Features / Arnolifini
Vandals and Visionaries – Preview
With Europe’s largest graffiti festival Upfest just round the corner preparing to welcome more than 35,000 visitors to the streets of Bedminster, there’s no better a time to delve into the deep history of Bristol’s street art scene.
BBC One West is screening a new documentary Vandals and Visionaries investigating the turbulent past of the city’s graffiti culture.
Upfest celebrates street art in Bristol
Prepare to be guided around the history of street art in Bristol by presenter Miquita Oliver – from its humble beginnings in a Barton Hill youth club, to its emergence as a multi-million pound global art movement.
is needed now More than ever
The documentary meets those involved at the beginning, who recall the thrill they got from spraying their names, or tags on buildings, buses and trains.
However with the advent of Operation Anderson in the late 1980s, a raid on more than 70 street artists left the street art environment starved, killing off the scene in its tracks.
Nevertheless a new generation of graffiti artists was right round the corner, with Banksy leading the movement, creating a revolution of the scene, taking it away from the streets and into museums, art galleries and mainstream media around the world.
The clamp down on street art continues today
The documentary hears how, while Banksy is praised on a global scale, police are still cracking down on street artists in Bristol, handing out increasingly tougher sentences to offenders.
Mayor Marvin Rees recently launched a Clean Streets campaign, cracking down heavily on graffiti, indicating that now is as perilous a time as ever for graffiti artists.
Perhaps it is time for an agreement to be made between the police and street artists to keep Bristol’s vibrant scene alive.
First screenings of the documentary at the Arnolfini on Thursday, July 27 6.30pm are already sold out. They will feature a Q&A with the producer Ben White, along with many of the artists featured in the documentary, all to be hosted by presenter Miquita Oliver.
Read more: Bristol City Council vs graffiti artists
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