Graffiti and street art as medium: exploring retro-aesthetic nostalgia in Macau City

This article investigates how graffiti and street art in Macau foster ‘retro-aesthetic nostalgia’ by analysing the intricate interplay among urban aesthetics, non-representational encounters, and the city’s distinctive socio-cultural milieu. The conceptual frameworks of nostalgia and retro aesthetics are particularly pertinent for understanding their role in reflecting and shaping the collective memory and emotional geographies of urban environments, especially when viewed through the analytical lens of non-representational theory and the embodied methodology of walking. Retro-aesthetics serve in this context as a vital lens within socio-cultural geography for tracing how aesthetic practices mediate temporal belonging and urban identity formation. Utilizing non-representational walking across Macau’s urban fabric, the article explores how graffiti and street art, specifically in three locations on the Macau Peninsula, namely the Inner Harbor, Rua da Estrela, and Travessa dos Anjos, cultivate historical resonance and function as significant mediums, transforming the urban milieu into evocative canvases imbued with a nostalgic ethos.