Graffiti Murals: Good or Bad?

Mural in K Road before it was removed
Photo from: Central Leader

Just recently, there has been a lot of talk about the removal of popular graffiti murals all over Auckland city as a part of a major clean-up project in preparation for the Rugby World Cup. The mural above has been removed by the Council and has received backlash from locals who obviously liked the colourful artwork by Askew. The mural was painted with the owner's permission and the artist was commissioned to do it. It was a popular mural in the area and it was even printed on the front cover of pamphlets by the K Rd Business Association to be given away during the RWC in order to promote art.

According to the Council, graffiti will not be removed if:

it appears to be an artwork (i.e) permission was given for work to be done.

If that was the case, then why was the K Road mural removed?

Is this a result of poor consultation from the Council?
According to Council Manager Kevin Marriot, it was their mistake as they assumed the owner wanted the mural gone. They removed it because an Auckland Council anti-graffiti volunteer made a request.

Their assumption that the owner wanted the mural to be removed is not a good reason or excuse. This shouldn't have happened if they consulted the owner or the community instead of relying on a volunteer's request. Now the Council is planning of replacing it with another mural thus wasting time and money for something that shouldn't have been done in the first place.

For the full story, click here.

While I agree that graffiti and tagging should be removed as they degrade the surroundings and bring a negative connotation to the area, I believe that there should be exceptions. Graffiti murals that have the local community's support, reflect the community's identity and are given value should not be considered to be taken off. Some murals around Auckland represent the communities and are visually appealing. Seeing these works of art can be a breath of fresh air from the dull grey or black walls of buildings.

Just take a look at these examples:

Photo credit: Hamish Rickerby

Photo credit: Cut Collective

Photo credit: Cut Collective

If you don't want graffiti murals around Auckland to be removed, you can sign the online petition No More Grey Walls.