Athens Street Art
Welcome to a Greek Street Art Paradise
I have a confession to make: I’ve been in Athens for three days and didn’t see the Akropolis. First there was the Cycle Cities Symposium to attend, an annual meeting of the world’s best bike tour operators, that turns a bit boozy in the evenings. And then on the last day, we had three hours planned for a proper visit, before our island ferry left Piräus. Since our hotel was just a short stroll away, we thought that ample time, but we didn’t account for the district we had to traverse to get there. Since our very own graffiti special forces 1UP and Berlin Kidz payed a visit to Athens for the Graffiti Olympics we knew Athens to be a good city for urban creativity, but what we found on our walk was beyond everything we could’ve expected. It’s not just the amount of street art that’s breathtaking, but the exceptional quality of the works. There seems to be some organized effort by the city involved, but unlike the cities that tried to use street art to revitalize their inner districts, you can feel that this is just an extension of a vibrant organic scene, with hundreds of artists. According to our guide from Athens by bike the major reason is, that, even though spraying is forbidden almost everywhere, no one cares.
I hope to find the time to properly attribute some of the works later, but for now, have fun with our monster gallery of