DOCSLIB.ORG

Pixaçāo: the Criminalization and Commodification of Subcultural Struggle in Urban Brazil

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Pixaçāo: the Criminalization and Commodification of Subcultural Struggle in Urban Brazil Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Gil Larruscahim, Paula (2018) Pixação: the criminalization and commodification of subcultural struggle in urban Brazil. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent,. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/70308/ Document Version Publisher pdf Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html PIXAÇĀO: THE CRIMINALIZATION AND COMMODIFICATION OF SUBCULTURAL STRUGGLE IN URBAN BRAZIL By Paula Gil Larruscahim Word Count: 83023 Date of Submission: 07 March 2018 Thesis submitted to the University of Kent and Utrecht University in partial fulfillment for requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy after following the Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Programme in Cultural and Global Criminology. University of Kent, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Research Utrecht University, Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology 1 Statement of Supervision Acknowledgments This research was co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Dina Siegel and Dr. Damián Even though the writing process that made this body of work come on Zaitch (Utrecht School of Law, Utrecht University) and Dr. Johnathan Ilan (City paper was a very lonely one, the accomplishment of this work was only possible University of London). thanks collective work. This work involved people since the very early stage of the Phd – or even a pre PhD moment. It was years of research and personal commitment with the subject around street culture, pixação and graffiti that certainly are not ending here. First and foremost, I want to acknowledge my profound gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Damián Zaitch and Dr. Johnathan Ilan, who since the very beginning of this research supported and encouraged me to undergo an ethnographic journey with pixadores in São Paulo. Thank you both for sharing your thoughts and knowledge. For for always reading and analysing my writings thoroughly and carefully, continuously encouraging me to be critical and to persevere. I also would like to acknowledge the support from the EU Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Fellowship, which provided me with outstanding material conditions to conduct this research. My profound respect and appreciation to all those who willingly and even enthusiastically participated in this research and who trusted me to share their ideas, feelings and life experiences. Especially to all pixadoras and pixadores who gave me the opportunity to acknowledge ‘a Brazil within Brazil.’ Your openness and trust made the time that I spent in São Paulo a deep life experience that certainly goes beyond the limits of this research. To ‘cousin’ Brian J. Frederick for all the proofreading and inputs, but foremost for your invaluable and sincere friendship. To all my DCGC fellows, but especially for Veronica Nagy and Cornelis Mol. You helped me feel at home in Amsterdam. I cannot forget to thank Julia, Nilai, Roos, Camille, Claudio, Aice, Clara, Dennis and Vitor, who are more than PhD colleagues. You have become true friends, and I treasure you. In Brazil, to all my friends and companheiros, who despite the great distance were always encouraging me, but especially to Salo de Carvalho. Besides being largely responsible for having awakened in me the critical thought in the criminological field, you were the principal supporter for me to venture into the entire path of this research. Thank you. 2 3 My sincere thanks to psychoanalysis, to Vera Ruschel and her attentive Declaration Upon Oath and impeccable listening over these years. To David Stuligross, for the careful and accurate proof reading but I declare that the research embodied in this thesis is my own work and especially for helping me to keep my chin up in the last and hardest period of has not been previously been submitted for a degree at any other university. the writing. No commercial doctoral advisory services were used in conjunction with this For Paul, who became part of this journey and was always there for me. research. Neither have any sources or aids – other than those listed in the thesis To my family and relatives in Brazil and Germany. To my borther Márcio, – been used. who in the very beginning helped me with the project research and encouraged me to apply for the program. To my father, who taught me how important it is to dream and who has always supported me unconditionally in all my choices in life. And finally, and most of all, to my mother, Elinora Gil, and to my daughter, Rosa Gil, to whom this book is dedicated. 4 5 Abstract outside of legal parameters and even frameworks of basic human rights. This research also suggests that socio-spatial segregation in São Paulo plays an In July 2014, two pixadores were murdered by military police officers important role in the rise of pixação, and that pixadores also engage in pixação in São Paulo, Brazil, while they were trying to perform pixação in a residential as a way to overcome this segregation. Another key finding is that pixadores have building. The doorman trapped Ailton and Alex on the top of the building and recently started to transform their subcultural dynamics into political action. called police, saying that he suspected a robbery. Police officers came in, and Finally, this research suggests that criminalization and commodification should Alex and Ailton were dead a few minutes later. At the end of the same year, the be considered as interwoven processes, especially in the neoliberal era. For film Pixadores was launched at European film festivals. It won the award for best that matter, the research presented here demonstrates that commodification film at the One World film festival in Romania and the best direction award at does not necessarily lead to the neutralization of the transgressive elements of the Aubagne Film Festival in France. resistant subcultures. Pixação emerged as a subculture during the mid-1980s in São Paulo. Most pixadores are men who come from the peripheries of this megalopolis. They Key words: pixação subculture, graffiti, criminalization, socio-spatial paint their signatures (pixos) and the name of their crews using an unintelligible segregation, police violence, Brazil, resistance, commodification of transgression Arabic-gothic calligraphy, in black latex ink or with spraypaint cans, across the São Paulo cityscape. Pixação has never had a comfortable relationship with the authorities and activities related to it have been increasingly criminalized over the decades. While pixadores have been drawing increasing attention from both the market and international media, including being portrayed in the movie mentioned above, pixadores continue to be criminalized, prosecuted and even tortured and murdered by the police. In Brazil, the criminalization of pixação is based on its opposition with graffiti, whick a criminal law considers as art. The novelty and relevance of this study lies in its criminological examination of pixação subculture. It explores how pixadores experience and perceive the relationship between the criminalization of pixação and the specific issues that they confront within their social and cultural context, to examine the extent to which these perceptions and experiences are transformed into practices of resistance against these problems. Ethnographic fieldwork took place mainly in São Paulo between September 2013 and July 2014. This study analyzes pixação primarily through the lenses of critical and cultural criminology, and also makes connections with urban studies and social movement theory. Contributing to the current state of knowledge on pixação, one of the key findings of this research is that the that the primary criminalization of pixação, that is, being framed as crime in opposition to graffiti in a specific legal act, has actually helped to legitimate an extant and already disruptive police practice, secondary criminalization, as well as extrajudicial punishments completely 6 7 Table of Contents 3.4.2 ‘Shared Problems’: analyzing pixação subculture in its specific social and cultural context ______________________________________ 64 Statement of Supervision _______________________________________________________ 02 3.4.3 Resistance as a conceptual variable _______________________________ 65 Acknowledgments _______________________________________________________________ 03 3.4.4 Resistance as praxis _________________________________________________ 67 Declaration Upon Oath _________________________________________________________05 3.6 Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ 69 Abstract __________________________________________________________________________06 Chapter 4 - Methodology: Ethonogrpahic Research within Chapter 1 -
Load more

Recommended publications
  • UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Critical Geographies of Globalization : : Buenos Aires and São Paulo in the 21st century Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/987268hq Author Souza e.Paula, Leonora Soledad Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Critical Geographies of Globalization: Buenos Aires and São Paulo in the 21st century A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Literature by Leonora Soledad Souza e Paula Committee in charge: Professor Milos Kokotovic, Co-Chair Professor Luis Martín-Cabrera, Co-Chair Professor John Blanco Professor Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond Professor Nancy Postero 2013 Copyright Leonora Soledad Souza e Paula, 2013 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Leonora Soledad Souza e Paula is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Co-Chair __________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii EPIGRAPH Spaces can be real and imagined. Spaces can tell stories and unfold stories. Spaces can be interrupted, appropriated, and transformed
    [Show full text]
  • ARTE OU OCUPAÇÃO? O Graffiti Na Paisagem Urbana De São Paulo
    UNIVERSIDADE PRESBITERIANA MACKENZIE SYLVIA MONASTERIOS ARTE OU OCUPAÇÃO? O graffiti na paisagem urbana de São Paulo São Paulo 2011 SYLVIA MONASTERIOS ARTE OU OCUPAÇÃO? O graffiti na paisagem urbana de São Paulo Trabalho final apresentado ao Programa de Pós- graduação em Educação, Arte e História da Cultura como parte dos requisitos necessários para obtenção do título de Mestre. Orientador: Prof. Dr. Martin Cezar Feijó São Paulo 2011 M736a Monastérios, Sylvia. Arte ou ocupação? O graffiti na paisagem urbana de São Paulo / Sylvia Monastérios. 90 f. ; 30 cm Dissertação (Mestrado em Educação, Arte e História da Cultura) - Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, 2011. Bibliografia: f. 86-89 1. Graffiti. 2. Arte urbana. 3. Paisagem urbana. 4. São Paulo. I. Título. CDD 751.73 SYLVIA MONASTERIOS ARTE OU OCUPAÇÃO? O graffiti paisagem urbana de São Paulo Trabalho final apresentado ao Programa de Pós- graduação em Educação, Arte e História da Cultura como parte dos requisitos necessários para obtenção do título de Mestre. Orientador: Prof. Dr. Martin Cezar Feijó Aprovada em: BANCA EXAMINADORA _______________________________________ Prof. Dr. Martin Cezar Feijó Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie _______________________________________ Prof. Dr. Ronaldo Entler Faculdade Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) _______________________________________ Prof. Dr. Wilton Azevedo Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie AGRADECIMENTOS Em primeiro lugar, agradeço ao meu orientador, Martin Cezar Feijó, por acreditar na minha pesquisa e assumi-la comigo. A Professora Jane de Almeida também foi de grande apoio nesse processo todo. Ofereço essa pesquisa aos grafiteiros que colaboraram na sua realização: Tinho, Graphis, Iaco, Paulo Ito e Highraff foram de grande ajuda, ajudaram-me a pensar nos temas aqui apresentados a partir de seus olhares, foram meus interlocutores.
    [Show full text]
  • Paulo Freire As Learning Theorist
    Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press 2019 Conference Proceedings (Buffalo, New Adult Education Research Conference York) Paulo Freire as Learning Theorist John Holst The Pennsylvania State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/aerc Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Political Theory Commons, Social Psychology Commons, and the Theory and Philosophy Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License Recommended Citation Holst, John (2019). "Paulo Freire as Learning Theorist," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2019/papers/29 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Adult Education Research Conference by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Paulo Freire as Learning Theorist John D. Holst The Pennsylvania State University Abstract: I defend the thesis that Paulo Freire had a theory of learning. Contrary to what learning theorists sustain, I will present a theory of learning in Freire’s work. Key words: adult learning, dialectics, lifelong education, Paulo Freire, praxis It was while in exile that I realized I was truly interested in learning (Freire, 1985, p. 181). Teaching and learning are a part of the same process of knowing (Freire, 1993a, p. 112). A theory of learning is central to the field of Adult Education. Moreover, a theory of learning is actually increasingly important if we consider the fact that we are now referring to our field as lifelong learning rather than adult education.
    [Show full text]
  • Identidades Imaginadas Ou Agualusa Vs. Agostinho Neto: a Falência Do Projeto Original Da Identidade Nacional Angolana
    1 Universidade de Brasília Instituto de Letras Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literaturas Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura IDENTIDADES IMAGINADAS OU AGUALUSA VS. AGOSTINHO NETO: A FALÊNCIA DO PROJETO ORIGINAL DA IDENTIDADE NACIONAL ANGOLANA LÉO MACKELLENE GONÇALVES DE CASTRO Orientador: Prof. Dr. João Vianney Cavalcanti Nuto Brasília Maio de 2011 2 LÉO MACKELLENE GONÇALVES DE CASTRO IDENTIDADES IMAGINADAS OU AGUALUSA VS. AGOSTINHO NETO: A FALÊNCIA DO PROJETO ORIGINAL DA IDENTIDADE NACIONAL ANGOLANA Dissertação de Conclusão de Curso apresentada ao Programa de Pós- Graduação em Literatura da Universidade de Brasília para obtenção do título de Mestre em Literatura. Área de Concentração: Literatura e Práticas Sociais Orientador: Prof. Dr. João Vianney Cavalcanti Nuto Brasília Maio de 2011 3 4 AGRADECIMENTOS Peço licença para fazer desses agradecimentos um espaço em que eu me mostro sem amarras, sem padronizações, sem formalidades, sem preocupação de estar alerta em não me delongar muito, como num lugar em que se pode estar sozinho meditando sobre o fechamento de um ciclo imenso que é a conclusão desse mestrado, momento em que tudo, no mais absoluto silêncio, se põe a ouvir a espiral do tempo dando mais uma volta, a engrenagem dos dias se encaixando, o mecanismo do mundo dando seu imenso giro. De novo. Quem tem ouvidos para ouvir que ouça o estalar do encaixe nos dentes da catraca dos séculos e das horas. Essas são pessoas por quem serei eternamente grato porque contribuíram imensamente, infinitamente para a realização desse curso, para a escritura deste texto, para a passagem de mais essa fase na minha vida, fase que marca algo que para muitos pode parecer simples, comum, mas que, pra mim, significa ter alcançado um horizonte distante.
    [Show full text]
  • Sãopaulo Welcome to São Paulo São Paulo Em Números / São Paulo in Numbers
    Índice Bem Vindo a São Paulo ................................................ 2 SãoPaulo Welcome to São Paulo São Paulo em números / São Paulo in numbers .................................................. 6 guia do profissional de turismo Acesso / Access .......................................................................................................... 10 Economias criativas / Creative economies ............................................................12 tourism professional guide Conheça São Paulo .................................................... 14 Get to know São Paulo Por que São Paulo é o melhor destino para seus negócios e eventos? .......... 16 Why is São Paulo the best destination for your business and events? A São Paulo Turismo apóia o seu evento .............................................................. 24 São Paulo Tourism supports your event O ponto alto do seu programa de incentivos ...................................................... 26 The highlight of your incentive program São Paulo Por Regiões ............................................... 36 São Paulo by Regions Berrini ........................................................................................................................... 38 Faria Lima & Itaim ......................................................................................................40 Paulista & Jardins ....................................................................................................... 42 Ibirapuera & Moema ..................................................................................................44
    [Show full text]
  • A Música Como Linguagem De Ensino Da Geografia
    PROGRAMA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO EDUCACIONAL - PDE A MÚSICA COMO LINGUAGEM NO ENSINO DO ESPAÇO GEOGRÁFICO URBANO Trabalho realizado pelo professor Hélio Schroeder PDE Geografia, sob a orientação da profa. Marquiana de Freitas Vilas Boas Gomes. GUARAPUAVA – PR 2009 HÉLIO SCHROEDER A MÚSICA COMO LINGUAGEM NO ENSINO DO ESPAÇO GEOGRÁFICO URBANO GUARAPUAVA 2009 RESUMO O presente artigo é fruto do estudo sobre o uso da música como linguagem de ensino da Geografia. Esta pesquisa, de abordagem qualitativa, foi realizada com alunos do 3º ano do ensino médio, do Colégio Estadual Leni Marlene Jacob, no bairro primavera em Guarapuava. Utilizando-se de diferentes atividades como entrevistas, trabalhos de campo, relatos e observação de lugares, bem como da linguagem poética das músicas, buscou-se refletir sobre a realidade vivida dos alunos, articulando-a ao conhecimento geográfico. Assim, os alunos foram construindo o raciocínio geográfico para compreender a sua realidade. Após diversas leituras e análise, percebeu-se que a aplicação de diferentes linguagens nas aulas de geografia foi fundamental. Dentre elas, a música foi o recurso de apoio didático pedagógico muito enriquecedor, pois ela constitui expressões sonoras que podem contribuir na construção do saber de forma lúdica. Além do som, a letra pode contribuir para discussão de diferentes conceitos geográficos. Compreender como utilizar a música como instrumento de ensino para análise do espaço geográfico, especificamente, o espaço urbano, foi, portanto, o objetivo que conduziu e permitiu a realização deste trabalho. Palavras-chave: Geografia - Espaço urbano - Música - Metodologia. ABSTRACT This article is the result of the study about music as a resourse of Geography teaching. This research, that used qualitative approaching, was realized with students of the third year in high scholl, of the Leni Marlene Jacob school, Primavera neighborhood, in Guarapuava.
    [Show full text]
  • PAULO FREIRE (1921–97) Heinz-Peter Gerhardt1
    The following text was originally published in Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. XXIII, no. 3/4, 1993, p.439–58. ©UNESCO:International Bureau of Education, 2000 This document may be reproduced free of charge as long as acknowledgement is made of the source. PAULO FREIRE (1921–97) Heinz-Peter Gerhardt1 Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was born in Recife, the capital of Brazil’s northeast province, one of the most impoverished parts of this large Latin American nation. Although raised in a middle-class family, Freire became interested in the education of the poor people in his region. He qualified as a lawyer and developed a teaching ‘system’ for all levels of education. He was imprisoned twice in his own country and became famous outside it. Today, Paulo Freire must be considered as the most well known educator of our time. The fundamentals of his ‘system’ point to an educational process that focuses on the students’ environment. Freire assumes that the learners must understand their own reality as part of their learning activity. It is not enough to assume a student can read the phrase:‘Eve saw a grape’. The student should learn to understand Eve in her social context, find out who worked to produce the grape and who profited from this type of work. This ‘system’ brought about Freire’s exile in 1964, following seventy-five days in prison, after having been accused of being a ‘revolutionary and an ignorant’. He then spent four years in Chile and one year in the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Geographies of Internationalism: Radical Development and Critical Geopolitics from the Northeast of Brazil Federico Ferretti
    Geographies of internationalism: radical development and critical geopolitics from the Northeast of Brazil Federico Ferretti To cite this version: Federico Ferretti. Geographies of internationalism: radical development and critical geopolitics from the Northeast of Brazil. Political Geography, Elsevier, 2018. hal-01792726 HAL Id: hal-01792726 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01792726 Submitted on 15 May 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Geographies of internationalism: radical development and critical geopolitics from the Northeast of Brazil Federico Ferretti [email protected] Abstract This paper addresses the international networks of three Brazilian geographers who were exiled and persecuted after the establishment of a military dictatorship in Brazil in 1964 — Josué de Castro (1908-1973), Milton Santos (1926-2001) and Manuel Correia de Andrade (1922-2007) — whose works had an impact in the international field of critical scholarship in geography and development studies, which remains underplayed in present-day scholarship. Addressing for the first time their unpublished correspondence, whose inventory is ongoing in Brazilian archives, I reconstruct their international work, especially focusing on its constraints, to engage with recent debates on the geographies of internationalism and on international agencies problematizing the concepts of ‘international geographies’ and ‘internationality’ of scientific life.
    [Show full text]
  • Filmkatalog IAI Stand Februar 2015 Alph.Indd
    KATALOG DER FILMSAMMLUNG Erwerbungen 2006 - 2014 CATÁLOGO DE LA COLECCIÓN DE CINE Adquisiciones 2006 - 2014 Inhalt Argentinien............................................................................. 4 Bolivien....................................................................................18 Brasilien...................................................................................18 Chile.........................................................................................31 Costa Rica................................................................................36 Cuba.........................................................................................36 Ecuador....................................................................................43 Guatemala...............................................................................46 Haiti.........................................................................................46 Kolumbien...............................................................................47 Mexiko.....................................................................................50 Nicaragua.................................................................................61 Peru.........................................................................................61 Spanien....................................................................................62 Uruguay...................................................................................63 Venezuela................................................................................69
    [Show full text]
  • Market Access Guide – Brazil 2020 – Table of Contents 01
    Market Access Guide – Brazil 2020 – Table of Contents 01. COUNTRY OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 3 02. BRAZILIAN RECORDED MUSIC MARKET .................................................................................................... 5 THE MAJORS .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 INTERVIEW WITH PAULO JUNQUEIRO, PRESIDENT, SONY MUSIC BRASIL ................................ 10 THE INDEPENDENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 11 CHART SERVICES ................................................................................................................................................. 1 03. POPULAR BRAZILIAN MUSIC - GENRES ...................................................................................................... 1 GOSPEL .................................................................................................................................................................. 16 FUNK ...................................................................................................................................................................... 20 SERTANEJA ..........................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sao Paulo Travel Information
    Sao Paulo Travel Information São Paulo, Brazil To say São Paulo is a sprawling megalopolis is a serious understatement; it's as difficult to master at first glance as Moby Dick. Founded by Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century, it dwarfs other Brazilian cities in all aspects. Sampa, as locals call it, might not have the famous modernist architecture of Brasilia, the lure of sultry beaches of Bahia, or the iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer to watch over, yet its certain effervescence elevates traveling souls. The largest metropolitan area south of the Equator, not just in Brazil, overwhelms the senses with cutting-edge art galleries, vibrant street art (Pichação), finest restaurants, and jovial nightlife. A cosmopolitan chaos of mashed cultures, it emanates a vibe of New York in South America. The city is a part tropical paradise as harmless showers drizzle the fast-paced (but warm-heated) Paulistanos who are haunted by the thoughts of commuting in their urban pursuits. Sao Paulo Tourist Map Image not found Sao-Paulohttps://www.mapsofworld.com/brazil/maps/sau-paulo-tourist-attractions-map.jpg tourist map Sao Paulo Tourist Map Like the Duomo in Florence, which towers above the Renaissance, the Neo-Gothic Sao Paulo Cathedral lurks above the shadows of palm trees. Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo exhibits wide collection of 19th-century Brazilian artworks and São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) holds arguably the most significant collection of artworks in South America. Sao Paulo Aquarium (Aquário de São Paulo) – the largest aquarium in Latin America – houses more than 3,000 animals from nearly 300 species.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legitimation of Street Art in Amsterdam the Role of Street Art Today Museum
    The legitimation of street art in Amsterdam The role of Street Art Today Museum Student Name: Giovanna Di Giacomo Student Number: 459774 Supervisor: Dr. D. S. Ferreira Second Reader: Dr. P.P.L. Berkers Master in Arts, Culture & Society Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam Master Thesis 12 June 2017 The legitimation of street art in Amsterdam: The role of Street Art Today Museum ABSTRACT Street art is originally a rebellious, illegal and underground practice that emerged on the city walls. Even though this cultural manifestation appeared outside of the art world, it is frequently found in art institutions. Considering that what is placed in such settings is more acknowledged as art, street art is framed by artistic and cultural value when exhibited in art galleries and museums. In such a way, it is moving from the periphery towards a central position in the art world. Due to the anti-institutional discourse that was originally part of street art, there is a controversy regarding its presence in art institutions, since this can be considered a threat to its marginal character. Currently, the organization Street Art Today is building a museum dedicated exclusively to street art in the city of Amsterdam. Therefore, the present thesis focuses on this case, in order to explore how a formerly rebellious artistic expression can be acknowledged as an art form by the traditional art world, without losing its roots. Thus, the following research question was addressed: What is the role of Street Art Today museum in the legitimation of street art in Amsterdam? In order to provide an answer, ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with actors from the Amsterdam’s street art scene.
    [Show full text]