Grafismo urbano no bairro do Méier: apropriação dos espaços públicos no subúrbio carioca

Abstract

Public spaces are important settings for plenty of urban practices that are performed in cities, especially in major ones. These sites are occupied by individuals who take them over, temporarily or not, disclosing various emotions and subjectivities. The contradictions in the city engender movements of resistance and fight for the right to the city and culture. Graffiti is an urban practice expressed in the form of demands and art. It derived from public spaces and was once an act of transgression in the city. Rio de Janeiro, a metropolis that was one of its pioneers, holds several phenomena of urban graffiti, exhibiting art, culture, and protests through its communication on walls and facades. This research sought to unveil the current spatialization of graffiti in Méier, an important subcenter in the outlying ghettos of Rio. Méier, which holds solid social and spatial dynamics, expresses substantial manifestations of urban graffiti that carry a constant process of signification and resignification to the neighborhood. First of all, considerations about graffiti are presented, followed by a panorama about urban reforms in Rio de Janeiro, locating Méier in this context. Lastly, it is presented an X-ray of graffiti in Méier, based on a detailed field research and interviews with graffiti artists that act in this neighborhood.