, have solved graffiti problems in many countries. In Montenegro (as I read on internet), NGO AUT – Alternative Center for Youth Needs – is providing support to young alternative artists. They can paint beautiful murals for schools and other public institutions on demand.

Montenegro needs a lot of money to tackle all the problems in the country. Removing graffiti is probably not on the priority list, but it should not be forgotten either.

The municipality of Podgorica is certainly obliged to remove graffiti from public surfaces and monuments For the time being, the citizens should take care of their own property.

graffiti7 PodgoricaAnd finally: why do many people despise graffiti and call it vandalism, but do not protest against the huge billboards that line the streets and squares? Isn’t that also abuse of public space? Isn’t advertising also a kind of vandalism? Such advertising on billboards affects us, manipulates us, whether we want it or not.

Last month, I spent a few days on the island of Lanzarote (Canary Islands). Believe me or not: I haven’t seen one single billboard along the roads. They are simply not allowed, as they have a negative impact on the landscape. Just imagine how the highway along the Montenegrin Coast would look like without billboards and you will understand what I mean!

 

 

Public building in Stockholm photo kikibeije.com

 

9 Replies to “GRAFFITI IN PODGORICA: STREET ART OR VANDALISM?”

  1. Could you please add the localisation of these graffiti? Are they all in Blok 5?
    Montenegrins tend to be more destructive than constructive. I am from Niksic and it is hard to keep a bench unbroken for more than 2 weeks in my neighbourhood.
    But thanks for the idea and for believing in your fellow citizens :))

    1. Marianne van Twillert says: Reply

      Hi, thank you for your message. Photo 1 and 3 were made in Blok 5; photo 2, 5 and 6 were taken in the courtyard of an older residential block “preko Morače”, i.e. between Moskovska and Bulevar Sv.Petra Cetinjskog – opposite to the Maxim building.There are several other nice mural paintings in between these buildings (near the Leonardo Restaurant). You can also find interesting fraffiti around Knjižara Karver, under the Ribnica bridge. Real street art!
      Kind regards, Marianne

  2. Jack Robinson says: Reply

    I wish Montenegro tackled all the problems within the country and capital, removing graffiti, making better lives for their citizens. This may be happening but from my perspective, it’s happening slowly. Oh well, let’s hope Montenegro keeps their natural beauty!

    1. Marianne van Twillert says: Reply

      I agree with you!

      1. Jack Robinson says: Reply

        Although, I’ve heard that the government wants to open a sort of resort on Skadar Lake. There is a petition against it to protect the Lake. Also, what old fortresses would you recommend that is within 30-40 minutes from Budva?

  3. The difference between street art and graffiti in something I often find myself pondering! Thank you for this post – I found it very useful when recently tracking down street art in Podgorica!

  4. I think graffiti is falsely thought of being part of hip hop culture, though many painters say ot’s not. I think street art is quite broad term that also included graffiti, as well as murals and stencils etc. Don’t judge graffiti in general just judge bad work. I have been to podgorica for few days now (spent days outside of town but nights in) and all the work i’ve seen on the walls is really crap to be honest. I have not been to block 5 or Preko Morace districts yet, since i only now realized i should google if there’s anything worth seeing.

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