Graffiti, Street Art and Agency

The purpose of this article is to develop an anthropological theory for the study of graffiti and street art. Although the field of graffiti and street art research (GSAR) has gained exponential multidisciplinary academic recognition, few anthropologists have examined these practices from an explicitly anthropological perspective. Addressing this gap, the article proposes an anthropological approach for observing graffiti and street art not as mere passive objects of research, but as active subjects — thereby shifting the focus from what graffiti and street art are to what they do. It further argues that considering graffiti and street art as subjects implies taking into account not only what they do — their agency — but also what they say — their discourses — and what they want — their desires. Building on this theoretical argument, it proposes some methodological insights based on ethnographic fieldwork in Comuna 13 of Medellín, Colombia. In doing so, it aims to offer a theoretical framework and methodological tools to GSAR scholarship for exploring graffiti and street art through an anthropological lens.