When art becomes an abomination
By Mory Keita
I stood awestruck in the middle of a street in uptown New York, contemplating the striking beauty of the graffiti painting on the walls of a Public building .As I attentively observed the fantastic work of the artist, I realized that he didn't do it just to please folks passing by or violate the property. He was expressing his feelings in a painting- a simple yet majestic painting. Just like the writer writes on paper to reveal his philosophy or the politician makes ads and flyers to propagate his opinions and views on issues to the public, the graffiti artist paints walls to expose his emotions. As a teenage writer, I suddenly felt a strong connection to the unknown artist, for just like me, he is an innovator - an engineer of ideas.
Freedom of expression is a natural right of every human being, when one is blocked from expressing one’s feelings, one right is violated. It was painful, frustrating to me to see security officers slowly wiping off colors of the splendid piece of art like banning an abomination or erasing forever the trace of the devil itself. I felt as if a piece of my writing, my creation was being roped apart, thrown in the trash like a nasty, worthless piece of paper – an abomination.
I do not support the damage of public properties or the violation of the law, but I believe that graffiti artworks painted on public infrastructures must be preserved from destruction for future generations, because like any form of art, graffiti is a form of expression ,thus, a conductor of democracy and freedom.
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