Street Protest Art: Powerful Images of Dissent

For today the proclamation of sentence for the three arrested Pussy Riot activists Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samucevich is announced, for what reason there are several solidarity events taking place around the world. In Berlin, the street art collective Mentalgassi (here in Spain), recently put up one of their well-known urban faces, this time showing one of those famous Pussy Riot woolen masks… Pussy Riot is an anonymous Russian feminist performance art group formed in October 2011. Through a series of peaceful performances in highly visible places, the group has given voice to basic rights under threat in Russia today, while expressing the values and principles of gender equality, democracy and freedom of expression contained in the Russian constitution and other international instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the CEDAW Convention. (about Pussy Riot) ...

In Cairo, Egyptian graffiti artists made this military street barrier disappear, by painting a fantastic mural that makes the concrete wall visually transparent! Here’s the story about the Sheikh Rihan mural: *Following deadly clashes in Tahrir that erupted last November, and resumed more than once after that, which have left over 50 civilian protesters killed, SCAF, the military ruling junta of Egypt has built walls around Tahrir square and its side streets to prevent protesters from passing around. More than 4 walls have been erected, turning Downtown Cairo to a maze-like area with citizens forced to find longer routes to cross the obstacles. ...

Blu - Europe Border Europe is a fortress, you can read that thesis almost everywhere at any time. It describes Europe’s border politics as backward-looking, inhuman and as a mass violation of human rights. Recently, one of the world’s most famous mural artists Blu, who became famous with his critical, questioning paintings around the globe, picked up on this border policy with his latest mural in Melilla, Spain! ...

Advertisment confuse every day our choises exalting qualities that doesn’t exist and creating a sort of shame world. Today, in a moment of financial insecurity, we must discover the real value and authenticity of what we have and we need. (BR1) Italian street artist BR1 just came up with a new, inspiring and very critical street installation, presenting crumpled poster ads destroying a window of a Berlin bus shelter. This installation is not vandalism in the first place, it’s much more a creative metaphor trying to get to the bottom of today’s advert-society. It illustrates the everyday fight between ads and urban environment and it is also using a certain humorous remark and wink, what makes it a simple, but effective piece of urban artwork. ...

Last weekend several thousand people (including many Guy Fawkes) protested against ACTA not just in Berlin. Of course I joined the demonstration in my city due to the fact that ACTA violates my opinion about how internet culture should work… Anti ACTA means Pro Internet *Since Spring 2007, 39 countries (27 member states of the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, México as well as a few other countries) negotiated in secret a trade agreement aimed at enforcing copyright and tackling counterfeited goods: ACTA. Leaked documents show that one of the major goal of the treaty is to force signatory countries into implementing anti file-sharing policies under the form of strong criminal sanctions. ...

Today is the international blackout day against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), two bills which currently are on their way through the legislative process in the USA and whose aim is to censor our beloved internet - the majority of you already know that. Like Wikimedia, Google, Wordpress and other internet-affine companies and foundations, also Urbanartcore wants to set at least a small sign of solidarity with all those who are protesting against these content mafia bills, infringing free expression while harming the Internet. We are going to replace the logo with a pixelated version and ask you to join the protests, because these US bills will definitely affect the entire interweb! The reason: ...

Urban art legend Shepard Fairey just did it again: After he designed the Obama cover for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue back in 2008, he also designed the latest cover which this year honors the Protester and features stories from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement. In my eyes taking Shepard Fairey’s design was a good decision. I mean, who could be a better than someone who’s famous around the globe for a certain, eye-catching propaganda look and feel and who also started his career on the streets around the world with his subversive Obey campaign?! ...

The anti-establishment Voina art collective, notorious for painting a 65-meter penis on a St. Petersburg drawbridge, is bringing their latest protest to cities throughout Europe. The group today displayed a massive photograph of one of their members on Prague’s Charles Bridge to protest the charges against him in Russia* as Radio Free Europe recently reported. It’s another sign against the criminalization of artists, dissidents and political activists in Russia. Watch the interviews with Voina members Yana Sarna and Aleksei Plutser-Sarno to get the whole story!

It’s not as great as Dave the Chimp’s skateboard painting device or DTagno’s train graffiti installation tool, but this lovely constructed water calligraphy device by Canadian artist Nicholas Hanna is probably the most effective, inexpensive and eco friendly way for street propaganda I’ve seen so far! The modified tricycle mimics the Chinese custom of writing temporary messages on the road with water. With a computer installed on the handlebars, the water calligraphy device allows the rider to type Chinese characters, which will be transmitted electronically to a set of valves, which release water droplets in programmed patterns… ...

It’s urban art link-tip Wednesday again, a for that reason I have some interesting street art and graffiti news for you to check out, including the upcoming fund-raiser event for King Robbo, great yarn lettering from Toronto, urban Bratwurst hacking from Germany and a new traffic sign for London… It’s already slightly older, but I just found that crazy yarn lettering by Sean Martindale in my feed reader.. Real Scenes is a series of short films which explores the musical, cultural and creative climate within electronic music’s key destinations like Bristol, Detroit or next Berlin. ...