Going Local

Deciphering Street Art through Urban Territory and Urban Territory through Street Art

Abstract

Although often framed as a global movement, street art remains deeply rooted in local contexts in which emerges, making territoriality a lens for its interpretation. Using this as a foundation, this paper explores the role of territory in the deciphering of street art and elucidates the relationship between artistic expression, spatial configurations, and power structures, demonstrating that while territorial context is essential for interpreting street art, street art itself serves as an active agent in the redefinition of urban boundaries.

The study employs Romania’s street art scene as a case study, examining how artists engage with the built environment and how territorial context shapes both the production and reception of artworks. Examples such as Pisica Pătrată’s intervention at the Capitol Summer Theatre in Bucharest, revitalizing a neglected cultural landmark, or Orhan’s socio-politically charged stencils and installations illustrate the intricate relationship between street art and spatial discourse. Future analyses of such cases will demonstrate that artists rarely choose locations at random, each site is deliberately selected to enhance or strengthen the intended message.

At the same time, the presence of street art plays an active role in shaping urban space, raising the question of whether the city begins where artistic interventions appear or whether its boundaries extend only as far as these works reach. This dynamic underscores the reciprocal relationship between urban territory and artistic practice: while the spatial and socio-political structure of a city influences both the shape and placement of street art, these interventions, in turn, contribute to redefining the city’s territorial limits.