A disgusting form of vandalism

Editorial

GRAFFITI is not only offensive to the public eye but costs quite a fortune for businesses and urban authorities in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere too.
The kind of graffiti referred to here is the unintelligible scrawling on walls or fences in cities and towns.
The more artistic or poetic form of graffiti in some ways enhances the aesthetic beauty of public spaces and can be excused.
Businesses, municipal governments and private property owners have for years suffered at the hands of an unknown army of mostly young men who have caused havoc on nicely painted walls and other surfaces that are open to the public eye.
They operate mostly in the cover of darkness or late into the night when no one is around.
It is a global phenomenon which has caught on with the urban youth of Papua New Guinea in the past decades.
In the national capital, the scourge of graffiti is everywhere.
One can drive along Waigani Drive, for instance, and see the unbelievable level of damage done to walls, murals and fences along the way.
Its ugly sight starts with the corrugated metal fencing of the abandoned hotel construction site all the way to Gerehu.
The beautiful mural paintings by a well-known local artist on wall of the veterinary clinic were recently defaced by such a graffiti artist.
When the Vision City overhead bridge was completed, such vandals could not wait to get to work with their spray paint cans at night.
Now workers are not only washing down the paint but putting up barriers to prevent further damage.
Further up at Laguna Hotel, the story is the same.
Workers have had to paint over the work of vandals more than once already.
It seems a fence secures a property within but presents the graffiti artist a huge canvas on the outside.
The capital city’s walls of stone, concrete, metal or wood have been defaced at the first opportunity by nocturnal artists. And quite a sum of money has been spent on cleaning and scrubbing.
Graffiti is a blatant disrespect to property owners and removing or preventing it, like security, is an added cost forced upon businesses and government.
But graffiti can also be harnessed to some advantage.
A campaign launched in May 2014 set out to do just that.
The Keep Port Moresby Colourful Campaign, supported by the Australian High Commission and the National Capital District Commission, was aimed at tackling the ugly defacing of walls all over the city.
It used the creative skills of the city’s youth to add colour and life to dreary wall surfaces or those already marred by illegal graffiti.
The launching was done on the concrete wall opposite Vision City and the Dream Inn along Waigani Drive.
The campaign is the brainchild of a small company called Island Breeze.
It is understood that for the work on the wall, the company engaged a group led by a young man who resides in the Gerehu suburb.
They were the artists responsible for the first ever graffiti art wall in Port Moresby and other parts of the country.
The group of artists started off with a much bigger aim than the other graffiti artists who are only intent on outwitting each other.
The group was out to use their creative skills to better the face of the city with the use of spray paint in a legal and creative manner.
One does not have to be an art expert to appreciate the impact of the colourful wall on Waigani Drive.
The group of artists has transformed it from a dull grey concrete surface bearing some random tagging to something truly artistic.
With continued support of government agencies and corporate citizens, such an approach can help turn graffiti art into something positive that would liven up Port Moresby or any other urban centre in the country.
The ubiquitous graffiti in Port Moresby and other centres is the work of restless and bored youth who may be craving attention and recognition by society.
Their artistic ability and energy can be harnessed for their own good and to benefit their communities.
It is something government agencies and even the corporate sector can collectively address as in the case referred to above.
However, such efforts can only achieve so much.
Beyond that businesses and municipal governments need public support to reduce or eradicate this disgusting form of vandalism.