In September 2013, I spent a week traveling with my camera on a foray into Lisbon. A selection of my pictures is now included in the book “Muros Brancos. (Povo Mudo) Stencils de Lisboa Vol. 1, 2010-2015 “ which can be translated with “White Walls. (silent people). Stencils from Lisbon Vol. 1, 2010-2015”. Today I am travelling to attend the book presentation which will take place in Lisbon on the 3rd of March and I am looking forward to experience the vibe of this exciting city again and to get into an exchange with this lively city!
Here are some small insights into the book & elow you will find an interview with the initiator Alessandro, who prefers to be anonymous. He describes his fascination with stencils and the local peculiarities in the creation and acceptance of stencils as forms of street art in Lisbon.
can you tell us more about your personal background and your relation to lisbon?
I live and work in Geneva on the international affairs arena. Nothing fancy but I manage to travel a lot. In any case, my job is not what I am and I don’t want it to “interfere” or “contaminate” this story.
And about Lisbon…well…it’s a never ending love affair that started after my 1st visit in 2010. I had no personal or professional relationship with her before. I enjoy being there and after all these years it’s the only place I can call home.
what is your relation to street art and why did you particularly pick stencils as a medium? do you like a certain style of stencils? did stencils evolve over the years in lisbon?
Based on my previous answer, I have no relation with street art or even art. I’m not very fond of graffiti nor I’m not very much interested in stencils in other places, for instance. But for some reason (that I can’t explain very well) I was and I am profoundly attracted and attached to the stencils in Lisbon (my first idea was not a book, but a series of bulletproof glasses to be placed on top of the stencils to avoid them being cancelled from the walls. Eventually Isabel dissuaded me). I was, in the first place (as I mentioned in the preface of the book), surprised that people in Lisbon spend so much time, effort, money (some) to produce a message that can disappear in the blink of an eue, whereas most people just post on Facebook nowadays. And I guess that many of those messages touched me in a way or another.
I must say that the stencils I like the most were those sprayed during and after the crisis of 2008. They depicted and revealed the frustration not only with politicians, banks, international institutions, but also more inner thoughts of suffering people. Not long ago I read an article stating that Trump, for instance, can be good for art in the US, because the current political situation in the country will trigger an interesting and abundant reaction from the art world. I think it was the same with the stencils, and the last years the stencils have been funnier perhaps, but less intellectually valuable.
did street art get more acceptance over the last years by the locals and politics?
If you refer to graffiti and more mainstream forms of street art, then yes. It’s promoted in many places, including Lisbon, as a touristic attraction and cities “fight” for works by the most renowned artists. A more general audience or public are interested in them these days. But I can’t say the same about stencils. Specially the anonymous ones get no respect or recognition. Of course, there are a few exceptions and photos of some of them were included in some street art books about Lisbon… and I think that if Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Blek Le Rat spray something in the city the media will notice. But it’s not the same about the stencils pictured in the book.
in this digital age, why did you want to create a limited edition book? who is the target group.
Pauca Paucis – a few for the few. It’s limited edition because – one – I didn’t want to make a cheap book and – two – because I don’t think people in general will be interested in such a book. But for those genuinely interested I wanted to provide the best and despite I spent my savings on this project I’m really happy with the overall result. Plus, the stencil artists deserve it.
How large is the share of “international” artwork? is there an exchange of themes and techniques?
You mean the stencils in Lisbon? A small proportion I’d say, at least those included in the book. But the themes and techniques are vast; I have a database now from where you can extract interesting information about the stencils of Lisbon. At some point we thought some of this info could be in the book, but again…who’s interested in knowing how many stencils are painted in 3 colours, or how many stencils are composed of different pieces of X-ray sheet?
are you working on other projects for the moment?
I’m always taking photos of the stencils in Lisbon. Maybe there will be a Volume 2 some day. Who knows?.
In the near future I would like to publish some photo books by some not-yet-very-well- known artists.
Leave a Reply