What are the different roles of graffiti played in
Karachi?
By
Zainab Lotia
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
2011
What are the different roles of graffiti played in Karachi?
By
Zainab Lotia
This Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION DESIGN, from Indus
Valley School of Art and Architecture.
Internal Advisor
:
External Advisor
:
Tazeen Hussain
Arshad Farooqui
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION DESIGN
INDUS VALLEY SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE
KARACHI PAKISTAN
2011
I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Ms. Tazeen Hussain, for her guidance,
encouragement and support at all times. I would also like to thank Mr. Sohail Zuberi for
helping me with my research and providing me with relevant information for my
dissertation. I would also like to thank my Aunt who helped me with my grammar. At last
I will thank my family and a few of my friends for being supportive all the way till the
end.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract…...……………………………………………………..............1
Introduction………………………………………………..……….........2
Literature Review
 Introduction……………………………………………………….4
 Political……………………………………………………………5
 Commercialization………………...…………………….……...13
 Self-expression………………………………………….….15
 Existential……………………………………….…………18
 Decorative Art……………………………………………..19
Research Methodology………………………………………..………..22
Findings………………………………………………….……………..24
Analysis…………………………………………………………….…..51
Conclusion...…………………………………………….…………...…62
Glossary…………………………………………………….……......…59
Bibliography………………………………………………………....…64
Appendices……………………………………………………….….…68
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ABSTRACT
Graffiti has several definitions according to different authors and different countries.
Graffiti exists all over the world. It is an essential means of communication for some
people. It has its own sense of freedom and limitations. In my opinion if graffiti didn’t
exist, our country would be plain and boring.
For some Graffiti represents freedom of speech and expression which is perceived in a
different way by each individual. This dissertation studies Graffiti and its different roles
within our society. The study includes articles from published sources about the World of
Graffiti and also analyses Grafitti historically and its impact on its audience.
This dissertation studies the five main types of Graffiti, which are;
1. political graffiti,
2. commercial graffiti,
3. existential graffiti (gang graffiti),
4. self- expressive Graffiti
5. Graffiti art ,
and explains the ways in which each type exists and its importance in our society.
LOTIA 2
INTRODUCTION
My dissertation topic is exploring the different roles graffiti plays in Karachi. While
walking down the road or driving in a car, it takes just one glance to see that the city of
Karachi boasts its culture proudly and aggressively to anyone who cares to listen – in this
case see. Almost every street of Karachi has walls painted upon an art called graffiti. Call
it ‘freedom of speech’ or ‘freedom of expression’; every person in this city has the right
to say whatever he/she wants. Walls in Karachi have become one of the mediums, in
which to communicate. When it comes to comparing, you can easily compare the walls of
Berlin or Palestine with the walls of Karachi and you will be amazed to see how similar it
is. Either going through the Korangi flyover or Shahrah-e-Faisal, you’ll see the walls
filled with political slogans, advertising or someone expressing his or her opinion.
Graffiti is used as a means of communication with its own limitations and freedom.
Graffiti in Karachi has its own feel to it, in its style and language. Sometimes it acts like a
newspaper for the audience considering the political war through writing on the walls.
Walls often reveal something about the lives, relationships and identities of those who
wrote them, for example, when looking at the political statements, it’s obvious that the
political party worker wrote them.
I myself am fascinated by the walls here in Karachi, there are some advertisements which
really make me curious and make me feel like calling them. Successful advertising is
achieved if you are able to awaken the viewer’s curiosity.
To study the different roles of graffiti all over the world, I began my research by reading
books and published articles by other researchers, There are so many styles and types of
LOTIA 3
graffiti that it’s amazing to know that people actually make their wall their canvas. I
divided my study into six parts. Firstly I’ll be discussing what graffiti is exactly by
quoting from several books and then I will discuss the five main types of graffiti which
are prevalent in Karachi. These are Political, Commercial, Self-Expressive, Existential
and simple Graffiti Art.
My findings include in the newspaper articles by journalists on incidents which took
place because of graffiti and my documentation of the streets of Karachi which are filled
with graffiti. I found some documentaries and videos which were played on the news
channels (e.g. Dawn) which has interviews by some famous artists, documenters and
politicians who have talked about graffiti which also aided me to analyse Graffiti in
Karachi.
In conclusion to my literature review and analysis I have written about the importance of
graffiti as a means of communication in Karachi and how each type serves a different
function in relation to the society it aims to target.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
When going into detail of my topic “what are the roles of graffiti in Karachi?”, one has to
know what exactly graffiti means. I read a lot of published articles and books to ensure I
had a clear understanding. According to the dictionary, the term "graffiti" derives from
the Greek graphein ("to write"). Graffiti (s. graffito), meaning a drawing or scribbling on
a flat surface, originally referred to those marks found on ancient Roman architecture.1
When talking about the scribblings on the wall, these scribblings have been said to
provide a unique insight into society, because messages written through graffiti are often
made without the social constraints that might otherwise limit free expression of political
or controversial thoughts.2
Different writers have different perspectives towards the meaning of the word graffiti, the
common English usage of the words is normally whatever is written on the wall, any type
of public writing. I read many articles and in each of them graffiti was taken in a different
context. In one of the books it said, “The word "graffiti" is now used to mean any wall
writing or pictures or symbols or markings of any kind on any surface anywhere no
matter what the motivation of the writer.”3
1
Susan A. Phillips , “Graffiti Definition: The Dictionary of Art” , London: Macmillan Publishers - Grove's
Dictionaries Inc. © copyright 1996, http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graf.def.html
2
Alex Alonso, Urban Graffiti on the City Landscape, Department of Geography, University of Southern
California, February 14, 1998, http://www.streetgangs.com/academic/alonsograffiti.pdf
3
Jane M. Gads, “ Looking at the Writing on the Wall: A Critical Review and Taxonomy of Graffiti Texts”
1995
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/critical.review.html
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Graffiti is not just in Karachi but in many other cities as well. It can be found almost
everywhere in the contemporary urban landscape. It surely is an integral part of the city
but people are ignorant to the fact why it actually exists. It has its own social drama. One
article explains graffiti as a form situated between visual and verbal expression. Graffiti
combines different
linguistic and artistic forms to express messages of personal and social communication.4
Even the general public has different views, some people take graffiti in a positive light
while many people take it as making their city ugly and dirty, but no one really notices
the different
and important roles it plays. When analyzing its different roles, one should know how
many roles it plays and the purpose behind each. Each form of graffiti has a different
function in relationship to the society.
Political
Political graffiti is the most open system of graffiti, everyone is aware of it, everyone sees
it around them and most importantly everyone understands it. It is normally done in the
busy areas where there is an extensive viewing. Political parties take advantage of graffiti
as a communication tool as it’s the most economical and highly efficient way of reaching
its target audience. It’s the cheapest way of advertising their party and to convey their
messages.
4
Silvia Pietrosanti. “ Behind the tag: A journey with the graffiti writers of European wall”, Amsterdam, 7t
h of June2010
LOTIA 6
When talking about political graffiti, to make it clear what exactly it is, we’ll see some of
the examples. Political graffiti is not always serious, there are some with political humor
in it, for instance, I read in an article about the Berlin wall that serves as a useful point of
departure for the study of political humor. It is a unique physical and political structure
dividing a city and people, yet shared by both as the border between two political
systems. On one hand a tremendous amount of graffiti in West Berlin, with the
concentration of graffiti thickest in the center of the city. The content of most graffiti
tends toward the political or personal statement. However, some of the graffiti deals
humorously with the subject of the Wall or divided Berlin and will be considered "visual"
political humor. And finally, in East Berlin there are few graffiti to speak of and certainly
none on the Wall. By its very nature the act of writing graffiti on the Wall signifies
politically aggressive behavior. For non-Berliners, the Wall is primarily a tourist object
and it would seem that writing graffiti on the Berlin Wall is "the thing to do" for visitors.5
Wall of Berlin. ( http://ies.berkeley.edu/images/2009-2010%20Events/berlinwall.jpg )
5
Mary Beth Stein . “The Politics of Humor: The Berlin Wall in Jokes and Graffiti” . Source: Western
Folklore, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 85-108
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Often when you see graffiti on the walls, it’s done by its own citizens and for their own
purpose. For the visitors it’s just an art piece.
I found one article completely on graffiti of intifada. Intifada means simply the defense of
the Palestinian people against the oppression.6 In the article it explained that what exactly
graffiti is for the Palestinian people. For Palestinians, graffiti were an intervention in a
relationship of power. As cultural artifacts, graffiti were a critical component of a
complex and diffuse attempt to overthrow hierarchy; they were Palestinian voices,
archival and interventionist. The Palestinian community thought "out loud" in graffiti.
Most importantly, graffiti was part of everyday actions taking place of civil disobedience.
Prominent among these were non-payment of taxes, boycotts of Israeli goods, and flying
the Palestinian flag or using its colors in items of dress or adornment. There were many
issues debated such as religion, gender and politics. 7
Political wars happen all over the world and so is political graffiti, in Palestinian political
graffiti large blotches of black or white paint, either with the brush or spray are painted
over the existing graffiti so that they can prevent it from being read.
6
7
“ Justice, Freedom and Peace”, http://www.intifada.com/palestine.html
Julie Peteet. “The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada. Source: Cultural Anthropology” ,
Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1996), pp. 139-159
LOTIA 8
Wall of Palestine. (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2619/3790995185_5c1cbc401e.jpg )
There were many examples given in the article of graffiti which were uncensored, it had a
strong voice and a sign of civil disobedience and self–reflective moments such as, "Death to the settlers wherever they are" -PFLP [Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine]; "Our people are stronger than all modes of repression" -PFLP; "Let us seek
complete freedom" -UNL [Unified National Leadership]; "No to occupation." These
voices signaled an end to a semipublic transcript where resistance had been fragmented
and proceeded in fits and starts. "Nonpayment of taxes and tickets is a national obligation
and an act of struggle"-UNL. "A generation that awakens in the interrogation room under
the police baton makes a party of the people and of all comrades."-PCP [Palestine
Communist Party]. In announcing these policies of violence were constitutive of political
consciousness, of "awakening," of a relation with the political organization and unity,
they deny, if not indeed subvert, the intent behind applications of bodily violence.8
While we are talking about political graffiti war, how can we forget the war in Tehran?
The war in Tehran which was started by Saddam Hussein and supported by the US and
European powers for 8 years caused many problems and death in the city. It caused fear
in people and a dark shadow in the country’s political situation. We all know about the
political situation in Tehran but I was not aware of the graffiti taking place because of
this. I searched online if there were any graffiti in Iran and found an article on the politics
of resistance in Tehran’s graffiti.It said that Tehran’s walls are used as a battleground so
8
Julie Peteet. “The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada. Source: Cultural Anthropology” ,
Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1996), pp. 139-159
LOTIA 9
that people can take out their frustration and aggression. Today, every wall and the side
of every phone booth has become a veritable shouting match between supporters of 2009
Presidential candidates Mousavi and Ahmedinejad, as each erases the others' slogans out
and writes their own.9
The graffiti shown above, meanwhile, aims for simplicity. It reads: "Saddam Hussein
Mousavi," an accusation of treachery that utilizes popular memory and fear of the War
and the need for national defense as a way of slandering political opponents to the
neoconservative President Ahmedinejad.
There are so many people who are still researching on graffiti and its roles. I read an
article in Star Magazine about a Swedish journalist and photographer Mia Gröndahl who
studied graffiti through her camera lens. She said that these walls provide information
from different angles and it also expresses solidarity—for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli
prisons, for example, the Iraqi people after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. 10
9
Franny Wentzel, “The Politics of Resistance in Tehran's Graffiti”, 2011 ,
http://citynoise.org/article/11027
10
Mia Gröndahl, “Gaza Graffiti: Message of Love and Politics”, January 31 st 2011, The Star Magazine
www.star.com
LOTIA 10
Other messages pay tribute to martyrs and victims, including the late peace activist
Rachel Corrie, killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer, that the graffiti artists captured her
on the walls describing her as “an American citizen with Palestinian blood”.11
There were not many communication tools in early times in Gaza and because of this the
walls became an important means of communication. There were 2 political groups who
had their own graffiti artists, which were Fatah and Hamas who became the dominant
ones.
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - AUGUST 20: Hamas members used stencils to paint
graffiti, August 20, 2009, Gaza City, Gaza Strip. When Hamas took over Gaza it forbid
artists from painting or writing any pro-Fatah graffiti. Since the two factions became
bitter rivals, there is little room for political dissent within either territory.
Political graffiti is not always understood by every citizen. There is often misconception.
For example,in the U.S during the election there was a newspaper article about some
graffiti done of Obama. It appeared on a lonely street corner in Chicago: a stenciled
silhouette of Barack Obama holding a microphone that connects to the United States.
11
Mia Gröndahl, “Gaza Graffiti: Message of Love and Politics”, January 31 st 2011, The Star Magazine
www.star.com
LOTIA 11
Immediately one wonders, what does it mean? We can assume that this graffiti,
somewhere on the streets of his hometown, is a gesture of support for Senator Obama.
But it’s hard to deny the cold effect it has on the viewer. Obama stands on a street
corner–one hand holding a microphone, the other hand pleading.
A passerby on one side of the street only sees Obama speaking to a rally, while someone
on the other side sees nothing but the U.S. floating from a frail string but what about the
image itself? Is the Illinois senator and probable Democratic presidential nominee
speaking to us or through us? 12
http://rlv.zcache.com/president_obama_silhouette_on_the_wall_postcardp239268718058582767trdg_400.jpg
Not just in present times but even in the past, graffiti was an essential means of
communicating. As much as graffiti is used as a form of freedom of speech and
expression, the more it gets violent.
There is an article on the culture and politics of graffiti art which said that during WWI
the walls were full of anti-slogans (enemy-picture as stereotype) and some may be found
12
Brandon Barkar , “This Obama Graffiti Illustrtes Divide?”, May 14th 2008
www.graffnews.com/politics
LOTIA 12
in WWII. During the Russian revolution and ideological fights (wall-inscription fights) in
Germany before 3rd Reich (Nazis against communists, etc.) graffiti became obvious
political matters and after the start of 3rd Reich they have been used to terrorize Jews in
Germany (Juden raus!). They had some graffiti (he also will be dead someday) hinting at
Mr. Hitler in his headquarters "Reichskanzlei" at Berlin that caused some uproar. 13
The graffiti prominently displays Hitler’s Swastika and Croatian Catholic Ustasa symbol,
the U with the Catholic cross in the middle.Ustasa were Hitler’s allies that ruled the
independent Croatia during WWII and perpetrated one of the most gruesome organized
killings of Serbs and Jews. The graffiti also sports a cusser against Serbian Chetniks who
were anti-Nazi Western allies who fell prey to the invading communists and were
eventually murdered.14
13
Timothy Werwath , “The Culture and Politics of Graffiti Art”, Mar. 19, 2006
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.html
14
M. Bozinovich, “ Another set of Nazi graffiti in Croatian town”, July 12, 2010,
http://serbianna.com/blogs/bozinovich/archives/704
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Commercialization
Many people are in favor of graffiti and advertising on the wall and some are extremely
against it. Considering the definition of graffiti in the Los Angeles City municipal code,
which calls it “any form of unauthorized inscription, word, figure or design which is
marked, etched, scratched, drawn, sprayed, painted or otherwise affixed to or on any
surface of public or private property, including but not limited to, buildings, walls, signs,
structures or places, or other surfaces, regardless of the nature of the material of that
structural component.”15
Street advertising is a type of a marketing tool. Companies hire graffiti artists to spray
their logos and ad campaigns on the city streets. There are many companies who have
done street advertising such as Coca-Cola, Nike, McDonalds, AM General Corp. (maker
of the Hummer), IBM, and TIME magazine. I saw an image of TIME magazine online
which was the most successful one.
TIME magazine's advertisement paid respect to graffiti culture and did not use graffiti to
push their magazine, but instead used graffiti to pose a question in the viewer's head
about what graffiti is.16
15
“Graffiti, billboards, and reclaiming public space appropriated by illegal advertising” – January 24th,
2010, www.banbillboardblight.org
16
Bradley J. Bartolomeo, B.S. (Psychology), “Cement or Canvas: Aerosol Art & The Changing Face of
Graffiti in the 21st Century” Union College, Schenectady NY, USA – 2001,
www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti-is-part-of-us.html.
LOTIA 14
TIME Magazine ad by Cope2, New York City
I found one example of street advertising which had to be removed was by Sony. In
December 2005, Sony started a nationwide advertising campaign that used graffiti to
promote the Sony PSP. The company hired artists to paint images of players and PSPs in
major American cities, failing to think critically about how pretend, commercial
vandalism might work out in the public. Sony spokesperson Molly Smith tried to spin it
positively, saying that the PSP was a "disruptive" product, and that graffiti was naturally
suited to promote it. But according to Peter Vallone Jr., a City Council member in New
York, this sends a mixed message to children: it's OK to graffiti! Vallone wants Sony to
cease the advertisements immediately, and pay the US$20,000 it will cost to remove
them. Sony believes that the request is unfair, because the graffiti is only placed in
locations where advertising is traditionally placed, and that it's only "how we're using the
space.”17
17
Ken Fisher, “Sony asked to clean up NYC graffiti ads”, December 2005,
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/01/5988.ars
LOTIA 15
Successful advertising is when people know about you and also to make people know
you, you need to come in front of them repeatedly. This is what happens in graffiti, often
a tag or logo is reproduced several times so that it becomes recognizable by the people
and instantly embeds into the mind.
I found one article which tells of the similarity between graffiti and advertising and how
they are linked. KCET, a non-profit public media organization based in Los Angeles, CA
who featured Too Tall Jahmal on 9th October,2008 Web Original video “Ad- Buster,”
argued that graffiti and advertising are two sides of an unequal coin. In his written article
“Graffiti is the poor man’s advertising campaign”, he says “As long as our cities are filled
with advertising they will be filled with graffiti. Graffiti is the poor man's ad campaign.
You can argue about one campaign being legal and the other illegal but the visual
difference is purely academic.”He even mentioned that graffiti is a direct result of our
consumer-based culture. So live with it. Consider it another economic indicator in a
society where some have few resources and some have many. 18
Self-Expression
Graffiti is a role of expressing one’s feelings, also known as self-expression. Graffiti is
the best means of communicating for those people who want other people to know what
they feel and to communicate their ideas and messages. This type of communication is of
value as you are free to post whatever you want while being anonymous. In one of the
18
To Tall Jahmal, “Graffiti is the poor man’s advertising campaign ”- 2008, KCET,
www.kcet.org/shows/social_connected
LOTIA 16
articles I read it said graffiti links people regardless of cultural, linguistic, or racial
differences in a way that nothing else can.19
Self-expression graffiti includes another role of written expression known as Gang
graffiti. It functions as a way to communicate sentiments, express group identity, and to
dictate rules of their socially constructed places.
One of the articles includes an example of gang graffiti by an African American Gang
which is boastful, making claims of supremacy, threatening other gangs and making
territorial claims.20
African-American gang graffiti of the Campanela Park Pirus of Compton, California. The
caption says, “Pirus Rule the Streets of Bompton Fools.” Pirus are an agglomeration of
several independent Blood gangs in Los Angeles County. Of the thirty African-American
gangs in Compton, Pirus account for ten, and in this photo they are claiming supremacy
over the entire city, and dominance over the twenty other Crip rivals. Also notice how
19
George C. Stowers , Graffiti Art: An Essay Concerning The Recognition of Some Forms of Graffiti As
Art , Fall 1997, http://www.graffiti.org/faq/stowers.html
20
Alex Alonso, Urban Graffiti on the City Landscape, Department of Geography, University of Southern
California, February 14, 1998. http://www.streetgangs.com/academic/alonsograffiti.pdf
LOTIA 17
they replaced the letter “C” in Compton with “B” to reinforce their Blood/Piru identity.
Photo was taken in 1996.
The most widespread form of gang-related graffiti in the USA is territorial markers which
communicate information about gang identity, membership, alliances or threats. This
type of gang graffiti can be written or tagged by any gang member to mark a street corner
or neighborhood area. 21Readers knew which areas were under whose control simply by
the style of the graffiti and their signatures.22
In one article, there was a story about a boy named Taki, who became famous through his
gang graffiti. In summer 1971 the appearance of the mysterious message “Taki 183” had
aroused the curiosity of New Yorkers to lead the New York Times to send one of its
reporters to determine its meaning. The results of his search published on July 21,1971,
revealed that Taki was an unemployed seventeen year old with nothing better to do than
pass the summer days spraying his name wherever he happened to be. The Times article
presented Taki as an emerging character with a unique and fascinating hobby, and this
seemed to have a profound effect on the city’s youth. In the March issue, New York
Magazine management presented a “Graffiti Hit Parade” in which it gave “Taki Awards”
to a number of graffitists in categories labeled “Grand Design” and “Station
Saturation”.23
21
Gabriele Lübbers , “The Graffiti of Grief: Violence, Death and Remembrance in Pittsburgh Gang
Neighbourhoods”, Source: Paideuma, Bd. 53 (2007), pp. 145-160, Published by: Frobenius Institute.
22
Julie Peteet. “The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada”, Source: Cultural Anthropology,
Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1996), pp. 139-159
23
Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal , “That’s the joint: the hip hop studies reader”, Published by
Routledge, 2004, pp. 21-25
LOTIA 18
For some younger graffiti artists, spray-painting a piece of a building is about doing what
friends do and for others, it becomes an obsession. Another story was mentioned in an
article which was on why people do gang graffiti. It was about a graffiti artist, Bruce (not
his real name), says he would leave the house at midnight to do his tagging, unable to
stop himself from getting his name out there, even after being caught several times by the
police. “Some people maybe just do it to express themselves, some people do it for a
release, some people because … it defines who they are and they just have to keep doing
it,” Bruce says. “Some people, it’s just for their ego.” For the younger ones, Lalonde
says, it might be part of growing up and is rarely associated with gangs. First of all, it’s
forbidden, so it’s a challenge, he says. “I think they are in a period of their age when they
want everyone to know, ‘I’m alive! I’m here!’24
Existential
Existential graffiti is the most common form of graffiti, and similar to political graffiti. It
includes individual personal comments, and it is sometimes referred to as expressive
graffiti. Existential graffiti can be subdivided into several subcategories depending on the
content. The most common are the racial and sexual scribbling.
Wall of Palestine ( http://www.newtrendmag.org/graffiti06.jpg)
24
Katrina Swift, “Urban scrawl – Graffiti artists face the question: Why do they do it?” , April 14th 2008,
Via www.canada .com - www.graffnews.com/tag/politics/
LOTIA 19
Existential graffiti can cause a lot of problems in society and sometimes people go
beyond limits. For instance I read on some online news that there was an incident which
took place during the elections in the U.S. The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People had called on North Carolina State University to
expel four students who spray painted racist messages a bout President-elect Obama.
Two of the messages said: "Let's shoot that (N-word) in the head" and "Hang Obama
by a noose." Four students had come forward and admitted to spray-painting the racist
messages. The school did not release their names.
25
Not just this, there was another incident which took place because of this kind of
graffiti. I read in one of the articles in a magazine about an Oil company which was
sued for racist graffiti. Black employees working in company had been complaining to
company officials for more than a decade about racist symbols in their workplace,
including hung nooses, segregated bathrooms, racial slurs, and unequal treatment in
Louisiana and Texas. Company supervisors, according to the workers, ignored the
complaints or in some cases, retaliated against the workers for complaining.26
Decorative Art
"You're standing there in the station everything is gray and gloomy and all of a sudden
one of those graffiti trains slides in and brightens the place like a big bouquet from Latin
America, famous artist Claes Oldenburg lauds the beauty of graffiti .Many young graffiti
25
Raleigh, N.C, “NAACP calls for 'racist graffiti' students to be expelled”, November 12, 2008 ,
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3945531/
26
Liane Membis , “Oil Company Sued for Racist Graffiti, Slurs, and Nooses”, February 4 , 2011,
http://clutchmagonline.com/newsgossipinfo/oil-company-sued-for-racist-graffiti-slurs-and-nooses/
LOTIA 20
artists have captured the attention of the mass media with their “unique artistic
courage”.27
Luis Hernandez, a former graffiti artist, explains that, “Graffiti is an art form; that is all it
is.”Graffiti art is not just art but a way to show your culture. There are different purposes
that it serves. Each graffiti artist has a different motive behind their graffiti, through art
and colors they communicate their message.
Banksy uses a Westwood wall as his canvas Photo: Maria Esmeralda Renteria
(http://lagente.org/2011/02/20/writings-on-the-wall-piecing-together-graffiti-art-andculture)
Although there are many artists out there trying to make a name for them, there are few
prominent artists who have obtained international success. British street artist, Banksy,
creates art pieces in locations all over the world.28
27
Koon-Hwee Kan, “Adolescents and Graffiti”, Source: Art Education, Vol. 54, No. 1, Focus on
Secondary (Jan., 2001), pp. 18-23, Published by: National Art Education Association
LOTIA 21
A person often wonders if graffiti is a form of art or vandalism. Graffiti can be said as a
free art form for every citizen. It’s amazing to see how a simple plain boring wall can be
so interesting to look at when filled with colors. In one of the articles it said that, graffiti
art allows spaces for creative and healthy public expression, creating interesting and
dynamic cultural cities with images and artworks that beautify the city environment, and
challenge and inspire its inhabitants.29
28
Marcos Osorio, “Writings on the Wall: Piecing together graffiti art and culture” , February 20, 2011,
http://lagente.org/2011/02/20/writings-on-the-wall-piecing-together-graffiti-art-and-culture/
29
Kristy Trinier, “Is Graffiti Simply Free Art, Or A Crime?”, Edmonton Arts Council, September 2007,
http://publicart.edmontonarts.ca/static_medias/publicart/is_graffiti_simply_free_art
LOTIA 22
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
My dissertation question is ‘What are the different roles of graffiti played in Karachi?’
Passing through the streets of Karachi you see random stuff written on the walls, some
makes sense and some doesn’t. I am focusing on just 5 aspects of graffiti which are
Political, commercial , self-expression (gang graffiti), existential (based on experience)
and graffiti art (normally done to beautify the streets).
My dissertation will primarily be a qualitative based dissertation which will include
descriptive material, such as extracts from interviews, conversations, documents,
newspaper clippings and documentation of different areas in Karachi.
To have a better understanding of graffiti and what role it plays internationally, I read
several books and articles which I have referenced in my literature review and after
writing it I have gained much more specialised experience in this area. It has helped me
to analyze and find similarities and differences between the different types of graffiti and
also compare the graffiti found on Karachi’s wall to other cities abroad.
My research is more of secondary research as I have found data that is already available.
I went to Sir Sohail Zuberi (Graphic Designer), freelancer and a Graphic Design teacher
at Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture to share my topic which him as I thought
he would have an idea of graffiti as he recently wrote on Ijtimaas-posters advertising
religious congregations in a recently launched book compiled by Ms.Samia Zaidi,
Mazaar Bazaar. He told me that he has contributed to this documentary ‘Kaleidoscope –
Writing on the Walls’ which was played on Dawn News. He gave me a copy of that
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documentary, which is all about Karachi walls and contains interviews of some famous
artists and some politicians who have researched about Karachi walls. Each of them held
different views in regards to Graffiti, which were extremely useful for my research, as
they talked about their experience while making the documentary and pointed out some
of the different graffiti written on various walls which I wasn’t aware of. Some talked
about consumerism and some about political slogan but one common thread is that they
all consider graffiti to be an essential part of our city.
I’ll cover my documentation by going to as many places in the city as possible to relay
the different styles and forms of graffiti, which has been done in different areas. I plan to
cover Defence, Clifton, Korangi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Johar, railway stations and
a few other areas. I selected the above areas specifically as these areas contain different
social classes of people and the styles, and the purpose of the Graffiti in these areas
differs.
I have found some newspaper articles related to the incidents caused by graffiti and some
incidents which led to graffiti, which helped me in analyzing the roles of graffiti and what
purpose it serves.
I hope my background research will enable me to write a well-rounded and meaningful
dissertation.
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FINDINGS
Daily Times newspaper
Thursday, April 23, 2009
By Faraz Khan
Pro-Taliban graffiti spurs violence in Karachi
KARACHI: Law enforcement agencies have imposed a virtual curfew in Sarjani Town
after four persons were wounded in crossfire between two groups after pro-Taliban
slogans were found painted on the walls of a church on Wednesday.
At least two houses, over half a dozen shops, pushcarts and roadside stalls were set
ablaze by unidentified men. Heavy contingents of police and Rangers were called to the
scene, however, it took them several hours to ease the tense situation, while routine and
commercial life in the area was suspended. Law enforcers carried out a door-to-door
search operation to arrest the culprits, detaining at least seven persons from the area and
seizing weapons.
However, police officials declined the presence of Taliban in the area and believed it to
be a conspiracy by elements that wanted to disturb the peace of the city. The church,
where slogans such as ‘Taliban zindabad’, ‘Islam zindabad’, ‘Christians Islam qabol
karo’ were found painted on the walls, is located near Khuda Ki Basti, Taiser Town,
within the jurisdiction of the Sarjani police station.
When the slogans were discovered, scores of Christians gathered on the road and staged a
protest. Witnesses said while strongly criticising the Awami National Party (ANP),
Pashtuns and the Taliban, the protesters chanted slogans such as ‘Taliban murdabad’,
LOTIA 25
‘ANP murdabad’ and ‘Pashtuns murdabad’. They burnt tyres and pelted stones at passing
vehicles. During the riots, they also set ablaze over half a dozen shops, including
pushcarts and roadside stalls owned by Pashtuns.
In retaliation, hundreds of Pashtuns also gathered at the scene and after exchanging hot
words, the two groups resorted to firing. Consequently, three Christians and one person
from the Pashtun group, sustained injuries and were shifted to a hospital.
The injured included Emran Masih, Qudoos Masih, Irfan Masih, and Rozi Khan
Dawn Newspaper – www.dawn.com
KARACHI: Lawyers condemn graffiti drive against Imran
May 27, 2007 - Sunday
KARACHI, May 26: Members of the Karachi Bar Association reacted strongly to the
massive graffiti campaign by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement activists against chief of
the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Imran Khan, and termed it ‘yet another blunder’ committed
by the party.
They observed that Mr Khan had no personal grudge with MQM chief Altaf Hussain, and
noted that MQM activists were angry at him only because he supported the lawyers’
movement for the independence of judiciary.
Speaking at the KBA general body meeting here on Saturday, they urged the British
government to cancel Altaf Hussain’s citizenship and deport him for, what they said,
instigating his workers to kill innocent people in Karachi. “We are also ready to stage a
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protest demonstration in front of the British consulate and the Governor’s House against
Altaf Hussein,” one of the speakers said.
KBA President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi advised the MQM to adopt a civilised way of
registering protest and avoid breaching democratic norms. He said that by using forces to
block the way of lawyers’ and opposition’s rallies, the MQM would not succeed in
suppressing the democratic forces.
K.K Javaid Khan, Naheed Afzaal, Mehmood-ul-Hassan, Musawwir Ali Khan, Sati M.
Ishaq, Khalil Dogar, Mehar Ilahi, Mubbasher Mirza and Prof Umer Farooq also spoke at
the meeting.
Naheed Afzaal said that the way that MQM was holding rallies and besieged the courts
and Nawabshah Press Club was not a civilised way and called for an end to such
practices.
Through a unanimously approved resolution, the general body cancelled membership of
three women lawyers, Tabassum Sultana, Rehana and Romana, for opposing the lawyers’
movement publicly.
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Blue Chip – The Business People’s Magazine
Asim Butt: gone too soon – by Marium ShahA month after the untimely demise of Asim
Butt, it is still not any easier to write an obituary about him. One comes to terms with the
loss of a loved one over an extended period of time, however, considering the fact that
Asim touched the lives of hundreds of people who he interacted with in some form or the
other, and even those who he hadn’t interacted with directly but who knew of him and
were struck by his art and activism, his death continues to cause much sorrow.
As Adil Najam wrote on the All Things Pakistan blog, “…hearing today that he has died
in what may be a suicide has left me down and dejected. It is partly because a person of
such obvious talent and great potential, someone with a strong political conscience and a
desire and the ability to act on that conscience, and someone so young (”in the prime of
his life” as we Pakistanis say) is no more. But it is also the way he has departed. Or
chosen to depart. All death leaves one speechless for a minute. Suicide leaves one even
more dumbstruck.”
Asim’s friends continue to leave heartfelt messages on his wall on Facebook and on the
In Loving Memory of Asim Butt, 1978-2010 tribute page on Facebook, still trying to
LOTIA 28
come to terms with the fact that he is no more – but hoping and believing that he knows
exactly how much he is missed, how much he meant, and still means, to them and how
they continue to be affected by his absence. A tribute was held a few days later, on
January 18, at T2F (The Second Floor) in Karachi where his friends, family and
colleagues shared moving anecdotes, videos and pictures from the different phases of his
life: from his time as a student at LUMS where he studied social sciences, to the days he
spent at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture getting a BFA degree, to the era
of activism when he spearheaded peaceful yet graphically powerful protests against the
Emergency declared by Pervez Musharraf, the violence that engulfed Karachi postassassination of Benazir Bhutto and most recently, the crusade he had taken upon himself
to save what was remaining of Hotel Metropole – an iconic landmark of Karachi that has
now been demolished. His family continues to gather his writings, his personal mails and
the details of the collection of his work and hope to put them together in a befitting
manner to exhibit his exceptional talent and intellect. Others hope to follow up on the
social causes he held dear to his heart.
Something Rotten in the State 2009 Spray paint graffiti Sunset Boulevard, Karachi
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Lice (variation) 2008 Spray paint on trailer
(Left) Shariat Kills 2009 Spray paint graffiti on white glue size KPT Exchange,
Karachi
(Right) Stop 2007 Spray paint on torched rickshaw District South, Karachi
During the recently held PFDC Fashion Week in Lahore, designer Sadaf Malaterre
showcased her womenswear collection, which focused on colour. She dedicated her
collection to the memory of Asim Butt as she stated that he inspired her and constantly
encouraged her to experiment with colour. As can be observed in the vast collection of
paintings he produced in a relatively short duration, colour was something Asim gave a
lot of importance to. I am not an expert at critiquing art, hardly even an amateur, but his
paintings were such that even a person off the street could appreciate his compositions,
although there was always a deeper, underlying meaning in what he was portraying. He
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was bold in the depiction of his subjects, be it everyday instances or taboo topics, and
continuously challenged conformity. His passion for art was very much evident in all of
his works: be it painting, graffiti, printmaking or sculpture.
As a person, Asim Butt was outspoken, but never to the extent of hurting anyone with his
words. He was a restless soul always challenging conformity and norms, but never in a
destructive way. Asim Butt created an indelible impression on whoever he met, although
if you’ve seen his person, you will know that it had nothing to do with his appearance –
he was always dressed in the most unassuming manner, seemingly not having given
much thought to what he had thrown on – be it a plain tee shirt; a silky, loud-patterned
shirt; or a worn, cotton kurti. There was a subtle, inexplicable magnetism about him – not
the usual kind of charisma one might encounter with people of substance, but something
that ran way deeper. I met Asim only twice, and I was hoping to run into him many more
times because he was an extraordinary individual and anyone who has had the pleasure of
knowing him – even in the minutest way – can testify to that.
He accomplished more in his 28 years than most do in their lifetime and I don’t feel this
write up can do justice to Asim Butt as there was so much more to him – so many facets
to his personal and professional life, all of which cannot be explained in words but only
be felt deeply by those whose lives he touched.
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Business of Fashion - http://www.businessoffashion.com/2007/11/suma-project-vloving-karachi.html
The Business of Fashion has gained a global following as an essential daily resource for
fashion creatives, executives and entrepreneurs in over 150 countries. It is frequently
described as “indispensable,” “required reading” and “an addiction.”
Suma Project V: Loving Karachi
14 November, 2007 by Imran Amed, Editor
Unless your head has been stuck in the sand (or in Vogue or Style.com or WWD), you
will know that Pakistan has been gripped by serious turmoil in recent weeks, forcing its
embattled leader, General Pervez Musharraf, to declare a State of Emergency. Unrest and
instability have become a common theme in Pakistan over the past 5 years, ever since
Musharraf seized power and the country was drawn into George Bush’s War on Terror.
Just today, legendary Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan was arrested for protesting
against Musharraf’s government.
So what does this have to do with The Business of Fashion? It’s often during times of
turmoil like this when artists and designers are able to deliver poignant messages in a
subtle but positive way. Suma Project V aims to do just this, by heightening the
consciousness of Karachites to the more positive aspects of their city.
Karachi is in the midst of an economic boom and boasts burgeoning industries in mediaproduction, advertising, television, telecomunications, real estate and construction.
International conglomerates and investment funds have been sizing up the market for
LOTIA 32
opportunities to capture some of the value being created. Even IMG has its finger in the
pie, organsing its first ever Pakistan Fashion Week.
Suma Project V wants to celebrate this. Even before the State of Emergency was
declared, its graffiti artists have been tagging the city, Banksy-style, with I LOVE KHI
slogans:
I LOVE KHI is not only for the melancholic, for those trying to swim upstream in their
river of nostalgia; but for those who find themselves in the new KHI–a strong, selfaffirming city full of possibility, attracting hundreds of thousands from other parts of the
country; our only true melting pot, where life is currently knotted but charged. Karachi
is drunk with business opportunities, tele-communications, internet and real-estate deals
abound, the service industry has finally awakened and we are most certainly entertained.
This has already struck a poignant chord with young Karachites who are now snapping
up t-shirts with the I LOVE KHI slogan to show their solidarity with the newfound pride.
What a cool role for fashion, art and street culture to play in keeping spirits up during
these difficult days. Says Suma Project V’s founder:
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As a mega-metropolis in the world today, KHI must present herself as a dramatic,
defiant, self-conscious, independent and nurturing mother whose beauty lies in the fact
that she is so unconditionally loved by her inhabitants. "I LOVE KHI" is a means of
appropriating the city for oneself, for ones family, as our own. First, there was the word;
then it was just the writing on the wall.
The News - http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2008
Public Art from Karachi – By Amina Baig - 2 March 2008
When driving through the jungle of buildings, complicated maze of cars and billboards
mushrooming around the Karachi skyline; randomly spurted words and images often
catch one’s eye. Karachi’s version of graffiti is usually just writing on the wall
announcing which teeny-bopper gang is at odds with whom, who sucks, who rocks and
so on. Every now and then though, something that can actually be considered art because
of its visual or conceptual value crops up.
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Over the last few months, a symbol that has now become part of the Karachiite visual
vocabulary has been creeping across almost any and everything in the city. A red triangle
upon a rectangle “ an eject sign, which according to Asim Butt, artist and stenciller of
many of these signs is “multivalent.”
Asim’s graffiti was spurred on by the imposition of emergency in Pakistan in November
2007. However the message was not singular, nor was it a reaction to a single event.
While the eject sign literally referred back to the eject button or eject seat, it as Asim
says, it was a nudge to “eject the military from the presidency. The sign could also be a
red house (parliament dominated by the left) or simply a curious shape that reappeared in
different parts of the city around the time of the emergency.”
The underlying feeling of the eject sign was as multi-layered as the underlying meaning
of it. Asim used his stencils as a tool to express the anger he felt at the dismissal of basic
rights. Everything from the way the judiciary and media were being handled to arrests of
activists, some of whom are friends of Asim, snowballed into this dialogue with the
public at large and the authorities in particular.
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The project wasn’t a solitary one either. Asim chose a simple icon
for its “easy
reproducibility,” A complicated symbol would be hard for everyone to stencils of and
Asim wanted to “involve non-artist activists in this art project.” The icon was kept simple
also because “the times demand it to be,” says Asim, “The streets are more heavily
policed than they were when I did other murals in 2003 and 2004.”
The eject signs raised questions in the minds of anyone who laid eyes on them, for their
simplicity and persistent repetition. It also drew attention to Asim and the curious process
he undertook every time he went out stenciling. “Aside from piquing the curiosity of
passers by, graffiti, as it is by its very nature, illegal, incites the ire of the authorities as
well.”
Asim was approached by the police on two occasions while carrying out this visual
protest. Once at Sea View, as him and some People’s Resistance members painted
posters and pavements with stencils Asim had brought, which attracted quite a crowd,
they were approached by the police, which, , “threatened arrest, and confiscated the
stencils. We negotiated our way out of that fix.”
The placement of the signs was at times meaningful and sometimes not so much. Eject
signs found their way onto police containers across from Jinnah Courts as well as random
walls of the KPT Underpass and Sea View. He did create large arrows out of repeated
number 420s outside the Supreme Court, Karachi Bench as his way of saying that judges
sworn under the PCO were “frauds.”
LOTIA 36
The arrows attracted the police to Asim’s endeavour once more. “I told them I was doing
a school project,” says Asim, “which I was because I was taught to fight injustice at
school. They wanted the photographs we had taken, but we got away with just deleting
one, though we had to leave our materials behind.” Consequently, Asim doesn’t spend
much time at the sites anymore.
The eject sign graffiti gave birth to more. The day after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination,
Asim painted ‘stop’ signs on objects destroyed during the violence that followed the
news. To Asim, these were more meaningful in their placement. “The “Stop” signs on
torched cars and gutted banks were, I suppose, the most poignant coming together of
surface, message and form,” says Asim, “where I went and layered the “installation” of
destruction that the mob had left in its wake.”
In 2003, Asim had painted ‘Five ways to kill a man’, a mural, as a response to the war in
Iraq across from the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar. Aware and proactive he definitely is,
defying the common perception of artists living in their own little bubble, as he actually
brings his thoughts out on the streets. A school project in 2005 brought him to the walls
of the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar again, when he did a piece on sexuality. He has since
followed up with “scribblings” around the mazar and some more at an akhara in Lahore.
If memory serves correctly, the ‘Five ways…’ mural had generated all kinds of responses
from people, ranging from curious to hostile, with parts of the mural being scraped away
and eventually painted over, presumably as human figures being painted or drawn are
simply offensive to the Pakistani eye.
LOTIA 37
It is a pleasant thought though, that the walls of Karachi can sport more than unintelligent
scrawlings and political slogans. If the eject signs are anything to go by, political and
social comment might find a spot on the millions of concrete surfaces in the city. Just as
the eject signs rose some questions, Asim himself has “tailored the font and colours of
some new work to speak directly to very effective I (heart) KHI campaign.” Asim
believes that “like art, begins with a dialogue and burgeons into a discourse.”
Though Asim says he can’t claim to have made Karachi more beautiful, he does believe
that a bit of colour here and there does add to the visual experience. Graffiti to him
though is “also about wresting from the clutches of commercial billboards a morsel of
space for non-commercial visuals.”
Can public art be used to beautify a city or add to the public aesthetic? “Public art can
both cater to and question the public’s aesthetic or politics depending on what it aims to
do,” says Asim, “and the public is, of course, not a monolithic mass. It is as
heterogeneous and varied as the number of people it includes, and it’s aesthetic as
volatile as the moment it inhabits.”
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The News - Jang International
http://geo.tv/important_events/2010/ban_on_geo/pages/english_news_11-08-2010.asp
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Two Pakistani TV channels say shut over anti-Zardari reports
KARACHI: Two key Pakistani television channels were shut in southern Pakistan on
Tuesday amid protests by ruling party workers over reports against the country”s
embattled president, the channels said. “Geo television remains off the air in Karachi and
other parts of Sindh province,” its managing director, Azhar Abbas told AFP. Workers of
the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) staged a protest outside its office in Karachi, he said. A
graffiti campaign has also been launched against Geo in Karachi while bundles of the
Jang daily and English language The News owned by the same group were snatched and
burnt in other cities and towns, he added. “The cable operators have been threatened,
their offices have been attacked, while hawkers have been warned that copies would be
torched if they sell our newspapers,” he said. “It is all being done by PPP activists and I
am 100 percent sure the government is behind this campaign,” Abbas said
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The Nation Newspaper – www.nation.com.pk
Aggressive wall-chalking by 'N' for by-elections
By: Yasir Habib Khan - June 07, 2008
A relevant provision of election code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of
Pakistan states, "No person or political party shall affix hoardings, posters or banners of
any size or cause wall chalking as a part of election campaign of a candidate other than
the following, no person or political party shall affix hoarding, poster or banners larger
than the size mentioned as Hoardings 3ft x 5ft, Banners 3ftx 8ft, Posters 1ft x 1.5 ft."
Graffiti is not a new phenomenon on the walls but none of authorities concerned are
ready to take responsibility for their removal. Graffiti has become common feature of our
society that casts negative impact not only on the beauty of the city but also on visitors
particularly foreigners. It comes in all shapes and can be seen on walls, buildings,
signboards, bus stops and recreational places.
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The Express Tribune Newspaper – www. tribune.com.pk
Hate crime: DCOs ordered to stop wall chalking in favour of Qadri
January 18, 2011
VEHARI: Religious organisations led by the Sunni Action Committee have been
accused of inciting religious hatred by putting up posters of former Punjab
Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Qadri.
Wall chalking bearing slogans in favour of Qadri as well as posters asking others to ‘take
up his cause’ in defence of the blasphemy law have become an increasingly common
sight in Vehari.
Special instructions have been issued to all district coordination offices to get rid of all
slogans promoting the assassin.
Instructions have been passed to inform the local political and religious leaders about the
situation and implore them to preach against such action.
“All people found to be involved in such incidents will be seen as disturbing the peace
and will be arrested,” the DCO said. The government also issued orders to the district
offices to strictly monitor all activity concerning religious groups in their respective
areas.
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Government of Pakistan Capital Development Authority - http://www.cda.gov.pk
CDA News – November 25, 2010
Campaign launched against wall-chalking
Islamabad, November 25, 2010: On the direction of Chairman, Capital Development
Authority (CDA), Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, the Directorate of Sanitation has taken measures
for the cleanliness of roads and markets in the Federal Capital, especially against the wall
chalking.
He has recently directed the concerned departments of CDA to take strict action against
the people involved in wall chalking and posters pasting on wall because such attempts
damage the beauty of the city.
Following the directions of the Chairman CDA, strict measures have been taken against
the owners of different companies and institutions involved in wall chalking for publicity.
In this regard, officials of the Sanitation Directorate conducted survey in different sectors
of the city and forwarded cases to the Special Magistrate, CDA against the different
commercial and industrial institutions.
During the hearing, Senior Special Magistrate imposed fine of Rs.17,000/- on several
commercial and industrial units involved in walk chalking. He also ordered them to avoid
walk chalking in future otherwise strict action under the prevailing law would be taken.
The Chairman CDA has further directed to keep a vigilant eye on people doing wall
chalking or pasting publicity papers on walls and signboards in the city and ordered for
strict action so that the beauty of the federal Capital could be maintained.
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The News International - http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2009
23 August, 2009
Writing on the wall
Graffiti remains a popular method of advertisement and political expression in
the city but at what cost?
By Jan Khaskheli
Political activists affiliated with leftist parties that have seen various wallchalking trends -- from crude oil to the recently introduced packed colour sprays - believe that the kind of material used for this purpose is completely up to the
resources available to the party. "If the party has more resources, its cadre can use
colour spray while others still use crude oil and cheap powder mixed with glue to
highlight its slogans. It is not washed away even by the rain," said Santosh
Kumar, a die-hard worker of a leftist group.
Spray bottles do not have enough variety -- this is why activists make their own
colours, he said, adding that though the method is old, it is still remains a
LOTIA 43
favourite among activists to express the way they feel.
Public places, the boundaries of recreational parks, bus stops, walls on main roads
and educational institutes are appealing places for the political cadre to express
their demands through wall-chalking.
In this regard, it is between 2.00 a.m. to 4.00 a.m. that most activists prefer to
write on walls because law enforcement agencies are not patrolling at that time.
In fact, careful activists keep an eye out for police mobiles while others indulge in
wall chalking. Now, however, the trend has changed. Activists, said Kumar, do
not fear the police but anti-social political activists, who pretend to be
government agencies and get violent with rival parties.
A retired professor tracing the history of wall-chalkings just after Partition said
the trend started when small-scale corporations used wall chalking as a way to
advertise their products such as biscuits and toffees. As compared to this, multinational companies always used billboards for advertisements. According to him,
political wall-chalking in Pakistan started during the Ayub Khan era during which
student organisations took an active part in this kind of sloganism. He said that
earlier, they were in the interest of the common man but this is not always the
LOTIA 44
case now. In fact, the language used sometimes is not even grammatically correct.
Furthermore, he said now wall chalking confuse the people even more. All
religious, sectarian and nationalist groups are violating municipal laws, dirtying
the walls, which is confusing for people because the very groups who are
supposed to be asking for what is right are violating the law. He said that the
municipal law exist but like other laws, it is ineffective allowing certain elements
to continue with this dirty game.
Aly Ercelawn, a social development expert said that the Pakistani society is quite
different from other countries in South Asia where the enforcement of municipal
law is visible. "We can see posters there but not wall-chalking," he explained.
According to Ercelawn, wall chalking is an instrument for mass mobilisation.
Earlier it was not seen in many parts of Karachi because the middle class residing
there was not interested in such activities. In those days, Karachi was limited to
Laloo Khait (Liaquatabad) and Lyari.
LOTIA 45
A former official of the defunct Karachi Development Authority (KDA) from
Lyari referred to the current trend of wall-chalking as "anarchy". He saw the
movement against the Ayub government and said that it was a mass struggle. But
now "we build homes, which these people dirty for their personal gains. It is
embarrassing," he told Kolachi. He said it is not just wall-chalking -- even the
banners that people hang are never taken down. It shows the failure of the
municipal administration that is unable to remove them.
The official further said that political parties should educate their cadre to protect
property and avoid violation and the municipal administration should take action
against the offenders.
An old political activist, who is now a banker, felt that now "vulgarity is being
promoted in the name of highlighting issues. There is hooliganism as the activists
now even abuse people and their families as per the instructions of their political
leaders." Sometimes, activists even pass verdicts on certain people and
LOTIA 46
communities. There is no law to monitor such things, he said, adding that this
only leads to further vulgarity.
He pointed out that the anti-Muslim League parties in East Pakistan were active
in the political struggle before Partition and continued after Independence. So the
political struggle may have started in Karachi during the Ayub Khan era but there
is a huge history behind it as far as the rest of the country is concerned.
Perhaps the worst situation in this regard is both outside and inside higher
educational institutes and its hostels, where even classrooms are replete with
objectionable language.
A former activist of the Communist Party of Pakistan, recalling previous agitation
trends, said that it was the duty of activists to litter walls with slogans mostly
demanding release of their less known comrades languishing in jails. The leftists
broke all records of initiating wall-chalking all over the province simultaneously
for the same cause. He said that the famous politicians of today have been made
popular through wall chalking and can be called 'wall chalking leaders'.
LOTIA 47
Artists or tricksters: Who is destroying our city's walls?
While wall-chalking has taken over most of the city's facade presenting an
unattractive picture, advertisers have found it to be an effective tool
By Rabia Ali
"By writing on the walls, I create curiosity among the people about the place,"
says Mursaleen Khan Sherwani, the owner of Perfume Chowk, while talking to
Kolachi. "It is a way of silently and peacefully protesting against the system of
paying bhatta and bringing it to the attention of officials."
Sherwani does "publicity" of his small-scale business by spray-painting public
places such as flyovers, bridges and the shutters on the shops. The paint he uses
costs Rs32, and he is careful not to paint on residences. He has been doing this
for the past 10 years and vows to continue until the day he dies. Last year he was
ordered to pay Rs2.6 million by the Cantonment Board Faisal for 'destroying the
city's façade', although the notice was cancelled after Sherwani strongly protested
against it. His most recent work has been on a newly constructed bridge, which
resulted in the government confiscating his stall for nine months.
LOTIA 48
"Because the government comes down hard on me, I will do it more and more,"
says Sherwani. "Why am I the only one hand-picked by officials? It is totally
unjust. Multinational companies have been chalking the city for years, but no one
questions them."
Apart from Perfume Chowk, the city is a host to a spate of wall-chalking
announcing the wonders of 'Aamil Babas'. However, the famous Junaid Baba,
whose publicity advertisements have marked most of walls in the metropolis,
denies that he is personally involved. "My customers and well-wishers do this out
of reverence," he says. "I have no idea how much any of it cost, or whether or not
they (the people who advertise in his name) acquire permission."
As one Aamil, on the basis of anonymity, explains, "Advertising on the walls of
the city is the cheapest way to promote one self. The effect is long-lasting. On a
six-by-four wall, painters charge Rs50 to Rs75. We select the area, and every
advertisement on the walls has a serial number allotted to it."
The Aamil admits that while the walls are painted over by professionals, they do
not seek permission from anyone to hire them. "We paint over any wall we want,
but often we are traced down by the police."
In such a case, the advertisements have to be erased if they do not want to pay the
police. "They lock us up and make a case against us, but we don't care about the
beauty of the city. We are just interested in doing business."
LOTIA 49
Meanwhile, Kamran Idrees, who belongs to the marketing department of Nelson
Paints, a local paint company stresses that his company does ask for permission
before painting over any walls of the city. "Wall chalking is a marketing
technique," he says. "Even though it is not smart marketing, it is a trend people
having been following for several years. It is the cheapest way to promote oneself
and create awareness among the people." Idrees goes on to add that it is the
painters who decide how much should be charged for painting over a wall.
"When we want to paint, we ask permission from the City District Government
Karachi. If it is at a residential place, we ask the residents. It works two ways.
Some people demand money, others don't ask for anything."
Idrees argues that despite such paintings being considered an eyesore, there is no
harm in any of it. "At least it's better than the 'Bengal ka kaala jadoo'
advertisements," he says. "We put up advertisements on the wall. Along with
promoting ourselves, we convey a public service message to the citizens, which is
a beauty in its own."
LOTIA 50
Interface Education Pakistan - http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/July-09/IslamiaCollege-Lahore-clashes.asp
Interface is Pakistan's leading teachers' providing agency, serving different type of
institutions throughout Pakistan.
Islamia College clashes over wall-chalking, July 29 , 2009
Lahore, July 29: Islampura police raided the hostels of Government Islamia College Civil
Lines, arrested more than 40 students and a professor and severely thrashed them on
Tuesday after the Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) — the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami
— wrote party slogans on walls.
After keeping the students at the police station for more than four hours, the police
nominated four students in an FIR, registered under Sections 148, 149, 186, 353, and 427
of the Pakistan Penal Code and released all others. On recognising Professor Rasheed,
Crescent Hostel warden of Islamia College, the police released him. Police severely beat
the professor up and tore his clothes before releasing him, students said.
Islampura Station House Officer (SHO) Maqsood Ali Gujjar said those booked include
Civil Lines College IJT Nazim Abdul Saboor, Hostels Nazim Asad, Rizwan and Saqlain.
He said the police released all other students, adding that they were arrested to thwart a
protest, which troubled commuters and could turn violent. According to details, the IJT
activists had written slogans in favour of their organisation on the college wall and the
wall erected between the road in front of the office of the Chief Traffic Officer two days
ago. On Tuesday, officials of the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) reached the
hostels to remove the wall chalking.
LOTIA 51
ANALYSIS
Every wall of Karachi speaks a language of its own, a visual language. Every person does
not understand what is written on the walls, but it is actually meant to be heard. It is a
form of expression which is used for several purposes and plays a role in its own way.
The people who want to speak but don’t have a voice, for those graffiti is a break from
their silence. Graffiti is a way to sell; everyone is selling everything on the wall. It’s
amazing to see how walls are filled with graffiti and has no white spaces left.
Not just Urdu or English, graffiti is done in several other languages such as Sindhi and
Pashto depending on the population in that particular area so that the message is delivered
and they understand it. Even though Karachi is in the midst of a traumatic situation, so
much blood and pain but still it hasn’t stopped moving. The person living here has so
much energy that it’s unbelievable. The wall of Karachi has been described as a free
canvas for a common man.
Each person has a different view. It’s how the viewer perceives. Some people are
extremely against graffiti as its vandalism and illegal. Although I certainly agree to that,
but on the other hand for some people it’s like a newspaper. I particularly feel that it’s
much better than the newspaper, as these days in Karachi, all you read about is how many
people are dead. At least through these walls the views of the citizens can be expressed
and viewed, in regards to their city, their people and everyone who does not have access
to a newspaper can still recieve messages.
LOTIA 52
Rizwanullah Khan (artist) said a very positive thing about the graffiti in Karachi; he said
that it’s rooted in our culture with the love of words and calligraphy. The painters who
normally do graffiti have no such art background, they are a born artist and the way they
do graffiti is incredible. I was passing by the Korangi Bridge once and I saw a man
painting on the wall for some advertisement. He made an outline first with black paint in
a couple of seconds and then filled the outline with paint. I was hardly there for 3 minutes
and he was almost done. I personally love calligraphy but sadly I am really bad at it.
Some people like me who can’t read Urdu properly, for them walking down the streets
and reading whatever is on the walls is surely good practice.
A lot of graffiti on the walls of Karachi is scratched and really messy but on the other
hand some are left alone, for instance on the Korangi Bridge, I haven’t seen any graffiti
scratched or rubbed; it’s so organized and clean.
Graffiti doesn’t just serve the purpose of communicating in different ways but it offers
dreams to different people. There is a feeling of aspiration and frustration which has been
combined in a visual space. A person can use the walls to get their feelings out; their
frustrations, their thoughts, and can write whatever they want to. Through this they have
a feeling that they own the walls. Graffiti has been on the walls since the partition and
whatever action takes place by the government in order to remove it, nothing works.
People write it, they remove it and people write it again.
LOTIA 53
Many people in Karachi travel by public transport. While going through their journey
they see so many advertisements on the walls of villas, apartments, magical prescriptions,
natural healers, astrologers, people selling hearing aids, car accessories, tuition centers
etc. Not everyone in Karachi is happy with their lives; each person is different, has
different hopes and wishes. These advertisements serve a solution to their problems.
Graffiti is the cheapest medium of advertisement as the only cost it has is paints and
brushes.
Nelson Paints, one of the famous paint suppliers use indirect advertising. The wall
opposite of Park Towers has been sponsored by Nelson Paints and so is the roundabout
near Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar with Philips advertisement on it. Kamran Idrees, who
belongs to the marketing department of nelson paints, said “wall chalking is a marketing
technique. Even though it is not smart marketing, it is a trend people have been following
for several years. It is the cheapest way to promote oneself and create awareness among
the people." They also seek permission from the city district government in Karachi
before painting on the walls. Along with just promoting, Nelson Paints even convey a
public service message to the citizens.
The wall opposite Park Towers has been painted by the students from Indus Valley
School of Arts and Architecture. They decorated a bus stand, wall and pedestrian walk
with vibrant colors and traditional images showing our culture and positive aspects of our
society. Painting along the walls has not only added to the beauty of this huge
LOTIA 54
metropolitan city but has also been a channel for the youth in Karachi to display their
talent. Such initiatives need to be taken by more people to further endorse the beauty of
Karachi.
Reliance Paints are another supplier of paints who sponsor walls. The whole Korangi
Bridge and the Balouch Colony Bridge have been sponsored by Reliance Paint. As soon
as you enter that bridge, there is a sign of Reliance Paints.
Who in Karachi has not seen the graffiti on the walls saying “Perfume Chowk”. This
particular graffiti I should say has been the most successful and famous so far in
commercial graffiti. People always used to wonder where this Chowk is located. A
person named Mursaleen Khan Sherwani owns a small cart in Gulistan-E-Johar where he
sells Ittar, owns this Perfume Chowk. The Chowk where he is located had no name 10
years ago and just after he started spraying all over Karachi it made people visit this place
LOTIA 55
and gave it a unique identity. Even though the government fined Mursaleen 2.8 million
rupees for destroying the city’s face, this was soon cancelled after the success. It’s funny
to see that the people living near that area use Perfume Chowk for their address
identification on their National Identification Cards. Mursaleen Khan Sherwani said “"By
writing on the walls, I created curiosity among the people about the place. It is a way of
silently and peacefully protesting against the system of paying bhatta and bringing it to
the attention of officials."
Apart from Perfume Chowk, I am sure no one has missed the wonders of ‘Aamil Babas’.
A person known as Aamil Junaid Bengali has made a mark on most of the walls of the
city. Not everyone has gone to him, but everyone knows him by his name through the
walls. In an interview Junaid baba denied that he is behind the graffiti and said "My
customers and well-wishers do this out of reverence. I have no idea how much any of it
cost, or whether or not they (the people who advertise in his name) acquire permission."
One of the painters’ said, “We paint over any wall we want, but often we are tracked
down by the police." Everyone is concerned about promoting their business so they don’t
seek permission before they advertise themselves.
I LOVE KHI is one of the most famous graffiti. Such graffiti shows love for our city by
the citizens. Even after the ongoing terror in our city, people have hopes that Karachi will
be like it used to be. First it just used to be on the walls, but now t-shirts and different
LOTIA 56
accessories are being printed with it. Like I Love Khi, there was another graffiti which
said I OWN KHI, which again showed that the citizens feel more responsible for their
own nation.
In 2003, Asim had painted ‘Five ways to kill a man’, a mural, as a response to the war in
Iraq across from the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar which I really want to see but it’s not
there anymore. I read in one of his interviews that he said, the ‘Five ways¦’ mural had
generated all kinds of responses from people, ranging from curiousity to hostility, with
parts of the mural being scraped away and eventually painted over, presumably as human
figures being painted or drawn are simply offensive to the Pakistani eye. Asim Butt (an
artist) did stop signs after Benazir’s assassination, everyone knew what a stop sign is but
Asim mentioned that the rickshaw wala who took him around did not understand that
sign. The stop sign was used to stop violence. Majority of the people here are illiterate
and visually lazy according to Asim and I agree with it. Asim even made an eject sign
and he said, “It was a nudge to eject the military from the presidency. The sign could also
be a red house (parliament dominated by the left) or simply a curious shape that
reappeared in different parts of the city around the time of the emergency.” While making
his statements on the wall, he even got threatened to get arrested but he negotiated his
LOTIA 57
way and was safe. These eject signs can be found on random walls of the KPT Underpass
and Sea View. He created large arrows out of repeated number 420s outside the Supreme
Court, Karachi Bench, as his way of saying that judges sworn under the PCO were
“frauds.” People like Asim, such a great artist, even feels that through graffiti you can
help people change their thinking, you can actually bring a change in them. Asim did try
and we as the youth of tomorrow are so ignorant of the fact that we do have a voice and
you can find your own way to bring a change in the country or at least make an effort.
Asim used graffiti to make people think, it is surely illegal but at least he tried. Like
every artist loves colors, so does Asim Butt, and he believed that a bit of color here and
there adds to the visual experience.
MQM gives a lot of importance to graffiti and makes sure that each slogan and message
should come across to each citizen. That is the reason they often translate their slogans in
several different languages and hire a number of people to do just that and they are
normally party volunteers and workers. When political party workers come across their
party’s slogans scrawled across walls, they feel proud at the power and outreach of the
party.
Graffiti is used for political war when someone messes with the party leader as they want
the whole city to know what is happening. There was a graffiti campaign by an MQM
activist against the chief of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf, Imran Khan. When he was arrested
for protesting against Musharaf’s Government in 2007. Geo Television was making
statements against President Zardari, the television channel was shut and there was a
LOTIA 58
graffiti campaign against Geo in Karachi, the journalist said that he was sure the
government was behind this campaign. The slogan ‘the leader of the youth is Asfandyar,
Asfandyar’ was there when Asfandyar had not yet become the ANP president, but still it
portrayed as if he was the president. Even before the elections took place people knew
who he was. Some people take advantage of these walls just for the teaser, teaser of
themselves, selling themselves, making people know their name and who they are.
Altaf Hussain does not live in Karachi, still there is this entire wall dedicated to him
under the bridge of Shahrah-e-Faisal. The Federal B area is covered with Altaf Hussain.
It’s amazing to know the number of fans Altaf Hussain has, who do not want his identity
to disappear in any case. People are so enthusiastic about it. The famous politicians of
today have been made popular through wall chalking and can be called 'wall chalking
leaders'.
I saw one slogan on the walls of Khadda market saying “Go America Go Jamat-eIslami”. I couldn’t stop looking at it and trying to make sense. I asked my brother to stop
the car and he was surprised too as it was written in the same writing. Munawar Ali Syed
quoted that I saw the slogan ‘down with America’ spray painted across a wall and right
under it was a tuition center ad asking who will be the future leaders of our nation. He
even said, together both chalking, presented the state of a nation that is aware of its
problems but not the solution. Every Pakistani citizen wants a happy and successful life,
but I suppose we are so dependent on America that we are somehow losing our identity
and making fun of ourselves.
LOTIA 59
Some of the political graffiti is really funny such as “Ek zardari sab pe bhari”, we our
making fun of our own president. It doesn’t happen in our country only, but even in the
US, as I mentioned in my literature review about Obama’s graffiti. Not everyone is happy
with their President. In our nation there is surely freedom of expression, as you see one
person writes something on the wall and the other person will write something against it
very shortly. There is surely a sense of tolerance, especially between the political parties.
Walls are one form of making fun of people as no one is stopping you to do it but it is
now being replaced by SMS. I am sure everyone receives these crazy SMS’s about
Zardari and now Osama after his so called death. I am waiting for someone to write
something about Osama on the walls or maybe there is some wall chalking done in
Abbottabad. I would love to see it.
Graffiti can cause disturbance in the city as well, no matter how tolerant the people of our
nation are, there are some extremists who exists here as well. A church located near
Khuda ki basti, Taiser town had a slogan painted on the walls ‘Taliban Zindabad’, ‘Islam
Zindabad’, ‘Christians Islam qabol karo’, the police declined the presence of the Taliban
in that area and thought that it’s a conspiracy that wanted to disturb the peace of the city.
Because of these two houses, over half a dozen shops, pushcarts and roadside stalls were
set ablaze by unidentified men and the protesters chanted slogans such as ‘Taliban
murdabad’, ‘ANP murdabad’ and ‘Pashtuns murdabad’. It is said that graffiti is a form of
self-expression but sometimes the people here just cross their limits and because of this
extreme attitude innocent people suffer. Religious extremism and such type of graffiti on
LOTIA 60
the walls make the foreigners believe that we are one terrorist nation and there is a
negative impact on the beauty of our city.
Graffiti does have a positive aspect to it but sometimes people take advantage of this
freedom to write on the wall wherever and whatever. When the former Punjab Governor
Salmaan Taseer died, there were slogans in favor of Mumtaz Qadri who was the assassin
of Salmaan. The slogans were asking others to ‘take up his cause’ in defence of the
blasphemy law. The district coordination offices were getting rid of all the slogans who
were promoting the assassin.
Walls of Karachi are even being used to paint Quranic verses on it. This can have
positive as well as negative connotation. Positive in the sense that every day a person can
read the verses and benefit from it but negative is “Quran on the walls!” I personally
don’t agree to have Quran on the walls but at least people respect it as no one has
scribbled on it.
LOTIA 61
The Chairman CDA, strict measures have been taken against the owners of different
companies and institutions involved in wall chalking for publicity. Now the people do not
fear the police but anti-social political activists who pretend to be government agencies
and get violent with rival parties. People normally come out for chalking after midnight
so it’s hard to catch them. Nothing works for the people living here, if you stop them,
they don’t stop.
Apart from all the serious graffiti, there are few which have some humor, for instance, “3
launda love 1 laundi”. After a hectic day at least these kinds of graffiti bring you a smile.
Some people even express their love on the walls, like “H + J” in a heart shape and some
write their own names all over that area that they live in just to be famous. Gang graffiti
is common in residential areas as the person wants to make his mark one his territory, for
instance Sakib and Faisal akho etc.
LOTIA 62
CONCLUSION
After my research I came to the conclusion that graffiti doesn’t just occur here in our
society but all over the world and carries similarities between them. Graffiti in general is
a form of expression and has various roles depending on the purpose and the situation. It
has its own advantages and disadvantages. For me it surely has more advantages than
disadvantages as it serves freedom of speech and I am in favor of it, ignoring the fact that
it’s vandalism.
Graffiti in Karachi is like a free space/canvas where one can speak for oneself or write
whatever they want to. It just doesn’t happen in one language-Urdu, but several other
languages such as, English and Sindhi because of which each one uses the walls in their
own native language.
There are 5 common roles which I came across through my research both internationally
and in Karachi, which was Political, commercialization, existential, self-expression and
graffiti art. These roles carry different purposes on their own in our city.
Commercial graffiti sells not just the product or service but even shows dreams to certain
people and gives them hope. Some companies even sponsor the walls to use it for graffiti,
either to make a social comment or just for students to paint.
In self-expression graffiti, people can express their feelings and thoughts or share a social
message. Through their expression there is a feeling of belonging that this is our city, our
walls. People even make fun of our president or make a non-existing politician exist in
our city just by writing his name everywhere (e.g Altaf Hussain) by using the walls as
they cannot just do it otherwise.
LOTIA 63
Through graffiti we can change other people’s view. We can write whatever we want to
and no one would stop you. It’s one way to bring a change in our country by taking
advantage of this freedom of speech.
As illiterates, the majority of our nation is the main target market for the politicians; for
them graffiti serves the purpose to be able to pass their messages across, wherever
possible just by using the walls. There are places where there is no television or radio but
walls are everywhere.
Graffiti helps bring our city alive, by adding something on the wall, a bit of color or
texture it doesn’t leave the walls boring. Some artists do get inspired by it and use graffiti
in their work (e.g Munawar Ali Syed and Arif Mehmood).
Some teenagers just like people to know their names or be famous in some way or
another by writing their names on the walls and some write their names to mark their own
territory. Whereas, some people just write funny stuff on the walls, which probably
makes them happy and if some random person sees it, it surely brings a smile to their face
as well.
Sometimes through graffiti and freedom people get carried away and cross their limits by
offending someone’s religion or abusing someone. Despite all the advantages of graffiti,
we need to be careful of the type of message we are sending through Graffiti, as it can
create violence and hatred so our duty as moral citizens is to be careful with the freedom
we have. Each freedom always has its own set of limitations.
LOTIA 64
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Susan A. Phillips , “Graffiti Definition: The Dictionary of Art” , London:
Macmillan Publishers - Grove's Dictionaries Inc. © copyright 1996,
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graf.def.html

Alex Alonso, Urban Graffiti on the City Landscape, Department of Geography,
University of Southern California, February 14, 1998,
http://www.streetgangs.com/academic/alonsograffiti.pdf

Jane M. Gads, “ Looking at the Writing on the Wall: A Critical Review and
Taxonomy of Graffiti Texts” 1995 ,
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/critical.review.html

Silvia Pietrosanti. “ Behind the tag: A journey with the graffiti writers of
European wall”, Amsterdam, 7t h of June2010

Mary Beth Stein . “The Politics of Humor: The Berlin Wall in Jokes and Graffiti”
. Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 85-108

“ Justice, Freedom and Peace”, http://www.intifada.com/palestine.html

Julie Peteet. “The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada. Source:
Cultural Anthropology”, Vol. 11, No. 2 (May, 1996), pp. 139-159
LOTIA 65

Franny Wentzel, “The Politics of Resistance in Tehran's Graffiti”, 2011 ,
http://citynoise.org/article/11027

Mia Gröndahl, “Gaza Graffiti: Message of Love and Politics”, January 31st 2011,
The Star Magazine , www.star.com

Brandon Barkar , “This Obama Graffiti Illustrtes Divide?”, May 14th 2008
www.graffnews.com/politics

Timothy Werwath , “The Culture and Politics of Graffiti Art”, Mar. 19, 2006
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.html

M. Bozinovich, “ Another set of Nazi graffiti in Croatian town”, July 12, 2010,
http://serbianna.com/blogs/bozinovich/archives/704

“Graffiti, billboards, and reclaiming public space appropriated by illegal
advertising” – January 24th, 2010, www.banbillboardblight.org

Bradley J. Bartolomeo, B.S. (Psychology), “Cement or Canvas: Aerosol Art &
The Changing Face of Graffiti in the 21st Century” Union College, Schenectady
NY, USA – 2001, www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti-is-part-of-us.html.

Ken Fisher, “Sony asked to clean up NYC graffiti ads”, December 2005,
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/01/5988.ars
LOTIA 66

To Tall Jahmal, “Graffiti is the poor man’s advertising campaign ”- 2008, KCET,
www.kcet.org/shows/social_connected

George C. Stowers , Graffiti Art: An Essay Concerning The Recognition of Some
Forms of Graffiti As Art , Fall 1997, http://www.graffiti.org/faq/stowers.html

Alex Alonso, Urban Graffiti on the City Landscape, Department of Geography,
University of Southern California, February 14, 1998.
http://www.streetgangs.com/academic/alonsograffiti.pdf

Gabriele Lübbers , “The Graffiti of Grief: Violence, Death and Remembrance in
Pittsburgh Gang Neighbourhoods”, Source: Paideuma, Bd. 53 (2007), pp. 145160, Published by: Frobenius Institute.

Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal , “That’s the joint: the hip hop studies
reader”, Published by Routledge, 2004, pp. 21-25

Katrina Swift, “Urban scrawl – Graffiti artists face the question: Why do they do
it?” , April 14th 2008, Via www.canada .com - www.graffnews.com/tag/politics/

Raleigh, N.C, “NAACP calls for 'racist graffiti' students to be expelled”,
November 12, 2008 , http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3945531/
LOTIA 67

Liane Membis , “Oil Company Sued for Racist Graffiti, Slurs, and Nooses”,
February 4 , 2011, http://clutchmagonline.com/newsgossipinfo/oil-companysued-for-racist-graffiti-slurs-and-nooses/

Koon-Hwee Kan, “Adolescents and Graffiti”, Source: Art Education, Vol. 54,
No. 1, Focus on Secondary (Jan., 2001), pp. 18-23, Published by: National Art
Education Association

Marcos Osorio, “Writings on the Wall: Piecing together graffiti art and culture” ,
February 20, 2011,
http://lagente.org/2011/02/20/writings-on-the-wall-piecing-together-graffiti-art-and-culture/

Kristy Trinier, “Is Graffiti Simply Free Art, Or A Crime?”, Edmonton Arts
Council, September 2007,
http://publicart.edmontonarts.ca/static_medias/publicart/is_graffiti_simply_free_art
LOTIA 68
APPENDICES
Interviews
Munawar Ali Syed :
As a karachitte, I have never been fascinated by the city’s buildings or its flyover, but
whenever one crosses an area bustling with public transport, the graffiti-stamped walls
emerge as characteristic of the city’s identity. Often, I see the people on the bus trying to
read the wall-chalking which have many stories behind them. They are searching for
solutions to their problems on these walls, if a passenger is suffering from the physical
illness, he might be interested in a natural healer’s ad, the ads on the walls promise
magical prescriptions for problems in love and even illnesses that have no apparent cure,
for women who want to become beautiful there are ads for miracle creams and also ads
for miraculous tonics that will buff up a man’s physique to make him stronger.
On close scrutiny of the walls chalkings,one finds interesting stories emerging from the
layers of overlapping messages which is an interesting reaction to the news .At one spot I
saw the slogan ‘down with America’ spray painted across a wall and right under it was
tuition center ad asking who will be the future leaders of our nation. Together both
chalking presented the state of a nation that is aware of its problem but not the solution.
The wall chalking more or less summarized our current political scenario.
Taking from this, I created art pieces by merging two or more chalked messages and then
drew over them. Imitating the original painter’s brushstrokes.
LOTIA 69
Naiza Khan
She is an artist herself, went through the Adam road near cant station where there were a
lot of public and placed her art piece near the Aslam barber and then across the road near
the dhobi ghat. Would work early in the morning and took 4 hours and talked to people
afterwards of what they think abt it and barber really liked her work and said he’ll take
care of it. He said people starting coming to his shop to see what it is.A lot of graffiti in
that area are political visual icons made on the walls, kite and cycle all of these visual
images not just text also overlying the work. She was sensing how people react to it, a lot
of them were clean and left alone and a lot were scratched and censored.
It was strange one man was looking at me and then asked if I had a connection with
palmistry, he was a teacher..they get wiped up within time…rise of political
statements…the walls are gone too..so much of this area is under the threat of demolition.
The city is overlay with graffiti, with so many dreams of villas, apartment blocks,
offering dreams to different people, feeling of aspiration, frustration come together in a
visual space.
Certain kind of political graffiti becomes so kind of over-riding within the space and
certain kind of patriotic symbols used as propaganda for certain ideology.
Nature of graffiti is to get your feelings out or frustration out and your thoughts out. The
sense of graffiti is for the community, by the community. There are a lot of city where
graffiti artists are hired, promoted so the people feel that it’s their mohallah,they own the
walls ,they can use the wall as they wish.
LOTIA 70
Durriya Kazi
Consumerism coming up has actually changed what you see on the walls. Consumerism
was something we never really came across, so I can’t even say what we saw, advertising
we saw was a really low cost product. Persian script is used nastaliq.
I like the hidden things which are not really known to most people like ‘ainda na dekho’
this were the kind of messages which were like threats.
The concept of protest has grown, ‘chalo chalo nishtar park chalo’ is very recent I guess
occasionally you see witty phrases which is very nice, that kind of writing has been
taking over by sms.
The city has grown, it has become an uncontrollable in many ways, if they say it’s
ruining the city then they are not doing anything about it.
Rizwanullah Khan
On some level its actually preferable to the mass media, a simple wall painting is much
less intrusive, it maintains the existing space rather than alter the existing space
completely, which is what billboards are all about, it’s for the underdog, it’s for the small
thing. I see positive aspects to the commercial graffiti. Its rooted in our culture with the
love of words and calligraphy.
Nastaliq was developed in Iran in 13th century by Mir Ali Tabrezi and the legend goes
that he saw letters transformed into stocks so he merged 2 scripts, nas and taliq script of
choice of Persian speaking Muslim words.
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Lahori nastaliq more prettiest, Ustaad Nafeezul Hussaini And Ustaad Parveen Rakm
(used by the sign painters), Ustaad Yousuf Dhelvi (dhelvi style more vertical) , not that
slant or thin. Currency notes use this.
The creative aspect of it also ties in it are the same thing as public art.People takes that as
a medium of protest even in the past.
Nadeem Paracha
I don’t know if this kind of advertisements work , palmistry who used to use graffiti now
uses low cost Urdu channels to pass their message because they get it cheap.
Sohail Zuberi
We don’t leave white spaces not even when we built a home, it’s wall to wall. In the
posters hierarchy is used from big text to small and small and small.
Not just the commercial stuff for sale on the wall but even the political parties is selling
themselves on that context everyone is selling everything on the wall.
In political graffiti there is a lot of retric happening and idealism also and green pastures
of promises of houses, livelihood, jobs. People know that this is never going to fulfilled
but there is a sense of enthusiasm in people.
There is wall chalking done around the city specific to the people living in that area and
targeted to the people there in their language.
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It is marketing done on the big scale especially on the out skirts there are some place
where sindhi, pushto is used on the walls. There are some political graffiti like ‘jiye
Sindh’ written in sindhi. Sindhi script is beautiful in the sense that it’s resting on the base
line; you won’t see sindhi written in the center of the city where there are more diverse
audiences to cater to.
Stenciling was there in 2002 but was not visible in the last elections at all because we had
all gone for billboards, pen flex and all that. Stencils are basically are interpretations of
photographs given to the stencil artists, he has to come up with a solution to the image. I
think The Altaf Hussain one is supposed to be the most prominent one and I would pick
that as my favorite because maybe we haven’t really seen an image of a person on the
wall like that . For the people of Karachi that stencil became quite an icon on the wall.
If the kite is there which is red, white and green or ppp’s arrow is there, these colors are
usually used at the time of elections on the walls. Other than that the actual text is
normally in black.
Muslims can pray wherever they want; similarly it’s the graffiti using the public space in
putting up whatever they want to. The party who is running from that area will use the
public space without any hesitation. Our society is generally open to ideas and excepting
other people’s idea also that is the reason why one parties puts up something and the
other rival party does something on the top and its accepted this shows how tolerant the
society is generally. It’s a policy of people to live and let live.
In 2002 elections, MMA newly formed group of different political parties and at the same
time they came up with a typeface which was more organic and informal which I think
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was really appealing to the masses because they were looking at urdu text in a fresher,
circular dots rather than the dynamic squares we put usually in the nastaliq type. This
typeface became the identity of the MMA.
When I started taking pictures. I saw public outcry of graffiti after November 3rd, graffiti
which appeared in the city after the imposition of emergency of November 3rd showed the
aggression and anger of people which was quite spontaneous ,showed the unhappiness of
the situation .
Amen Gulgee
Not just graffiti, text is even used in cars and stuff. I always read it, I love khi can’t be
read by everyone so write it in such a way that everyone can read it. It’s on selfexpression, you are not saying it out load but you are writing it on the wall in a secretive
way and leaving it for the other people to see it. The city has so much energy, it has so
much blood and pain and still it moves on and on
Arif Mehmood
In Clifton, zamzama you’ll see the graffiti more like devil, why it’s there we can’t
pinpoint it. You can see lots of abuses as well written in context to some people it’s very
English. You can’t say that it’s a common man’s opinion, it’s an elite man too, or the
elite off spring.
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Visuals on the walls makes interesting interpretation of what the common man has to say,
it’s a free canvas for a common man, if u remove it they’ll right it again and it’s how u
look at it, it’s how the viewer sees it. Street forces you to see what you cannot, at times
you’re in the car and the car moves so fast that u cannot actually see.
I have seen the city since 60 and some have seen from 40’s , it’s a totally different city
now, so much happening and its overcrowded.
Maulana Ghafoor
Wherever one sees the slogan: ‘so help me, God’ ‘ya allah madad’, it’s clear that it’s our
party’s work.
When political party worker comes across his party’s slogan scrawled across a wall, he
feels proud at the power and outreach of his party.
Raza Haroon
To convey a message succinctly is an art in and of itself. When people read the messages
on the wall, they carry them to their homes and offices and discuss them.MQM gives a
lot of importance to translating its slogans in various languages and even has a separate
cell to do just that.
Our effort to spread our message through wall-chalking is executed by our own party
volunteers and workers. We don’t hire alien professionals.
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Wall chalking is meant for readers of all intellects. Messages cannot be excused as meant
for a certain intelligent readership, if you tag someone as a dead man across the city walls
suggesting that they deserve punishment or death then you are instigating the public to
commit a crime against that person, so for instance, if you label a particular sect as nonbelievers, you are promoting violence, by instigating someone to commit a violent crime
against that particular community or sect.
People read whatever is on the walls and for those who don’t know you personally; it’s
easy for them to assess your character from the wall-chalking.
Amin Khattak
Slogans are a way of imparting the party’s spirit to its supporters. For instance, our latest
slogan is ‘the leader of the youth is asfandyar,asfandyar’, now this slogan was created
when asfandyar had not yet become the ANP president, nevertheless, it presaged
asfandyar’s role as a future leader for the youth.
Our wall chalking are in every language. For instance, our supporters in Jacobabad,
mirpurkhas, and sanghar do wall chalkings in sindhi,pushto,urdu and English. The
chalking in English relay the party’s sentiments to the foreign press.
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Asim But
After the imposition of emergency I started with stenciling and made a stencil with the
sign on eject , after that I did number 420 and repeated to make a large arrow pointing to
the Karachi supreme court, no one really appreciated it, people thought it’s more of a
tamasha . I did stop signs right after Benazir’s assassination to stretch my outrage and not
wanting the violence. Stop sign is a traffic sign, it’s a clear message. The rickshaw wala
who took me around and is on the road did not understand that sign, he asked what are
you doing, what does it say?. We are dealing with people where people are intellectually
lazy, people are visually lazy, so you need to speak in kind of this course instead of being
frustrated by it and exploit it of what it has to give. Most recently I sprayed out PO from
the word POLICE from there van and containers and it said LICE, that is in an English
language. There is a big police station on the club road and there is a blue and silver
container which is the colors of the police even if it’s not communicable it still shows that
something has been altered, authority has been defied.