"O que vem da rua": cidade, patrimônio e pichação em Fortaleza nos anos 1990

Abstract

The following research analyses grafitti in Fortaleza city in the 1990s. The investigation dedicates itself not only to the notes on the walls, but also explores graffiti developing the relationship among subject, city, groups and specialities. Furthermore, we comprehend that the city was not only the support on which graffiti was executed, but as a constitutive element that belonged to the city. The graffiti produced, from already defined and posted location, another form of space appropriation. Thus, having their own places of socialization and memory within a city in which various proposals and formulation of the city were inserted, with neoliberal policies being undertaken in the 1990s. It is part of this investigation how the subjects operationalized their practice as a group. To this end, their speeches, ideas and ideals were analyzed - through interviews with graffiti artists of the time - about making graffiti and what the city meant for the graffiti artists.Seeking to highlight the historical background of graffiti, this work is composed of the perception of non-graffiters, city dwellers, and the periodicals are the source of this dialogue. The newspaper O Povo was one of the main sources for this research, as Caderno de Cidades proposed a dialogue with the daily life of the city and its readers. As methodology for this research we also used oral history, through interviews with ex graffiti artists of the city. This research approaches graffiti as a political action and producer of spatialities that evidenced a form of belonging and meaning of the city, being central to how the city is not only the backdrop of events, but a central element to the practice of its subjects, who gave meaning to the city in different ways in the appropriation of spaces.