Street art, Day 15.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 2010.

Day 14, 30 days of public art series. Graffiti on an old military helicopter outside of the Bosnian National Museum.  

War is only cool if you have a gun. Most of us don’t.

Sarajevo, 2007.

I’m up to #12 in my #30daysofpublicart series. These posters were wheatpasted all over downtown Belgrade when I visited last October. I assumed they had some awesome smash-the-state message but maaan was I ever wrong. It’s taken some sleuthing to figure this out.

There was a gay pride parade in Belgrade on October 10. Unfortunately there were extremely well organized counter protests - and these ubiquitous posters are evidence of that. чекамо бас is basically a threat - “we’re waiting for you” (the literal translation, according to google is “just wait”) to scare potential marchers and encourage hateful counter protests. Around 1,000 people participated in the parade (Serbia’s first gay pride celebration since another much protested and violent attempt in 2001), but another 5,000 police were sent out to protect the marchers. Despite this, there was widespread violence and at least 100 people (mostly police officers) were injured. The Economist reported that the counter protesters yelled “Death to homosexuals!” and “Go to Kosovo” at the marchers.

Despite this, gay rights groups see progress. In 2009, the parade was cancelled when the government would not promise the marchers safety. This year they offered 5,000 police in riot gear. Prominent politicians and police administrators openly supported the marchers’ right to free speech and assembly. One thousand people braved the hateful climate so their voices would be heard.

I was only in Belgrade for a short time, but I found the city friendly, energizing and raw. While Serbia has its share of extremists and Nationalists, don’t forget its people also overthrew Slobodan Milošević in a movement lead by nonviolent student movement Otpor! (who made liberal use of graffiti and other guerilla communication tactics). It’s a region ripe for progress and tolerance. Here’s to the courageous people who are making that happen!

Graffiti-ish house. Austin, texas.

Day 11 of my 30 days of public art series finally brings me home to Austin, Texas. This is at the corner of MLK and Chicon. Esperanza en media del caos or hope in the midst of chaos. Today.

Street art by Frigohouse in Istanbul’s Tunel area. September, 2010.

WELL COME TOO SRBIJA

The Graffiti in Belgrade is fantastic. October, 2010.

Mural in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. October, 2010.

Kadakoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul. City of 18 million, this neighborhood feels like a small town.

Artist unknown. September 2010.

Siva je slika svijeta, zar ne? 

Roughly translated from Bosnian: grey is the color of the world, isn’t it. 

Pretty sure the title is taken from the song Minimalizm by popular Bosnian band Letu Stuke.

Artist: STF Crew

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2007, outside of Fis Kultura Club.

Does anyone know what kind of car this is? It looks like a VW Beetle, but I think it’s too squarish.