Hip youth hop on streets for graffiti's sake
13:27' 18/12/2006 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Shortly after crossing Chuong Duong Bridge over the Red River into Hanoi one is suddenly struck by the mass of spray-printed images on the uprights of the overpass.


Famous all over town: The graffiti taggers are sitting together to invest more ideas into their throw-ups.
These murals are nothing more than graffiti - the Western street art of the hip hop urban youth.

As an art form, graffiti evolved in the West but has since spread across the world. Just over two years ago, it appeared in Vietnam for the first time on the walls of Yen Phu, the narrow dyke running along the eastern corner of West Lake.

"The first six members of our crew chose Yen Phu's walls as the first place to practise writing our tags (signatures) with marker pens or spray paint.

And those first paintings cost us VND200,000 in fines," recalled Nguyen Hoai Linh, a 24-year-old student at the Ha Noi College of Industrial Fine Arts.

He is one of the country's pioneering graffiti artists and leader of Street Jockey, the earliest and most famous Vietnamese graffiti crew.

Linh's love of "street art" was kindled three years ago when he saw an American movie depicting graffiti on public walls and subway trains.

"I searched on the Internet for more information. By the time I found out what it was, shortly after our first 'incident', I realised that it wasn't a hobby any more, it had become a passion," says Linh.

Like Linh, many hip-hop adoring teenagers in the country have taken enthusiastically to the art of drawing graffiti.

Inspired by effervescent rap music and break-dancing, graffiti has rapidly gained a foothold in Vietnam that is impossible to ignore.

Tags are everywhere, no hard surface is safe: wall, trees, benches, hats, shoes, clothes - even motorbikes - are all fair game.

Graffiti art has been likened to mural-painting. Undoubtedly patience and great skill are required. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that defacing public property is illegal and for many, unacceptable.

But such is the enthusiasm of its practitioners that the police are kept busy erasing the unsightly scrawls. And those unlucky enough to be caught in the act, face heavy fines.

Which is why many graffiti artists work at night in the dark to avoid detection. But that has done nothing to improve their image, and many consider them vandals and hoodlums, or at best, idlers with nothing better to do with their time.

Luckily, the intrinsic beauty of the colourful and complex designs is beginning to be recognised, and the work of graffiti crews all over the country, such as Hanoi's Street Jockey and HCM City's B Crew, are finally being rewarded.

And many multinational corporations and organisations like the British Council or Yamaha Motor Viet Nam are using graffiti artists in their advertising campaigns.

A further outlet for artistic expression has come from annual graffiti talent competitions. In addition, cultural centres such as the Youth Cultural House in Hai Ba Trung District and the Friendship Cultural Palace have made areas such as playgrounds available for graffiti crews to work.

If the real value of graffiti is to be appreciated, it is in its ability to spread a positive message in the community; to encourage self-expression and inspire young people to work together for the good of the community.

"It is only a matter of time before hip-hop graffiti artists are being compared to the great artists of the world," said Bui Le Dieu Linh, an 11th grade student at the Marie Curie High School, and a member of Street Crew.

"I think graffiti art is one of the most intricate, creative, and impressive forms of art, and it is becoming more and more popular each day."