By: Abdelrahman Amr and Michael Matthiesen. In the third part in an Egyptian Streets article series under the name of East-West Chitchat that aims to spark increased dialogue between Americans and Egyptians, Abdelrahman Amr and Michael Matthiesen explore street art experiences in Egypt and the United States and their contribution to shaping the culture and life of a city. As Millennials rise to adulthood, Graffiti has entered an age of social acceptance. Once considered an act of vandalism by previous generations, graffiti has become less stigmatized as a crime and now is accepted as street art. Cities that once scrubbed graffiti from its walls have now embraced the spray paint and even dedicated parts of itself to the art form. This has revitalized areas like Shoreditch in London, Kensington in Toronto, Williamsburg in New York City, and Wynwood in Miami. These neighborhoods have gone so far as to invite Graffiti artists to paint on its walls, helping to gentrify once rundown neighborhoods into popular boroughs. According to Egyptian Street Artist Ganzeer, “By making the city a place where creative, opinionated expression is free and visible, a city inevitably becomes a much greater…
East-West Chitchat: Street Art Between Egypt and the United States
March 6, 2018
