02.26.09
Graffiti in the Middle Kingdom
While certainly popular among certain circles of Chinese youth, hip hop culture hasn’t quite achieved the cultural relevance in the Middle Kingdom as it has in say…the middle-class Midwestern 99% white suburb where I grew up. So it came as a pleasant surprise to see this collection of Chinese graffiti sprawled across the walls of an underpass on the campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University.
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Interestingly enough, one country where hip hop culture has caught on among the masses, and is the preeminent form in Western cultural diffusion, is Mongolia. Teens listening to rap music, graffiti (seen below), hip hop fashions (also below), and corn rows (unfortunately not pictured) are an everyday sight in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, and considerably more prevalent than in Mongolia’s powerful southern neighbor.
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Magnus
said,
February 26, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Cool stuff man. I loved looking at the graffiti in Shanghai. So cool and so different. how do you say Graffiti in Chinese?
Peter Jeziorek
said,
February 26, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I actually went to a Tatar hip hop concert in Ulaan Baatar in 2006. Man, it was crazy. Little kids were jumping fences to get into the concert. People throwing water bottles everywhere — you were lucky not to get hit. And of course everyone knew the lyrics to all the songs. It was huge. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Mongolia.
Panthea Lee
said,
February 27, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Yes, China’s graffiti scene is still young, but it’s also catching on fast. Will be interesting to see where Chinese writers take this form.
I don’t think, however, hip hop and street art are inextricably linked, and the presence of one necessarily leads to the other. While the two certainly intersect at many points, especially in the west, the act of people expressing themselves in their environments goes back way further than hip hop. And I think the reason hip hop hasn’t achieved cultural relevance in the Middle Kingdom, as you say (and I agree), is because, well, hip hop (its roots, character, culture, lyrics, etc) aren’t really relevant to Chinese youth. Not to say there’s not a growing scene here…
But I agree — it’s exciting to discover bursts of expression on the streets! Hope you’re enjoying your SH visit.
lei
said,
February 27, 2009 at 9:59 pm
graffiti in chinese “涂鸦“ pronounced “tu ya”
i like that Wall-e one.
China Business Blog
said,
March 24, 2009 at 5:34 am
Graffiti is becoming more and more popular in the big cities of China, Shanghai being just one of them. I think this has to do with the Westernization or the influence of TV. But I don’t think it’s a wrong development, I find it rather interesting. I think it’s very interesting to see how young people express their artistic side. Some graffiti is just meaningless, because people got bored and just painted something on the walls, but other spraypaintings are unique and very cool to look at, kind of like art expressions. I personally like those very much.
ScReaM
said,
February 25, 2011 at 10:52 am
That’s not Mongolian Graffiti. Chinese are Can’t draw graffiti but Chinese are Chinese.
And you want watching true Mongolian Graffiti Web?
Just click my name… Thank you
http://www.MGL-graffiti.blogspot.com