'La Escocesa': A fabric of Images

Abstract

The banning of the practice of graffiti in public space since the approval of the civic regulation in 2006 has restricted the production of graffiti artworks in Barcelona. It transformed and coerced the local graffiti and street art scene towards new forms of production in the city, which are the central focus of this article.  ‘La Escocesa: A factory of images’, is based on my dialogues with the resident graffiti artists of the art centre ‘La Escocesa’ in ‘Poble Nou’. Some of these artists participated in both the creation of the graffiti scene in the 90s and the development of this practice in the city. Today they are recognized artistic figures of the local and international graffiti scene. I shared with some of these graffiti artists in the art centre some of my fieldwork experiences in connection with other local artists and representatives of the local council. In addition, I also opened up dialogues with them using anthropological examples about art and artists, the city and the space. The following section contains part of the conversations, reflexions and debates that we had.