VietNamNet Bridge – Graffiti has come to Saigon for about 10 years but people started paying attention to it around four years ago when some local and foreign artists practiced and exhibited graffiti in the city.

Some youngsters pose for photos with the graffiti paintings by the Saigon Graffiti Club on Alley 15B on Le Thanh Ton Street in downtown HCMC.

Paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most common graffiti materials.

“However, my club and many other graffiti groups in HCMC just do it when we have permission from property owners or city authorities. Without permission, graffiti can be considered an act of defacement or vandalism,” said Trang Nhon Khoa, whose nom de plume is Kank, from the Saigon Graffiti Club.

He said he feels sorry as a few of youngsters do it without permission, making some people hate the art.

Graffiti is also a form of self-expression. Art as “writing” is a creative method of communicating with other artists and the general public, and it shows the artist’s identity and ideas. “We just want to use it to beautify the city, old and mossy walls or to decorate houses and cafes at the request of owners,” Khoa said.

His club, now with just five main members: Kank, Cong, Rock, Sports and Radis, is waiting for the nod from the city’s authorities to implement a project to place graffiti on empty and old walls in alleys around the city.

“Graffiti is mainly self-taught and it can be improvised by artists but we just do it based on planned themes and ideas. Along with typical graffiti drawings, we want to draw iconic cultural images of Vietnam,” said Khoa.

In hopes of building a playground for those with this passion and promoting this genre of art, the club, which was established about two years and a half ago by art students, wishes to paint graffiti through ideas of local residents along the alleys. “They will be happy if their own ideas translate into reality.”

“To us, graffiti not only gives us a chance to share the passion and develop our skills but also makes us more open-minded,” a member of the club said. “Even though we are still students and do another job, we will never give up graffiti. We will make it bigger in the contemporary art community.”

Aki, a Japanese tourist, who sees graffiti paintings along an alley on Le Thanh Ton Street in HCMC’s District 1, said, “I would rather see a colorful wall than an old and empty wall. Passers-by may be impressed by giant mosaic paintings like this and you see many people, especially foreigners, stop to admire the work and take photos.”

Nguyen Thi Bich Phuong, a local resident there, said, “The alley has become more vivid and lively since it was decorated. I love it more than shabby walls on which there are nonsensical words or advertising papers.”

Le Yen Nhi, a city student, also said, “The beauty sometimes depends on the way people think and the knowledge they have. If they know about graffiti, they may appreciate it.”

SGT/VNN