Graffiti is so often overlooked because it lacks the refinement that is usually more present in sanctioned art. Nevertheless, graffiti is often just as politically charged as the murals it is painted next to. While exploring Derry, I discovered the city had perhaps just as much graffiti in it as any other city, but the vandalism and messages I came across had about it an unusually high percentage of political awareness and appeals for activism. Usually, graffiti is a quick tag of the graffiti artist’s name or pseudonym, but in Derry, much of the graffiti was composed of the IRA’s letters, calls for social justice, and messages lashing out at particular groups.
What does it all mean?
Street art is a representation of the people who live within the streets, and it reflects the zeitgeist of the community. To see how closely tied together art and the sentiments of the people of Derry are, one need only walk through the streets and observe the murals and graffiti that cover it. In an analysis of Irish nationalism, Ray Cashman explains that “Decoding this urban visual scene, punctuated and anchored by murals, benefits from local knowledge and an appreciation of visual semiotics,” (Cashman). The pain and suffering Derry endured for decades is memorialized through the art painted into it, and that art contributes to a sense of responsibility in the people who walk the city’s streets to respect its history and to be proactive in the present to keep history from repeating itself.