CONTESTING THE LEVELS OF ILLEGALITY OF URBAN ART IMAGES IN CHINA中國都市藝術圖像的非／合法程度比拼
The article analyzes how, in Chinese cities, images of urban art are continually classified and disputed in terms of “(il)legality”, contesting the notion that such practices are merely destructive vandalism of public space. The author argues that the attribution of legal or illegal status is not un...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
2014
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40045/2408 |
| Summary: | The article analyzes how, in Chinese cities, images of urban art are continually classified and disputed in terms of “(il)legality”, contesting the notion that such practices are merely destructive vandalism of public space. The author argues that the attribution of legal or illegal status is not unequivocal: it results from negotiations between creators, municipal authorities, institutions, and cultural mediators, as well as from a semantic dispute over what counts as graffiti, street art, and other categories that appear in laws and in cultural practice. Methodologically, the text is based on observations and interviews conducted by the author with urban art creators in mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong since mid-2006, accompanied by contextualization of the conceptual debate and the scarcity of systematic academic documentation on the subject. It concludes that, although unauthorized activities remain a constitutive part of the scene, there is growing public appreciation for projects involving cooperation with associations and institutions—for example, initiatives in education, social awareness, charity, and urban beautification. Thus, “illegality” becomes rehierarchized through moral, social, and institutional framings, revealing a contemporary dynamic of negotiated tolerance and cultural production in urban spaces. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |