Reza Muneer tours the area’s graffiti murals with one of its most prolific young artists
I spent the day being toured by Ahmed (who wishes to keep his last name private due to the nature of his work), a street artist who has a portfolio of beautiful pieces all over the city, to get to grips with some of the standout pieces of graffiti in Camden. He has been part of the scene for over six years and uses this medium to express his own identity as a proud Palestinian.
Ahmed spends most of his free time painting ruined walls using just a few cans of paint to make beautiful pieces of art. He’s been doing this now for years. Picking up the hobby from watching fellow artists working in Shoreditch and Camden Town. Ahmed explains that “it was more about revamping an area rather than actually ruining it, my whole life I would watch people painting the walls of areas that aren’t so bright and from there I developed my love for the art.” He is also against vandalism and random words being sprayed across walls, emphasizing the difference between graffiti as an art and vandalism.
Ahmed is passionate about making small pieces because of his relative inexperience. He says that it seems pretty easy and many just think it’s vandalism but to him, it’s more than that. “I want people to be amazed at my work rather than angry, so I try to make it as nice as possible. Simple colours and simple pieces just make a wall more than just a wall”. He shows me around Camden Town breaking down the art on the walls for me and delves into the community of artists who designed them.
As we start seeing the more interesting pieces, he reasons with me on the positive impacts graffiti has on a place like Camden. He says “If you look around this place it is full of colour, fashion, bright colours, and vibrant people so when people or the police try to condemn street art it makes no sense, graffiti is a part of what makes Camden, Camden. He shows me a piece created by one of his friends, an artwork depicting a girl with bright coloured hair and a piercing. He says that the piece took days to complete and can be taken away in just a few minutes by contractors who are paid by the police to cover up their art. The piece was breathtaking and as we continued on our walk, I came to understand his passion for spray painting and his hatred toward those trying to take it down.
Green, black and red. These are the colours that Ahmed chose to use for his next graffiti piece, to express his love for his home country – Palestine.
To him the art needs to mean something; explaining that “I want my art to have a story behind it, a meaning, my home country is facing a lot of problems so to raise awareness I’m painting in these colours.” Ahmed tells me that a lot of artists come here to express their personal feelings, especially when they feel as if they’re not being heard. He shows me a brick wall where multiple artists have done some work and explains the meaning behind some of the pieces. He shows the fist which represents the black lives matter movement, two hearts to express love for one another, and a goofy painting of a man with his eyes in his hands. In England, graffiti/street art is a criminal offense. Depending on the offense you could get a minor charge or even up to 10 years in jail. Ahmed explains to me that since it is illegal, they have stopped spray painting in certain areas and chose to stick to areas already covered in street art. He says that the police do bother them so it’s best to work at night or in places with few cameras. As we spoke, we see a private contractor painting over graffiti, although Ahmed doesn’t know the artist he still feels bad for him knowing how long that art must have taken.
After an hour or two, we come to the last part of Ahmed’s tour which is about how graffiti ties in with the background of Camden Town. He takes me to the High Street to look at some intricate art pieces on the facade of some of the buildings. One, in particular, caught my eye. The shop called London Family had a huge display of graffiti art right above the shop. This piece targeted the ban against graffiti with the slogans stating, “more graffiti walls” and “graffiti for the people”.
Ahmed explains “If you look at the buildings, shops, and streets they are all covered in graffiti, and they really make this area come together.” As we walk towards the train station, I give my goodbyes and hope that I come along on his next endeavor. Looking to the future Ahmed, like many others, hopes to see areas where graffiti is embraced and accepted as a part of the fabric of London.