Republic Square sits in the center of Yerevan, forming the heart of the Armenian capital. In Soviet days, a looming Lenin of stone stood watch over the square, keeping an eye out for infidels, no doubt.
Come the early 1990s, Armenia gained independence and quickly threw herself into the warm arms of market capitalism, however corrupt its may be. The statue of Lenin came down as quickly as communism itself, and was eventually replaced with an even more grandiose monument to capitalist ideology: a giant TV.
Yes, in the center of the square sits a massive television screen, perhaps some 50 feet tall, that blasts commercials and American music videos from dawn to dusk. While I was living in Armenia, I found the irony unbearable, and conspired jokingly with friends to reduce the one-eyed monster to rubble.
Several years later, one of my comrades has finally pulled through. Stencil in hand, the graffiti artist known as Heavy Industries went to work, marking the commercial beacon with, what else, an image of the statue that proudly preceded it. (In red, no doubt.)
I never really thought about the role of graffiti art throughout this part of the world until now, but sure enough it exists, and if not thriving it is at least providing countercultural punctuation in many countries where dissent is not treated lightly.
Last month my friend travelled to Tehran to met up with a community of Iranian graffiti artists, whose work can be found at www.irangraffiti.com. Every bit a part of their own cultural revolution, these street artists continually paint politics on the walls of the Islamic republic. Speaking with a voice all their own, these artists represent an Iran you won’t find on CNN, but threatens American interests all the same.
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