Walking down the street or riding the tram, citizens of Zagreb have long since gotten used to observing traces of spray paint in various colors, scrawled scribbles, and overlaid expressions of love and hate on every visible wall, fence, trash can, or pole, and they have somewhat ‘tuned out’ such exceedingly ugly destruction of the city’s heritage, especially in the strict center.
However, the problem is real, and it seems that illegal graffiti artists in Zagreb never sleep, as they quickly deface even newly installed construction scaffolding and fences. However, the City has finally decided to put a decisive end to this, with a major facade restoration operation set to begin next year.
To prevent this vandalism, which the city authorities refer to as drawing various symbols and messages on city facades, the City of Zagreb will finance the cleaning and removal of graffiti in the city center at a hundred percent, while for other parts of the city, it is ready to finance 80 percent of these costs. For Zagreb residents who are co-owners of these temporarily defaced facades, there is only one condition: that they finance the cleaning of each subsequent graffiti themselves, i.e., from their reserve fund, in order to discourage illegal graffiti artists from wasting paint again and risking being caught in their nighttime misdemeanors.
For parts of the historically urban whole, namely Upper and Lower Town, the City will also fully finance the costs of applying protective anti-graffiti coatings that facilitate the cleaning of facades from graffiti sprays and prevent the penetration of graffiti into deeper layers of the wall.
Fines up to 2000 kuna
The first trial project for removing graffiti is in Vodnik Street, where, as reported by the City, graffiti will be completely removed from buildings from the beginning to the end of the street. This week, they have already started removing graffiti from Zakmardijeva Stairs. However, in addition to wanting to directly remedy the consequences of someone’s vandalism, the City also wants to suppress and eradicate it as much as possible.
– Vandalism is planned to be prevented by increased patrols of municipal inspectors, the use of surveillance cameras, and increasing the height of fines. It is important to emphasize that based on the Decision on Municipal Order, municipal inspectors control the devastation of objects by graffiti within their daily work and intervene to remove those with offensive and inappropriate content – explain the City of Zagreb the ways they are trying to put an end to the destruction of facades.
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The fine for illegal graffiti artists in Zagreb currently amounts to a maximum of 1000 kuna, and it is soon expected to double. Thus, if caught, they could face a fine of up to 2000 kuna. If nighttime graffiti artists go unnoticed, they can be discouraged by the quick reaction of residents – repairing the damage at their own expense.
However, illegal graffiti artists find freshly painted facades the most interesting for drawing new scribbles, all to express some of their anger and to be the main ‘faces’ among their crew, absolutely disregarding the public good of the city and often astronomical amounts needed for facade maintenance.
Teenagers vs. Artists
Citizens and the public have therefore rightly been warning for years about the destruction of building facades, some homes, and offices, as many of them are protected cultural monuments. However, there is a difference between painting artistic murals in designated places and illegal graffiti. The former, as works of professionals, will remain protected, while the latter will be sought to be destroyed by the decision of the City Assembly with the same force as their authors destroy others’ homes.
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– Illegal graffiti is an ancient form present from caves to today, except that different materials are used. Some individuals grow up and take on something, conditionally speaking, more serious, while others keep the spray in their hands. Now, from person to person, depending on their upbringing, character, and society, it depends which direction they will go – says artist Slaven Kosanović Lunar, one of the first and most famous Croatian authors of artistic graffiti whose works adorn the facades of numerous European cities.
– In our younger days, we sought walls where we could work undisturbed, and these were often walls along the tracks, the backs of warehouses, abandoned buildings, and the like. Abroad, these were most often halls of fame, places for legal drawing. Barriers are being removed, appetites are growing, the imaginary game, or a kind of competition, has begun to seek new challenges, which each city solves in its own way – explains Lunar why we are witnessing such a number of devastated buildings in Zagreb.
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Intergenerational Dialogue
The problem is also that Zagreb, unlike many other world cities, has no legal place for making graffiti except for the stretch on Branimirova Street. This is emphasized by graffiti artist Lav Paripović, who believes that Zagreb has not invested in giving the graffiti scene its place.
– There are many different profiles of graffiti artists; they can be teenagers, or they can be some artist, but there should be a place where intergenerational dialogue can be maintained. There are many loops on Držićeva that are unsustainably defaced, for example under the bridge in Zapruđe, so why not let someone legally paint them? In that case, there would be no trash in those places as is the case now, and younger people could see what they can do besides scribbling – suggests Paripović.
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Lunar, on the other hand, adds that irresponsible people understand supervision and punishment, but he believes that part of the problem lies with decision-makers. He compares this to waste sorting and environmental preservation, which is also a topic of numerous discussions in Zagreb.
– From wars, sports events to farms, children’s toys, and food, absolutely everything is arranged to grab as much profit as possible, while concern for the well-being of future generations is only faintly visible. So when I return to graffiti, I can simply state: yes, a defaced city is ugly, but making a seriously ill patient look healthier can have only aesthetic effects. For a truly healthy society, significantly more energy is needed – Lunar will say quite frankly.
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What solutions do artists propose in the fight against illegal graffiti in Zagreb? Read in the new issue of the printed and digital edition of Lider.
