Text

The story of street art

Modern graffiti began in big cities in the United States in the 1970s. In New York, young people wrote
their names, or 'tags', in pen on walls around the city.

One of the first 'taggers' was a teenager called Demetrius. His tag was TAKI 183. He wrote his tag on
walls and in stations in New York. Other teenagers saw Demetrius's tag and started writing their tags
too. Soon, there were tags on walls, buses and trains all over New York.

Then, some teenagers started writing their tags with aerosol paint. Their tags were bigger and more
colorful. Aerosol paint graffiti became very popular in the 1970s and 1980s. It appeared on trains,
buses and walls around the world.

In the 1990s and 2000s, a lot of graffiti artists started painting pictures. Some artists' pictures were
about politics. Other artists wanted to make cities beautiful and painted big, colorful pictures on city
walls.

Graffiti in Galleries
In some countries, writing or painting on walls is a crime. Sometimes, graffiti artists
have problems with the police. In other countries, artists can draw and paint in certain
places. For example, in Taiwan, there are 'graffiti zones' where artists can paint on walls.
In São Paulo in Brazil, street artists can paint pictures on walls and houses. Their pictures
are colourful and beautiful. Some tourists visit São Paulo just to see the street art!

In Bristol in the UK, there is a street art festival in August every year. Artists paint all the
buildings in a street. Lots of people come to watch the artists and take photos. You can
see exhibitions of street art in some galleries too. There have been exhibitions of street
art in galleries in Paris, London and Los Angeles.

Stars of Street Art World

Some street artists have become famous. Here are three stars of the street art world:

• Os Gêmeos are twin brothers from São Paulo. They paint big, colourful pictures of people on
buildings. In 2007, they painted a castle in Scotland.

• Blek le Rat is from Paris. He is famous for painting pictures of homeless people in big cities.

• Faith47 is from Cape Town in South Africa. She paints big, colourful pictures of people and
animals. She likes painting in different places and you can find her work on pavements,
postboxes, buses and, of course, on walls!

Art or vandalism?
Where do you expect to see graffiti? Probably not in a museum. Bristol city museum, in the
south west of England, was the kind of place you go to see classical statues and stuffed animals in
cases until the arrival of the ‘Banksy versus the Bristol Museum’ exhibition in the summer of 2009.
The exhibition hosted more than 100 works by Banksy, the world’s most famous graffiti artist.
Banksy is a man of mystery. He hardly ever gives interviews and likes to be anonymous. Nobody
knows much about his life or his background but many people believe that his real name is either
Robin Gunningham, Robert Banks or Robin Banks and that he was born in 1973 near Bristol.
 Banksy’s controversial ‘street art’ includes spray paintings on live sheep and cows and graffiti on
the huge wall erected to divide Israeli and Palestine. Brad Pitt recently spent over 2 million dollars on
a Bansky original. Banksy designed an album cover for the Brit pop group Blur in 2003 but he has
refused at least four requests to do adverts for Nike. So, has graffiti gone mainstream?

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood, a pretty young girl lived in a wood with her mother. The girl walked
through the forest because Mom told her to visit her granny. She had a nice cake in her basket to give
her sick granny. ‘Remember not to talk to the strangers!’ Little Red Riding Hood Mother said.

On her way Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf. ‘Hello!’ said the wolf. ‘Where are you
going?’ ‘I’m going to see my grandmother. She lives in a house behind those trees.’

The wolf ran to Granny’s house and ate Granny up. He got into Granny’s bed. A little later,
Little Red Riding Hood reached the house. She looked at the wolf.

‘Granny, what big eyes you have!’

‘All the better to see you with!’ said the wolf.

‘Granny, what big ears you have!’

‘All the better to hear you with!’ said the wolf.

‘Granny, what a big nose you have!’

‘All the better to smell you with!’ said the wolf.

‘Granny, what big teeth you have!’

‘All the better to eat you with!’ shouted the wolf.

A woodcutter was in the wood. He heard a loud scream and ran to the house. The woodcutter
hit the wolf over the head. The wolf opened his mouth wide and shouted and Granny jumped out.

The wolf ran away and Little Red Riding Hood never saw the wolf again

Malin Kundang
Once upon a time, in a seaside village lived a widow called Mande Rubayah with her only son,
Malin Kundang. Mande Rubayah loved her son so much.
One day, Malin Kundang suffered a severe sickness, that his mother gave every cent of her life
savings to cure his illness. Days, months, and years passed by, Malin Kundang turned adult and his
mother an old woman.
Malin Kundang asked his mother to let him hitch a docked ship nearby and wander to the big
cities.
Mande denied his request and asked Malin to stay and take care of his mother instead. “Mother, this is
a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Not every year a ship this large dock here. I want to take this
opportunity to change our fate, please let me go,” Malin pleaded his mother. With a sad heart, Mande
finally accepted his plea. “Please be back soon, my child. I will be waiting for you here,” Mande
cried.
 Days by days passed slowly while waiting for Malin. She prayed every single day for Malin to
go home safely. To every ship’s crews and captains, she asked for Malin’s whereabouts and did not
get a single answer nor message for her.
Months later, another large ship docked near the village. It was the most luxurious and beautiful
ship Mande had ever seen. A pair of rich couples walked off the ship. Mande immediately recognized
the couple, rushed through the crowds, and hugged the rich man in the lustrous attire. Unexpectedly,
Malin jolted and pushed Mande away from him. His wife also looked down on Mande without any
respect. Malin’s wife spat and shouted at Malin and Mande
Hearing that, Malin became furious and pushed his mother to fall to the sand, “You mad woman!
I am not your son!” he snapped at his mother. Mande Rubayah sunk in disbelief and hugged Malin’s
feet. Full of anger, Malin kicked his mother away. Mande cried brokenheartedly. She felt desperate
while Malin and his wife turned their backs and walked away to their ship. The ship sailed away.
Mande cried and prayed, “Oh, God. If he was not my son, I will forgive his actions to me. But if he is
Malin Kundang, I ask you for your righteousness!” Immediately, the sky turned dark and the wind
blew violently. The rain fell upon the earth with a destructive storm. The next morning, shipwrecks
shored near the village with a kneeling man-shaped stone between the debris.
CINDERELLA

In a world where nature was fading away due to pollution, Cinderella was an environmental
activist living with her seven eco-warrior friends.
Cinderella’s stepmother, a lobbyist for a major polluting corporation, schemed to discredit her
environmental efforts. The stepsisters, influenced by their mother, spread misinformation about
Cinderella, causing the community to doubt her cause.
With the support of her woodland friends and the discovery of irrefutable evidence against the
stepmother’s corporation, Cinderella exposed the truth. The community rallied behind her,
forcing the corporation to adopt green practices.