Street art: Walking tour finds hidden gems in Lisbon’s…
I took a tour of street art in Lisbon.
To be honest, I was a little hesitant. Here’s why:
No graffiti, please
I dislike graffiti. Despite the obvious talent some graffiti artists display, I don’t appreciate it on public and private property.
When I first visited Portugal, the graffiti is one of the first things I noticed. It’s everywhere.
In Lisbon and its suburbs, there’s not a building or bench that hasn’t been tagged. The park bench I sat on as I wrote this column was marked in Sharpie in three spots in three colors.
Time has not improved graffiti here. It still pervades everything. The walls near my apartment are scrawled with symbols and doodles. Someone who goes by “Slope” made his mark far and wide.
Whoever sells spray paint must do well here.
I’m guessing a lot of it is teens. Bored and restless in the night, they find white, pink and yellow walls the perfect canvas for their pranks.
Commissioned street art
So when I read about a Meetup to look at street art, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. But I like walking tours, and it sounded interesting, like maybe it wasn’t just graffiti.
And it wasn’t.
Ricardo Santos of Footstep Explorers loves history, walking, hiking, his city, art and sharing his knowledge. Put them together, and you’ve got fun, informative tours.
In addition to walking us through neighborhoods to spot art, he told us about the artists and the programs that brought them to Lisbon to adorn whole sides of buildings with paintings (and sculptures) in various styles.
Cartoons share Lisbon’s history. A tattoo artist created a large-scale design. A 3-D artist uses trash to create sculptures of animals. Artwork comments on tourists taking over neighborhoods (the old woman spray painting the selfie-taking tourist) and what dreams may come. Several pieces celebrate the end of the death penalty.
From narrow, twisting “streets” to broad boulevards, we walked and studied street art. Fortunately, it seems the taggers have left the real art alone. If only they would leave it all alone.
There’s more to see. I’ve even found some street art on my own. And I’ll continue to look for the beauty here and past the petty destruction.
Be a Better Writer Tip
Do you wonder what to write about?
I usually don’t, particularly now, thanks to living here. I have plenty of topics — probably more than I’ll ever get around to writing.
But if you’re wondering what to write, what’s your process?
I tend to think of things as they happen. It’s an awareness. Ooh, I think. That would make a good column.
Sometimes the topic is something I’ve been thinking about or studying.
You always can keep a list of topics. That way you have something to write about when you have time. We’ll explore this topic in more depth.