Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?

British Council

There is graffiti in almost every city in the world. Read this article to learn more about Britain’s most famous graffiti artist.

Where do you expect to see graf-fiti？ Probably not in a museum. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery， in the south-west of England， was the kind of place you went to see classical statues and stuffed animals in cases until the arrival of the ‘Banksy versus the Bristol Museum’ exhibition in 2009. The exhib-ition hosted more than 100 works by Banksy， one of the world’s most famous graffiti artists.

Banksy is a man of mystery. He hardly ever gives interviews and likes to be anonymous. Nobody knows much about his life or his background.

Banksy’s controversial ‘street art’ includes spray paintings on live sheep and cows and graffiti on the huge wall erected to divide Israel and Palestine. After the Bristol exhibition， Banksy made a film called Exit Through the Gift Shop. The film tells the story of a French street artist in America. It received many positive reviews.

Bristol isn’t the only place in Britain to welcome graffiti. The DPM Park in Dundee， Scotland has the longest legal graffiti wall （almost 110m long） in the UK. Anyone can paint on the council-owned wall any time they like. Mike Crilley， the graffiti wall project organiser， promotes the positive side of graffiti and runs workshops for local children.

Is everyone doing graffiti？ Can we do graffiti where we want these days？ Not exactly. It’s illegal to paint on somebody else’s property so make sure you find a legal graffiti wall like the one in Dundee if you want to have a go.

Activity 1 – Vocabulary

Match the vocabulary with the correct definition and write a–f next to the numbers 1–6.

1____ legal

2____ graffiti

3____ vandalism

4____ controversial

5____ anonymous

6____ hardly ever

a. painting or writing on a wall in a public place

b. the act of breaking or damaging something

c. rarely; not often

d. nameless; unknown

e. （about a topic） causing a lot of discussion， debate and argument

f. something that you are allowed to do， according to the laws of a country

Activity 2 – True or false

Are the sentences true or false？

1. The ‘Banksy versus the Bristol Museum’ exhibition was at a museum in Bristol.

2. Banksy likes to give interviews.

3. Banksy has painted graffiti on animals.

4. Exit Through the Gift Shop was the name of a popular piece of graffiti.

5. Britain’s longest legal graffiti wall is in Scotland.

Write about it！

Is there a lot of graffiti in your town or city？ Is it art or vandalism？ Write your ideas below.

Answers

Activity 1

1. f; 2. a; 3. b; 4. e; 5. d; 6. c

Activity 2

1. True; 2. False; 3. True; 4. False; 5. True