Paris Wall Flowers, Moscow Wall Wars

Abstract

“Paris Wall Flowers, Moscow Wall Wars” is intended as an introduction to the themed issue on Translating Street Art, inspired in part by Guy Debord and his associates from the Situationist International (SI). The issue’s international cast of contributors trace various contemporary expressions of the “dérive” and the “detournament” as found in many diverse spheres from graffiti to defaced monuments to “subvertising.” Following in the footsteps of the SI’s collage-like publications, Translating Street Art incorporates poetry, photography, scholarly essays, and personal accounts. “Paris Wall Flowers, Moscow Wall Wars” discusses two graffiti sites in Paris and Moscow, and considers the importance of their locations, as well as the distinction between street art and graffiti, and the fate of the unofficial genres in today’s mainstream culture.