The image is for illustrative purposes only, it is not in Qatar
The Qatari Ministry of Municipality and Environment has issued a strong stance against graffiti and vandalism under if “you disfigure your country, you disfigure yourself”.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment in Qatar has attracted attention to its anti-graffiti campaign launched over social media earlier this week.
The campaign involved a video that was posted on YouTube and shared on social media, under the theme “together to end wall writing” (graffiti). The video urged Qatari residents to keep their country’s walls and nature clean by refraining from using spray paint on areas that are not designated for drawing.
The video is part of a larger campaign to keep Qatar clean and healthy. The Ministry’s Twitter page has been spreading awareness about keeping beaches clean and protecting wildlife as well.
It showed a brief video of a boy spray-painting a wall, who then finds himself covered in the black paint he was using to deface property.
It is not the art of graffiti itself the authorities have an issue with, it is where and how it is practiced. When it comes to planned artistic projects, the government has been keen on designating space for such initiatives. However, when graffiti taints private and public property in a chaotic manner, it is regarded to as vandalism and endangerment of the environment.
Graffiti is the art of drawing an image, word or phrase onto an unsanctioned area. It grew popular in the 1970s with the mass-rise of hip hop culture, when artists from US cities like New York and Philadelphia used it to express social and political oppression. Since then, graffiti has grown into a widely practiced art form, but has still been fought as vandalism when out of place.
