If you are traveling this summer and love to take photographs, send us some murals from the cities you visit and we will post them on the site. (missionlocal@gmail.com)
Graffiti in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa enjoys a unique status. The city has always accepted, even welcomed, graffiti, and the artists see themselves as responsible to cleanse and beautify their dirty, dilapidated streets. Like the Mission, Dakar is famous for its murals.
Thanks to the artistry and dedication of several young graffeurs, Dakar has now become the hub of an energetic international graffiti network. From April 10th to 22nd this year, the annual graffiti festival, Festigraff, hosted artists from the U.S., Europe, and Africa.
Working collectively, the artists painted the walls of a crowded thoroughfare, a neighborhood of sandy lanes, the stanchions of Senegal’s super highway, and the long wall of a marketplace. They also built a lively Artists’ Village where the streetwear they create was on display.
Even more notably, for the very first time, several Senegalese women graffeurs came out to paint the walls.
Wonderful work — and a great idea for a series. Does anyone have shots of street art from Asia or New Zealand?