Last week, we wrote up something for SF Weekly’s “I Heart Street Art” about Moroccan soccer team tags around Rabat. This week we’re contributing again, this time about stencils and their role in the election process in these parts. Check out the full post here.
Then, just yesterday, I (Steven) was wandering around the neighborhood next to ours in Rabat called Agdal. It’s a funny place, Agdal. If you go too far you’ll find yourself on a strip of cafes with a few boutiques, a United Colors of Benetton, a Steve Madden. I didn’t make it that far, and instead found myself in the middle of about ten different schools, preschool to high school, that were all letting out.
So, where you find students, you’ll find graffiti, right? Well I did, and some tags that were a whole lot cooler than someone scribbling “FAR” in spray paint. Here’s one.
And then I found this whole big yellow wall by what I’m pretty sure is the public school amongst these ten or so generally ritzy private ones. It had all kind of tags.
Like these
And this one: I dig the floor lettering.
And then I realized that this wall was actually a wall once used for those elections stencils. Can you see the boxes and those scales? They’re for Morocco’s first political party, Istiqlal, that worked with king Mohammed V back in the day to free Morocco from the French. (That party is still around, though I doubt the stencil itself is from the 50s.)
Here’s another wheat-paste of a lion that is for the Moroccan Liberal party. (Their office is right below our hotel room!)
This whole wall just really warmed my heart. It’s public a space that was designated for political discourse, but in between elections the punky highschoolers get to tag all over it. Then, hopefully, when it is rolled it over again for elections, it’s used for politics. We should have some of these in SF!
Street Art Part 2: Elections and Stencils and Punky Highschoolers
Last week, we wrote up something for SF Weekly’s “I Heart Street Art” about Moroccan soccer team tags around Rabat. This week we’re contributing again, this time about stencils and their role in the election process in these parts. Check out the full post here.
Then, just yesterday, I (Steven) was wandering around the neighborhood next to ours in Rabat called Agdal. It’s a funny place, Agdal. If you go too far you’ll find yourself on a strip of cafes with a few boutiques, a United Colors of Benetton, a Steve Madden. I didn’t make it that far, and instead found myself in the middle of about ten different schools, preschool to high school, that were all letting out.
So, where you find students, you’ll find graffiti, right? Well I did, and some tags that were a whole lot cooler than someone scribbling “FAR” in spray paint. Here’s one.
And then I found this whole big yellow wall by what I’m pretty sure is the public school amongst these ten or so generally ritzy private ones. It had all kind of tags.
Like these
And this one: I dig the floor lettering.
And then I realized that this wall was actually a wall once used for those elections stencils. Can you see the boxes and those scales? They’re for Morocco’s first political party, Istiqlal, that worked with king Mohammed V back in the day to free Morocco from the French. (That party is still around, though I doubt the stencil itself is from the 50s.)
Here’s another wheat-paste of a lion that is for the Moroccan Liberal party. (Their office is right below our hotel room!)
This whole wall just really warmed my heart. It’s public a space that was designated for political discourse, but in between elections the punky highschoolers get to tag all over it. Then, hopefully, when it is rolled it over again for elections, it’s used for politics. We should have some of these in SF!