IN-PERSON London. Section B

Abstract

This paper explores the role of graffiti in place-making practices that occur within deeply divided cities. Academia has understood graffiti within this context to operate as a strategy utilised by ethnonationalist groups to claim space, demarcating territory and boundaries. However, research is yet to explore how graffiti can contribute to the disruption of ethno-national segregation in urban environments. This segregation is constantly reproduced via a range of practices, including collective spatial patterns of multiple individuals, formed through fear, memory and place-based narratives. This paper positions the formation of ethnic enclaves and boundaries within the wider theory of space and place, reflecting a spatial turn within peace and conflict studies. This research engages graffiti with anti-sectarian themes, as well as the social life (Awad and Wagoner, 2016) of sectarian graffiti. Data collection for this research was conducted in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Belfast, Northern Ireland from September, 2022 to September, 2023. The methodological framework was designed to infiltrate the everyday of people who live in each case study location. Walking interviews, alongside documentation of graffiti generated data, which was subject to a six stage thematic analysis. This data was utilised to investigate how graffiti influences the processes through which people assign meaning to space and make place, within deeply divided cities and provides impetus for this paper to argue that graffiti can challenge people’s perceptions of places, providing a sense of place (Tuan, 1977) in unexpected spaces.