British Council Reading, Graffiti and street art, part I ( cursa de cai)
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People have been painting and writing on walls throughout history. In prehistoric times, people in Africa and Europe used to paint pictures of animals and people in caves. Graffiti has been found on buildings at ancient sites in Greece, Italy, Syria and Iraq. In the Roman town of Pompeii, archaeologists have found numerous examples of graffiti written in Latin. These include religious, political and romantic messages, and even some magic spells!
Modern times
In the late twentieth century, graffiti and street art became an international phenomenon. In the 1970s, young people in New York used pens to write their names, or 'tags', on walls around the city. One of the first 'taggers' was Demetrius, a teenager from a Greek family. Demetrius's tag was TAKI 183. TAKI was his nickname and 183 was the number of the street he lived on – 183rd Street. At first, he wrote his tag on walls in his neighbourhood. Then he started tagging in subway stations on the way to and from school. When the subway train stopped at a station, he would jump off, write his tag on the wall and then jump back on before the doors closed. Other teenagers noticed Demetrius's tag and started to write their own. Soon, New York's walls, buses and subway trains were covered with tags: Barbara 62, Joe 182 ...
Later on, some teenagers started writing tags with aerosol paints. Their tags were bigger, more colourful and took more time and imagination than the simple, pen-written tags. The trend spread and from the 1970s, aerosol paint graffiti became a common sight on trains, buses and walls in cities around the world. In the 1990s, graffiti continued but there was also an explosion in street art around the world. Some artists wanted to make political points and produced art that tried to make people think about war, inequality and discrimination. Other street artists were more concerned with producing beautiful, attractive work. In South America, many street artists went to work in poor areas adding colour, life and beauty to grey, city walls.
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1 / 7
Where did prehistoric people paint pictures of animals and people
On street signs in ancient Greece
In caves in Africa and Europe
On buildings in South America
On subway train doors in Rome
2 / 7
What language was the ancient graffiti written in that archaeologists discovered in Pompeii?
Latin
English
Italian
Ancient Greek
3 / 7
What did the number ”183” represent in Demetrius”s tag, TAKI 183?
The street number where he lived
The number of subway stations in New York
His age when he started tagging
The year he moved from Greece
4 / 7
How did Demetrius (TAKI 183) tag subway stations on his way to and from school?
He jumped off at stops, tagged the wall, and jumped back on before the doors closed
He asked the train drivers for permission before writing
He dropped posters out of the windows as the train passed by
He painted the outside of moving train cars with aerosol cans
5 / 7
How did aerosol paint tags differ from earlier pen-written tags?
They were only written in Latin by ancient artists
They were faster to draw and used fewer colors
They were smaller and hidden inside train cars
They were bigger, more colourful, and required more time and imagination
6 / 7
During the 1990s, what themes did some street artists focus on to make political points?
War, inequality, and discrimination
Advertising products and commercial sales
Religious magic spells and ancient history
Local sports teams and community news
7 / 7
Why did many street artists go to work in poor areas of South America?
To add colour, life, and beauty to grey city walls
To protest against the construction of new subway lines
To practice writing simple pen tags on subway doors
To sell aerosol paint to teenagers in the neighborhood
