Graffiti, street art and cultural heritage

On June 20, 2024, we took a guided tour of the heritage of graffiti and street art as part of the Heritage on the Margins programme. Gregor Bulc from the Urbana Vrana Institute led us along the graffiti and street art in the centre of Ljubljana. The thematic focus of the city walk was on the complex relationship between this type of artistic production and cultural heritage. In particular, we addressed why, how and when graffiti and street art become cultural heritage and what role and significance they have in public spaces and on buildings protected as cultural heritage. The cultural and political meanings and aesthetics of the different examples of graffiti and street art were understood in a political-historical framework and from the perspective of different actors (e.g. authors, local authorities, heritage institutions, researchers, and building owners). For more on the topic, see the article The Heritagisation of Authorial Graffiti and Street Art on the Heriscope.