Tagging in Algeria: Graffiti as Aesthetic Claim and Protest

Abstract

This paper examines some of the connections between street art, discourse, knowledge, power, and public space in Algiers. Graffiti writings are approached here as a tool of protest used by voiceless graffiti writers to display and express their critical opinions towards political authorities and civil society alike. This research relies on graffiti material and qualitative interviews with graffiti writers and passers-by to analyse how graffiti functions in public space. Findings reveal that graffiti writers use street art as a powerful means of communication that enables them to exert agency in and improve public space, and as an act of protest against status quo and socio-political norms.