Anarcho-Power gegen Betonsargbauer

Graffiti and music as a political practice in the urban landscape of 1980s in Germany

KP Flügel in conversation with Sven Niemann/ DJ Cut Spencer:

Could you outline the intention of your presentation?

„Over the past few months, I’ve been looking for german songs that deal with the subject of graffiti for a mixtape. I came across the song ‘German Graffiti’ by Liesbeth List, for example. The song was released in 1979. It quotes graffiti slogans on the walls in Germany. There are also other pop and new wave songs by Rheingold, Lusthansa and Ina Deter.

Graffiti as we know it today didn’t actually come to Germany until 1983. That’s why I was interested in what the term graffiti meant in the lyrics. I asked myself: What can be read on the walls in Germany in 1979? Which social groups become visible? What is the intention of the artists? With these questions in mind, I travelled to the Heinrich Heine Institute in Düsseldorf at the beginning of the year to look through a photo collection of Renate Neumann. She photographed graffiti in Germany for her thesis between 1978 and 1982.

The photos show names of punk bands such as Male, ZK and Sex Pistols, numerous protest graffiti and political murals. Both the songs and the graffiti themselves repeatedly express critical positions on urban development. The cityscape changed dramatically in the 1970s. Many housing estates and old buildings had to make way for large concrete builduings. Graffiti and music is therefore evidence of a powerful counter-movement that opposes the uniform grey of the city. In my lecture, I would like to discuss these connections between the dynamic changes in urban space, pop music and the graffiti on the walls using photos and song examples.“

Link to the mixtape

Sven Niemann, born 1982 in Bielefeld, has lived in Paderborn for over 20 years. Currently a freelance DJ (Cut Spencer), cultural mediator and content creator. Research in the field of political graffiti.

KP Flügel