Alison Young - Graffiti Sessions

Alison Young's contribution on December 3rd 2014 at Graffiti Sessions (Southbank Centre). Alison Young (Scotland, located in Australia), visual criminologist, author of Street Art, Public City (2014), co-author of Street/ Studio (2010), and researching street art and graffiti as art form, crime, and feature of contemporary urban life. Professor Alison Young researches in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and is an Honorary Professor in the Law School, City University, London. She is the author of Judging the Image (2005), Street/Studio (2010), and Street Art, Public City (2014) as well as numerous articles on the intersections of law, crime and culture. She is carrying out an ARC Discovery Project examining the transformative potential of street art in urban space; the reception and interpretation of street art in the domain of fine arts; and the ways it has been regulated in public spaces. The Graffiti Sessions was set up to identify new horizons for future city strategies on graffiti and street arts and opportunities and challenges for evolving creative practice, towards places that are both safe and sociable. The event comprised a three-day series of talks, workshops and panel debates exploring the evolving roles of graffiti and street art in the urban environment and gathered a wide group of experts to debate issues surrounding graffiti. The ambition is to challenge deep-rooted preconceptions and speculation that have until now limited the progress of both policy and practice related to street art and graffiti. Bringing together key institutions and individuals, the project initiated an open and sustainable discussion forum for the exchange of a broad scope of viewpoints and positions on street art and graffiti, and for the evaluation of their impacts on the quality of life for urban communities. Graffiti Sessions was hosted by UCL Urban Lab, the Graffiti Dialogues Network at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) and Southbank Centre.