It's not vandalism, it's our leisure : a multimodal study of skate park graffiti

Abstract

We present a study on graffiti art situated in a skate park in Malta to explore some of the functions the artworks serve. The skate park authorises graffiti in an attempt to create “safe spaces” for young people aimed at engaging them in creative, recreational activities they enjoy doing. Such measures could be considered part of the movement taking ground in different parts of the world that is acknowledging the legal use of graffiti to promote creativity, self-expression and community life. Data presented in the study consists of digital photographs of graffiti located in the skate park and portray themes related to human rights and young people’s agency in this regard. We employ a multimodal analysis to explore possible meanings conveyed by the graffiti artists of these images. This approach highlights shared cultural interests occurring spontaneously through images that explain young people’s concerns with a number of political and social issues that have personal significance to them. The analysis draws on graffiti art that is shaped and produced within the intersectionality of leisure and youth cultures and which reflects local and international political scenes. We posit that graffiti art in designated spaces could potentially reverse the association of graffiti with social unrest, fear, vandalism and crime and that young people’s voice, as it emerges through their art challenges inherited economic and political systems based on power practices that could be disenfranchising them.