Italian Graffiti 23rd marzo 2012

Italian Graffiti 23rd marzo 2012

I like to look at graffiti when I visit a place - it gives an indicator of what is going on in the hearts and minds of the locals. Well, it's no barometer for the artiste or the leading lights, maybe of the barriste or the barflys, I digress - the fact is that I like looking at Italian graffiti and trying to understand and interpret it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffitti

What does grafitti mean? Of course, it is an Italian word and comes from the verb graffiare - to scratch. There are some wonderful examples of ancient graffiti in Pompei - absolutely fascinating and much has been written about this - of course can we apply more resonance to the graffiti in ancient civilizations as we do to ours? A profound question - everyone can read and write and has access to materials to do graffiti now - but who would have graffitied in these times? Who knows - it is fascinating, and equally, I find the contemporay graffiti as equally as fascinating. Every so often, I stop to take a photo of something that interests of amuses me and I will put a few examples here, and discuss the themes that I see.

Of course, whenever I think of Italian Graffiti I start thinking of the film American Graffiti - I have not seen it for what seems like a hundred years, but I remember absolutely loving it as a kid. It is an american coming of age film, set in the early 1960s and filmed in the early 1970s. I don't know what it means, and it is my understanding that it doesn't really mean anything, really just about being individual and fighting and getting out of the controls of parenthood. Of course, WOlfman Jack was a legend, but I would not even know how to begin talking about him!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Graffiti

So the themes:

1) Genuine hilarity
"Il cesso piu bello di Sien" - the most beautiful Toilet/cesspit in Siena

2) Loaded religious overtones
"Celibato e il perversione piu dishumane" - being celibate is the most unhuman perversion

3) Regional fighting
"Romani a nanna" - Romans go to sleep. This was written towards the south of Siena and is reflective of the "rich" romans coming in to that area and buying houses around there, and the locals wanting them to bugger off.
"Terroni go home" - terroni is a word the northerners use to describe the southerners - it kind of means "earth-eaters" but very strange to see it mixed with english words - maybe it implies that they are typically less open to "modern" stuff like speaking english?

4) Football
"Siena merde" "Fiorentina merde" "Juve merde" "viola merde" - Siena is shit, Florence is shit, Juventus are shit, the purples (Fiorentina) are shit - typical football stuff

5) Amorous signs
"Ti amo" - I love you
"Principessa" - Princess

6) Graffiti painted on the roads
Of course, there is a strong cycling fraternity here, many roads races, and it is "traditional" to paint encouragement on the road, so you might see:
"Vai Name" "Dai Name" - go! that person
Strangely around here I keep seeing "Ti Pup" painted on the road with a love heart. I don't know what it means, but I think that means something like you are my little doll. But whenever it is painted, a few days later it will be crossed out - so I do not know what is going on there!! It sounds a little like a swear word but I forget which. Pompino is blow job, and I think pupa is slang for it around here - but I am not sure.

7) Symbols
Plenty of hearts for love signs, and lots of swastikas - I don't think they are using the hindu sign of peace but that it is the ultras coming through - the nasty rascists

8) Political
"Vai via Berlusconi" Get out Berlusconi. Whilst Berlusconi was still here, or still in state, there would be occasionally some graffiti on him. This one I saw whilst driving near Naples last summer, written on a bedsheet and flown out of a window - dangerous!!

9) Nasty stuff
Occasionally I have seen "Ultras" and rascist stuff - but not so much recently. Italy is the prime route for entry into Europe for Africa, it is a challenge to maintain the borders, especially when there is so much trouble in Africa, and you can understand the anger at times, but it really can boil over occasionally.

It's a lesson in an image.

Speaking of the talk of the people, this was in the local papers recently.
http://www.corrieredisiena.it/resources/ArchivioPrime/2012/03/20120318_CORR_SI_QUO_001.PDF
I do not want to talk about it more, as this is a public forum.

Over n out,
JJ