How is the rise of hip-hop culture in Kazakhstan related to street art in Bristol?

When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, along with economic hardships, Kazakhstan was attacked by the vibrant cultures and traditions of the western world. Although hip-hop culture existed among small groups of early enthusiast, it was considered wild and weird by the many and as a result often times was met with some hostility. However, in the beginning of 2000 hip-hop culture did eventually break the Soviet mentality and more and more youth started liking it.

I remember my first steps into hip-hop. Everything seen in American movies was considered cool: rap music, breakdancing, graffiti, baggy clothing, basketball and streetball. In order to find which of these activities was the calling, one had to try them out. I tried all of these, even the graffiti. I remember having two spray cans. Although I did relatively well on paper, it was very hard to leave even simple tags on walls. I never vandalised public places, just concrete walls surrounding lifeless territories of non-functioning plants. Anyways, I realised graffiti wasn’t my thing, but left to enjoy looking at other’s work.

When I got to Bristol last year, I discovered the city was a capital of street art. Walking in the streets, you can see a lot of beautifully painted graffiti on buildings and tunnels. This totally broke my schema: graffiti doesn’t have to belong to a particular culture and considered as an act of vandalism, but another form of art. Did you know that famous Banksy is from Bristol? He left his controversial art before the city of Bristol started supporting street art and included into the city’s branding. Now there are festivals like Upfest where you can see artists legally live paint a series of large murals across Bristol.

So here is my collection of graffiti and murals I had discovered in Bristol.

Now I don’t get to see it.