Welcome to Frontline Street Art- A Thesis Passion Project.
My name is Philippa and Frontline Street Art is the passion project I created to complement my BSc thesis in Development Studies. My research focuses on the topic of street art during the Colombian protests in 2021 and whether it was a form of democracy-building in the opinions of street artists in Cali and Bogotá.
Myself talking about street art in Malmö, Sweden. Photo taken by Tomás Castro Rojás.
Introducing Myself and Frontline Street Art
I am a student in my final year of the BSc Development Studies program at Lund University. Frontline Street Art began initially as an Instagram account called ‘Frontline Graffiti’, inspired by the activism I saw in the cities of Bogotá and Cali during the protests in Colombia 2021. However, after learning more about the differences between graffiti, street art and murals, the account name was changed to @frontlinestreetart . It was here that I began to observe, interact and understand the street art world better.
Now, in anticipation and preparation for my final semester where I will complete my thesis, I have created this website and accompanying blog to record my progress, share findings and connect with others interested in street art.
I also hope to find time to write about what being a student at Lund University is like, especially within the ‘BIDs’ (Bachelors in Development Studies) program. My intention with this is to help the next generation of ‘bidsters’ settle in quickly and get the most out of their University experience.
Coming Soon: Frontline Street Art Podcast
Excitingly, the creation of Frontline Street Art Podcast, a limited series, is also on its way. In each episode, I will be sharing exclusive interviews with street artists, academics and street art enthusiasts.
The aim of the podcast is to share what I am learning to a broader audience and create a community that believes, like me, that street art has the power to inspire positive social change.
Follow @frontlinestreetart on Instagram to find out when the first episode airs!
Why am I researching Street Art in Colombia?
As a German-British white woman, you may be wondering why I feel entitled or interested in researching street art in Colombia.
My entitlement, or lack thereof, is indeed something that I have spent time thinking about before choosing my topic. Although I will not be applying a critical lens to my thesis work (at the recommendation of my thesis supervisor), it is important to me that I have considered and aligned my own values with the work I am doing.
Therefore it was particularly important to me that I had some connection with what I decided to do my research on and that possible participants I spoke to prior to starting were excited about the prospect of my research. Out of several interests I was willing to pursue, street art in Colombia fit these criteria the best.
Seeing Street Art in Colombia First Hand
My connection to Colombia comes through my partner and his family who are all Colombian. Over the last two years of our relationship, he has shared a lot about Colombian culture with me and I was lucky enough to travel to Cali in April 2021 to get to meet his family and friends who still reside there. It was during this stay that we were both caught up by ‘El Paro Nacional’ (The National Strike) and our initial plans to travel around the country for two months were put on hold.
While unable to leave Cali due to blockades, I was able to see first-hand the street art that appeared around the city in response to the national protests. It appeared on building walls, on the sides of roads, in the form of sculptures and more. (At the time, I had no idea that I would write about it otherwise I would have spent a lot more time observing and taking photos of the incredible work that appeared and changed constantly!)
It was only while in Bogotá when the protests had begun to mellow and movement was easier that I began to consider street art through an academic lens. I was lucky enough to go on the famous Bogotá Graffiti Tour led by Jeff who is a fountain of knowledge about anything graffiti and street art in the city. As an anthropologist, his analytical explanations piqued my curiosity and we had great discussions about street art I had seen around the city including posters about abortion rights and about El Paro.
A paste up reading in English ‘JUSTICE’.
A paste up (poster) that reads in English “It is your decision and I accompany you” by @parasito.callejero84 and @todossomosuna.
Connecting the Dots
It was while on the ‘graffiti’ tour in Bogotá that I realised that the incredible street art I had witnessed while in Colombia was a part of something bigger happening within the protests. After having experienced the violence against protestors and learning about why people were taking to the streets despite the risk to their lives, I knew it was an important topic to write about. The fact that the protests had largely escaped the notice of most of my friends and relatives in Europe due to low media coverage also encouraged me that there was a ‘place’ for me to conduct this research.
My concern initially was about taking away attention or time from people who are doing amazing activism but, after talking with those in the street art community, I was reassured that the aim of my work helps to amplify art activism (as I hoped). I will, however, continue to check my positionality and privilege throughout my work and welcome constructive criticism.
What is the Link of Street Art To Development?
Believe it or not, researching street art is not new. There are some incredible researchers (some of which you will hopefully get to hear from on the Frontline Street Art Podcast!) who have been working in different fields to understand more about this particular art form. My aim is to build on this research from a development and sociological perspective.
Development, democracy and Street Art
To condense a whole paper I wrote briefly, within mainstream development discourse, democracy has become the norm. Yes, there are still those who contest the need for democracy to achieve development or argue that it is a hindrance. But, based on western values and therefore the way current powerful players dictate development, its attainment and fostering are vital.
However, democracy globally is struggling. This is concerning for many reasons such as maintaining the current trading system, implementation of human rights and international cooperation. Therefore, institutions like the United Nations are beginning to look for ways of enhancing and supporting democracy.
Street art, as argued by Oliver Dabené in his book Street Art and Democracy in Latin America, is a form of deliberative democracy which essentially means that democratic decisions should only be made after deliberation and discussion amongst the citizenry. Street art, as Dabené points out, is an important and excellent trigger for discussing political issues.
Anti-war graffiti in central Berlin 9/03/2022. Myself on the left. Photo Taken by Tomás Castro Rojas.
My Research:
My research aims to understand the intentions of the artists while they were producing work during the national protest in Colombia, 2021. I want to discover if they believe it contributed to deliberative democracy and to find out how other protestors perceived protest street art. This will be done through the previously mentioned paradigm that enhancing democracy fosters development and that therefore research to understand how to build democracy is beneficial.
My research will consist of interviews with street artists and protestors from both Cali and Bogotá in a comparative case study. As Bogotá has de-criminalised the production of street art, this could influence the power over deliberative democracy amongst the citizenry unlike in Cali. Furthermore, there is a fairly big body of research on street art within Bogotá and not on Cali (and as far as I have found, no direct comparisons) therefore my research builds on existing research in a useful manner.
How Can You Get Involved?
I am now beginning to put my feelers out for potential participants in my research.
As covid-19 has prevented me from being able to go to Cali and Bogotá myself, I will be using a snowball interview technique whereby I find a willing participant and then get contacts for further possible interviewees from them and so on.
How you can get involved:
You can email me if you are interested in participating at: frontlinestreetart@gmail.com
Share announcements on my research Instagram page when I post I am looking for interviewees.
Show some love by following me at @frontlinestreetart on Instagram
Additionally, if you would like to be on the podcast, let me know to!