Murals are nothing new and rare in Indonesia.

Murals can often be seen at the gates

during the celebration of
17 August every year. Mural isn contetporary art tht has been in the public
spotlight fo several years. In
almost every comer of the city of Yogyakart, you can find paintings that adorn the
street wall. Some of
these paintings ae in he form of simple. abstract szokes, and some use various
color gradations to make.
them look attractive.

‘Mural artists use street walls as canvases o express their aspirations. The
interesting thing that the
researchers found when observing the street walls was that there were mural that
overlapped with other
paintings, advertising paper and initials with spray paint. This shows that street
wall are not auly a place for
‘mural artists to channel ther interest, but also economic actors and other street
art groups, such as graffiti,

“The street wall is a public space as well as a meeting place for various
interests. Because of ts location in
the middle of daly life activities, public space i space that actively controls and
forms public awareness,
50 that in almost every sreet you can find various kinds of marketing media, such
as billboards, billboards
and posters,
Public space is dominated by economic actors 0 attract a5 many consumers as
possible without regard to te
interests of other users. The domination of economic actors results n limited
public space for mural artists
and street art performers and encourages the to compete for pubic space. Public
spaces tha ae often
targeted by mural artists to work ae traffic intersection wall, roling doors of
oadside shop, bridge pillars,
electricity poles, and building fences. By controlling the street walls with their
community's paintings and
‘raft, mural artists have indirectly participated in controlling and shaping
people's awareness of the issues
they raise. Some public space owners like it, but some dort ike the action. No
infrequently this creates
conflict between mural ariss, street art performers and owners of public spaces.

The existence of ideological differences in each mural artist creates different

ways and strategies to compete
in obiaining public space. The issues raised by mural artists are varied and close
to everyday ife. However,
‘because of these differences, the way mural artists present an issue is different
from one another, so not all
messages

contained in the mural can be conveyed properly. Differences in ideology also have
an impact on the
character of mural artists, some mural artist are cooperative with the government,
but some are not