

“On March 18th, 2019, Sergio Rojas, a Bribri indigenous leader, was murdered after being shot 15 times in Yeri, Salitre area, in southern Costa Rica.
As a member of the National Coordination of the National Front of Indigenous Peoples (FRENAPI), Rojas fought for the restitution of ancestral lands and the conservation of native ecosystems.”
“FUE EL ESTADA. SERGIO VIVE!” = It was the State. Sergio Lives!
8mar19. San Jose, Costa Rica 🇨🇷
My journey to becoming a global documenter of graffiti and street art began back in Bogota, Colombia in 2012. It was all of the words scrawled and stenciled on the walls all over the city that prompted a keen interest within me. Two things happened: My Spanish improved quickly (because I had to go home and translate the words into English) and secondly, I got a sense almost overnight of the political issues of the disenfranchised elements of society within the country.
Realizing that graffiti had the power to communicate important messages and concerns of ordinary citizens, I began to pay close attention to the writings on the walls all over the world. It’s amazing what you can see when you look. It’s amazing what you can hear when you listen. It’s amazing what you can understand when you open your heart.
Once the foundation of my passion was set, my documentation progressed to all genres of street art including murals, stickers, sculptures, wheat pastes, everything and anything, that I judged to be making a statement of some kind in a public arena.
Since 2012, this blog has grown exponentially and one series in particular, the “Politiks of Graffiti” series featuring street art images I’ve collected around the world, combined with the weekly list covering the current state of the U.S. government compiled by activist Amy Siskind, has garnered a lot of interest and has a bit of a following on Twitter. It’s important to note that I cover all forms of political statements I discover in public art. It’s unfortunate that it just so happens, the current “P.O.G” is heavily laden with visual commentary of ’45.’ I would love for it to be something else, or something more, and I believe it will be, eventually.
In the future, I plan to do a book of “Graffiti and Global Politics,” or something like that, using the images I’ve collected around the world in the past decade.
That being said, I am currently in San Jose, Costa Rica and the walls are rife with political statements.
Please check them out below:
11/12/13/14/15FEB2019 San Jose, Costa Rica.
1. Make peace with your past – so it won’t disturb your present.
2. What other people think of you – is none of your business.
3. Time heals almost everything – give it time.
4. No one is in charge – of your happiness. Except you!
5. Don’t compare your life to others – and don’t judge them. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
6. Stop thinking too much – it’s all right not to know all the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.
7. Smile – you don’t own all the problems in the world.
11/12/13/14feb2019 San Jose, Costa Rica
Black Cat by https://www.instagram.com/imago.fm
Ochiul . E y e .
Easily one of the most prolific graff writers in Chişinău: MUHA 575
Rick and Morty stencil. Artist unknown.
MUHA 575 . https://www.instagram.com/walkdastreet
LSD Kitty 🐱.
3LB Crew .
“Moldovans, therefore, Romanians.” A lot of graffiti on the walls of Chişinău depict a growing segment of the population that would like to see the two countries merge into one.
May2018. Chișinău , Moldova 🇲🇩 .
“I Love Moldova 🇲🇩 .”
“A Rose 🌹 by any other name . . .” = “Un trandafir cu orice alt nume . . .”
Old Roman Columns disintegrating in plain view. A graffiti tag from Bust, a Romanian graffiti writer…
Mysterious BNE has left his tag all over the capital city. No one knows who he is, but as someone who travels the world, I can tell you that he is arguably the MOST prolific sticker slapper in the street art universe. I’ve seen them in tons of cities around the globe. BNE is a proponent for clean water 💦 for everyone… I’d say go to his IG, but, he’s taken all of his posts down…? I want to meet this guy so badly!
The back of the Chișinău Water Tower.
3LB Crew
The Waiting is the hardest part.
An unattended dog , quite possibly the Queen’s , walks past a rundown house.
There’s still life inside these walls.
BNE. The sticker below is what I was referring to earlier. The tags that I’m seeing all over the city, are a first for me, I think. I thought he just did stickers.
Another sticker for mayoral candidate, Constantin Codreanu .
I love seeing books in different languages other than English . But, don’t read about that asshole, though. In ANY language.
Moldovans exit a bus 🚌 on Stefan Cel Mare Street .
Cafea cu graffiti mele, te rog .
Locals hang out in front of the opera house on Stefan Cel Mare str.
Politics are a part of the fiber of Moldova 🇲🇩 . Russian Matryoshka dolls for sale at the market in the park next to the opera house.
Kitty on LSD. Because, why not ?
I love it when street art naturally merges with the urban landscape .
FVCK your politics. Serve the people ! “Jack” sticker is from Zacharie Bodson, à Lille, France-based artist.
May2018. Chișinău , Moldova 🇲🇩 .
About 60,000 people came out to march for stricter gun laws (amongst other fascist aspects of this regime) today on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
24mar18. Los Angeles, CA
Here is some graffiti depicting a Moldovan mother and child walking up a path to the European Union. The Republic of Moldova has been actively pursuing European Union membership for years. But, due to its poverty level (the poorest of any countries pursuing membership) and its ongoing Transnistrian dispute (Transnistria is an independently formed breakaway republic backed by, you guessed it, Russia), the EU has not been willing to accept the country. The EU has set up shop in Chisinau (since 2005) and is trying to ‘help’ with the conflict in order to (possibly) eventually bring Moldova into the Union, as Moldova has desperately tried to gain entry for so long… – I’m taking a road trip to Transnistria today, as I wish to see it for myself.
7july17. Chisinau, Moldova.