PABLO ALLISON

Meek, 37 years old from Ecatepec, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

Ecatepec is an area in the Estado de Mexico considered to be one of the most violent municipalities to live in right now. For instance, femicides have soared in recent years, making it one of the most unsafe places for women in Mexico.

According to United Nations statistics, this year Ecatepec was located within the 16 most violent places in the world to be a woman, and another study conducted on behalf of the Belisario Dominguez institute in Mexico indicated that 5,163 femicides had occurred between 2000 and 2015.

Aside from those issues, Ecatepec is also Meek’s home and where he started to paint graffiti when he was young.

He grew up very humbly and although he tragically lost his father at an early age, he always received love from his Mum and his sisters.

Despite such adversities, he was passionate about drawing to heal the pain. Nonetheless, it wasn't until an uncle of his, who had served a long stint in prison in the United States for murder and who returned to Mexico after that, taught Meek the basics of drawing. In the process, he used to inculcate in him the culture and values of the Chicano culture and gang life.

At the same time, Meek was fortunate to grow up along the freight tracks where he got to see many graffiti pieces rolling by from the United States and Canada. He remembers pulling out his notepad to copy them and subsequently study the shapes and angles. He also remembers seeing many immigrants travelling on the top of the trains.

Meek would occasionally throw rocks at them as a way of defending his turf, although sometimes he showed some compassion for them. He recalls helping two migrants who were in terrible shape once. Meek and a friend housed them and fed them until they were fit again to continue their long journey.

Even though he was interested in traditional letter forms, his motivation in graffiti actually came from representing his Mexican roots and the Chicano culture that he learned from his uncle. Meek adds, ‘I like to put the name of my country up high through my art work’.

Parallel to his development as an, Meek was beginning to learn about gangs and later on became a member of the South Side 13 clique. He explains that it was important to belong to a gang where he lived and continues, ‘If you didn’t belong to a gang you were nothing. Unity is power and if, as a kid, you were not affiliated to a group you could be at serious risk’.

Meek recounts how he literally used to go out all the time to rob people in order to satisfy his needs.

He doesn’t agree that graffiti can save you from violence and he points out that if, for instance, you cross someone else’s tag or mural you could face violent consequences that in some cases could lead to death.

As life carried on and got more complicated and dangerous he decided to migrate to the United States.

From a young age, he had been fascinated about travelling to California as his uncle had told him marvelous things about life over there. Meek was also interested in escaping his violent surroundings and experiencing new cultures as well as to learn new things…

His crossing into the United States happened through Tucson, Arizona. As he arrived on the other side, he was locked in a safe-house for about a month until someone paid for his rescue. The pay eventually came thanks to a family member and Meek was freed. He travelled to Tampa Bay, Florida where he remained for 3 years until he was forced to return due to a severe illness.

Meek stayed 5 months in Mexico until he decided to do the journey once more.

This time, he crossed through Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas with his friend Armando.

Both, in the company of a small group of people and a Coyote who charged Meek a sum of about 1,500 dollars, walked through the desert for 5 days. In the process, they encountered many intricacies. For instance, Armando reached a critical point whereby his feet were so hurt that he wasn't able to continue. He told Meek to leave him behind though Meek knew that if he remained in the desert he would die. He carried him for the rest of the journey until they reached San Antonio, Texas where they were locked in a safe-house for 5 days until someone bailed them out and were eventually dropped off at a petrol station. Meek felt greatly relieved when he realised they were in the United States.

While living there, he says he did not paint much graffiti given that the law was pretty strict. It was especially tough with gangs so he maintained a low profile to avoid any problems. He recalls, however, how he once painted a truck outside his job. Meek's boss identified the spray marks and sacked him on the spot; even the police turned up, took pictures of the damage and filed the incident.

Overall, Meek felt much freer in the United States than back home; despite the adversities of being an illegal immigrant he felt as American as an American citizen. He was extremely grateful to the people he met and felt much more solidarity than in Mexico. In fact, his boss, who was from England, greatly appreciated Meek’s hard work.

After 7 years of living in the United States he decided to return to Mexico as he did not see himself living a full life in the United States. He had realised his dream and felt it was time to move on. He also wanted to go back to be with his Mum, whom he missed very much.

Meek makes an analysis on the situation in Ecatepec and says that the levels of violence are extremely high right now. The marines and federal police have been deployed to patrol the streets but he reckons that things have not changed much. For example, femicides occur, he says, because there are many rapists and sexual predators around who torture and kill woman for the sake of it. He has seen women's cadavers floating in the polluted river next to his house and it would appear as if nobody gives a damn about it. The authorities simply turn a blind eye to the problem and meanwhile, the mystery of such killings continues…

Human rights do not exist here, ‘We live in the wild, wild West, he remarks. You need to look out for yourself as safety is not guaranteed by the local authorities. Equally, he feels that he is living in a state of war because the army and helicopters fly around at all times; this generates paranoia and a feeling of fear in him.

Shifting gears, Meek talks about Trump and adds, ‘the United States belongs to the native Americans, like the Comanches, the Navajos, Seminoles and the Cherokees, etc. Nevertheless, he believes that Americans overall are good people and they will help you. They are friendly and educated unlike Mexicans, who tend to be much more violent.

If he had the opportunity to talk to President Trump, he would tell him that he is wrong in wanting to divide us since we have always coexisted side by side.

Art symbolises existence to him, ‘it’s the evidence that I live in this damn world’, he points out. Graffiti is a form of expression that allows him to talk about aspects of his life. It is a way to let your heart speak for you. His vocation is strictly about developing letter forms. He sees letters as characters that are brought to life when painted on walls. Aside from that, he likes to add details like spikes to them as his intention is to make them look violent and mean. Currently he associates his graffiti with Satanism as that is what he believes in…

Akira, 29 years old from Ecatepec, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

I travelled for about 2 hours from the southern part of Mexico City to reach the meeting point near Akira’s house in Ecatepec, Estado de Mexico. The place where she lives is well known for the corrupt legacy the political party in power has left there (PRI) for 88 consecutive years. It was also recently reported that this State registered the highest number of murders in the country, at 2,749 followed by the State of Guerrero with 2,542 murders, according to the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI).

It’s a place where impunity is rampant and the murder of women has increased in the last few years, making it more dangerous than Ciudad Juarez which was once ranked as the murder capital of the world.

That said, Akira finds it calm and safe to live in Ecatepec. She explains that what she likes is the fact that she can walk freely on the streets, even late at night. She emphasises that it’s nice to walk at all times of the day without fear of being shot at. She then points to the beauty of the area and thinks that people are friendly and approachable unlike other places in Mexico.

She grew up in a family environment where art was not specifically encouraged in her. But she was always interested in drawing, she says.

Her fascination with the graffiti world stems from travels she used to make across the city at an early age. While making her everyday journeys she would notice loads graffiti signs that made the ‘repetitive’ trip exciting.

She became particularly interested in the colours, the shapes and the complexity of some of the paintings on the walls.

Akira, as a woman, is not worried that more men than women are involved in this art form. In fact, she thinks more men are painting because women may be more scared to face the streets and go out painting late at night.

When she first started painting she was discriminated against by others and she even remembers a graffiti writer making a comment against women: “having a women painting with us will always represent a problem”.

Nevertheless, things have changed, thankfully. Akira believes that men are much more accepting of women joining this artistic movement.

On the other hand, her dad never liked graffiti, he thought it was a waste of time but her mom was always supportive and accepted her passion for this art form.

Even though Akira feels safe in her area, she once experienced what seems to be recurring issue for many women in Ecatepec.

As she had finished painting late at night, she decided to grab a taxi as that was the only way home.

Five minutes into the journey, Akira realised that the taxi driver was deviating on to a different route. She immediately started panicking and many terrible thoughts crossed her mind. As she was seated beside the driver, she was unable to escape because the man was grabbing her tightly by the arm.

The driver kept punching her in the face and insulting her. At one point she was so shocked and confused that she was about to give in, when she suddenly managed to reach for a spray can she had kept in her hand bag and sprayed it all over the man’s face.

The man instinctively brought his hands to his eyes and mouth. That gave Akira a chance to open the door and run away as fast as she could. She recognised the area she was in and sought help from a local friend who came to her aid, letting her into his house until she was out of danger.

Given the situation, Akira felt pretty shaken up. For a few weeks she was in fear of leaving her house. She could easily have been another rape or murder statistic, unsolved by the incompetent authorities.

Since that incident, whenever she goes out to paint she tries to be on an alert mode.

Shifting gears, although she has mentioned that her area is pretty safe and calm, she has noticed that an increase in violence has erupted in about the last 6 years, though it’s still relatively safer than living in other parts of the municipality.

Akira also talks about her fear of heights and how she confronts it. She says she will never be defeated by such feelings. Graffiti, in fact, has been the perfect way to prove herself against her fears.

She is terrified of heights but she has climbed billboards as high as 60 metres and has painted while standing on a small ledge where, if the wind blows against her or she suddenly feels dizzy, she would fall and die instantly.

The ultimate goal she has is to prove to herself that there are no limits and that she is as capable as anyone of dealing with any obstacle that comes in her way.

On another topic, due to the tradition of corruption and bad management of politicians in the Estado de Mexico specifically, Akira entertains no hope in such individuals. She says that if they can, they will abuse you as they so often do in Ecatepec or pretty well anywhere else in the country.

Akira is a hardworking woman who goes on in life by planning clear objectives, working and dreaming for a better future…

Whenever she has experienced hardship in life, to the point that she might feel depressed or hopeless, her way of countering the situation is to focus her mind on the positives and stick to the relevant things.

Natsu, 33 years old from Atizapan, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

Natsu was introduced to graffiti through observing gang tags in Chihuahua (State in the north of Mexico). when she was at primary school.

Years later, when she left for Mexico City, a friend of hers was already an experienced graffiti writer who inspired her to give it a try, so she did.

Her graffiti name Natsu was taken from a Japanese manga cartoon. A friend at the time used to tell her that she looked like the cartoon character and she ended up adopting it as her graffiti nickname.

During her initial graffiti years, her parents were opposed to her involvement; they used to tell her that graffiti was for delinquents who had nothing better to do. They pressured her to stop doing it but she continued regardless of the constant condemnation.

At that time, she was part of a graffiti crew comprised mainly of men; Natsu felt discriminated against when they kicked her out of the group as the men in that crew thought she would get bored of painting after a few years. In the end, from that crew, only one male writer and she continue to paint today.

Due to her determination and passion and the fact that she developed her techniques and style at a rapid pace, it opened doors to opportunities and differentiated her from other female graffiti writers who did not put as much dedication into their work. As a consequence, this earned her more respect among men.

After a few years painting regularly she had to slow down as she got pregnant. She took the mature route and needed to prioritize her responsibilities in order to give the best to her new-born.

At the same time, it was a hard process for her to stop as she had been into art all her life. Having said that, to this day she paints when she has time because if she didn’t she would feel she isn't herself. Art has shaped her identity, she says.

Overall, graffiti means a lot of happiness to her, while on the other hand, it was a way to challenge herself to be good at whatever she wants in life.

On a personal level Natsu used to consider herself a cold type of human being before her daughter was born but since her birth, she has changed a great deal; Natsu feels that she has experienced a renaissance in her life.

The Estado de Mexico is one of the most densely populated states in Mexico and recognized as a very violent State. It’s a place where women are victims of violence and femicides have increased in the past 10 years, even more so than in Ciudad Juarez, previously known as the country’s femicide capital. This is where Natsu lives and where she has had to overcome many difficulties.

For instance, harassment occurs all the time, whether it might be for wearing short clothes or simply for walking down the street, she feels that she is a victim just for being a woman. She says that she can share countless stories about harassment –from men simply whistling at her, others exposing their genitalia at her and, in the worst case, men literally touching her body without consent.

Natsu then proceeds to share a terrible episode that once happened to her involving a kidnap attempt near her house.

Having ended her work shift at midnight one night, she decided to walk home. Natsu had done that route before so she was pretty confident that nothing would happen to her.

Half way through her journey, a car stopped right next to her which immediately causing her to worry that something was not right. The driver in the car was a man who asked her the way.

Given that Natsu was not cooperating with him, he stepped out of his vehicle to get hold of her. Natsu´s spontaneous reaction was to run away but she did not manage to get far enough and grabbed a tree very tightly.

The man caught up with her and started to beat her up, punching her in the face multiple times and insulting her while pulling her hair also.

Since Natsu was not giving in, the man walked over to the car to pick something up, but he could not find it and drove off.

Natsu was petrified. Soon afterwards a neighbor came to her assistance. Minutes later her family arrived and finally an ambulance and the police were called to help her.

As so often happens in Mexico, the police literally told her that they could not do much about the situation as no witnesses were reported. The police also informed her that all she could do was to make a claim at the police station in order to open an investigation into the issue which would most probably have been filed and forgotten after a few weeks.

In the end, she decided to go home and forget about it all.

Since then, she has suffered some sequels but has slowly moved on and tried to get back to normality.

After that terrifying experience, Natsu thinks that she could have ended up being ‘just’ another figure among the hundreds of women who have disappeared and who´s bodies have been found lying in waste-grounds, floating in dirty canals or chopped to pieces.

Radically turning the page and touching on the migration polices instituted by President Trump, Natsu thinks that he is a coward. She thinks that, just like Hitler, Trump is worried that his identity will be washed away if more immigrants go to ´his country´.

If she had the opportunity to talk to Trump she would tell him that every person has the right to go wherever they wish –that it is a human right.

Finally, she thinks that the way the United States is handling climate change is in a very irresponsible direction. She would love it if that country implemented a good policy to improve the environment for all. Nonetheless, she does not see that taking place at all. Moreover, since that will not happen, Trump´s image will crumble even further, she adds…

Sert, 23 years old from San Salvador, El Salvador

I met up with Sert for the first time at his University where he is studying to become an electrical engineer. At the beginning and throughout our conversation he seemed very quiet and I wondered whether that was due to shyness or because he was cautious about talking about certain sensitive issues related to the reality of the country.

After a few questions on graffiti and gangs, he explains that what he used to often see in his local area when he was growing up was gang-related 'graffiti'. In order for him to see artistic graffiti he had to travel to the city centre to check the pieces and tags that gave him the inspiration to start painting.

I ask him what his tag means and he responds that it’s the number three (in Spanish) but spelt back to front (i.e. tres →sert). He likes the letters as he finds them aggressive, though he had to spell it back to front because the number 3 is one of the digits used by one of the gangs to represent themselves. If he used that number as his graffiti signature he could run the risk of potentially being seen as an enemy of the rival gang or liable to get into trouble with the police. He is also careful about what lettering style he uses in order not to cause himself problems. For example he avoids styling his letters with an old english of a gothic font as these are often the letter styles used by gangs.

He notes that this art form is a very powerful tool that allows him to get to know other worlds and escape from the neighbourhood's daily issues. He likes taking over walls that have been severely defaced and embellish them with beautiful looking pieces, strong and powerful to the eyes of passersby.

It might sound a little cliché to some perhaps but graffiti has helped him to stay out of trouble; it gave him an outlet to channel his energy into something positive and not fall a prey to the delinquent groups in his area.

He is not afraid of speaking out against the government but he avoids talking about issues that are closer to him.

The closest he has ever got to being involved in a dangerous situation when painting graffiti was while he was spraying his name at night. Suddenly some gang members saw him and chased him away but he ran as fast as he could and fortunately escaped.

I ask Sert for the definition of a few concepts to get a better understanding of how he perceives life in the city. He says that freedom means to be able to do whatever you want without any problems whatsoever, to be able to walk freely in the day or at night for as long as you want.

He hopes that the situation in his country will change someday but right now he doesn't see much hope at all.

His dream is to travel as far as he can to paint…

Sneer, 23 years of age from San Salvador, El Salvador

She started to paint graffiti when she was 16 years of age and she was influenced by people where she used to study. Sneer was attracted to it from deciphering what the tags and symbols said. She eventually started tagging her name up and was basically influenced by what she used to see from collage.

Her main motivation to paint graffiti was that she was always interested in drawing but she was heavily influenced by a woman graffiti writer who's tag name is Girly. Sneer would see her tags and throws on the streets but was not aware that she was a woman until she found out one day. that motivated her to go out and emulate her. In other words, it was thanks to Girly’s graffiti that she became a graffiti writer. Her inspiration was a woman and not the men that were tagging and bombing as it usually happens given that this movement is mainly composed of men.

What’s it like to be a woman in this country and what is it like to be a graffiti woman here? I suddenly pose the question

It’s pretty tough to be a woman in general in Latin America. Women always run a risk just of being women. It’s mainly because of the culture that has dragged for many decades or centuries that women are so vulnerable. For instance if a woman walks in the streets and a bunch of men are gathered around, it’s very common to be harassed by the bunch.

Having said that, in El salvador that does not happen that much to women as one is much more worried about the gangs. It’s more likely to be under threat from the gangs, that is why men abstain themselves from whistling or harassing women as they don't know if they are provoking a gang members wife or girlfriend. The main worry that women have is that a gang member abuses you.

Being a woman graffiti writer is not easy. Imagine that from the 100 percent of graffiti writers here in the country, perhaps not more than 10 percent are women painting.

Men might think its easy to be a graffiti writer and go far but they don't place themselves in our shoes. they don't realise the intricacies and hardships of being a woman graffiti writer here.

Men usually make insulting comments about women. I know a male graffiti writer who looks down on women and usually makes comments like, ‘ That girl is an easy ride or that other girl is a slag’. It’s pretty sad to hear them make such remarks about women. Women that make their maximum effort to stand out and represent their names in the graffiti movement are brave indeed.

I like to paint letters and my interest is to get to master a wild style but I don't really aim to express something specifically. I think that most women try to paint characters and stuff like that but I hardly have seen a woman paint a proper wild style piece; I want to prove to others that women can also be good at painting god letters and certainly to dominate wild style pieces.

In other words, my main objetive is to promote my name in the traditional form like most graffiti writers do.

Sneer only paints legal graffiti now due to the violent situation that prevails in the country. When she started to paint, her parents were not happy with her activity. Her dad even took the drastic measure of withdrawing the financial support she received to attend university because she did not stop paining. Her mum punished her by denying her to leave the house at all as Sneer was once arrested for painting illegally. The police ended up handing her over while at work. It was very embarrassing for her Mum to receive her daughter handcuffed by the police at her work place.

When my parents suddenly saw me participating in events inside and outside the country they started to assimilate it more and more and accepted it.

They started to take an interest to understand what she was doing, to the point that they would observe her drawings. Sneer would sit down with them and educate them about what graffiti meant and helped them differentiate traditional graffiti from gang graffiti which, of course, she has never practiced.

The majority of parents she knows think that graffiti is connected to gangs but it’s not like that at all. She points out, ‘It’s an obligation for us as graffiti writers to sit down with our parents and explain to them the difference between one another. It’s important to break with the typical negative stereotypes that exist and that is why we organise workshops and talks to educate the population about what graffiti is really about’.

Until recently it was petty common for Sneer to see gang graffiti painted on the walls of her neighbourhood although due to an anti-graffiti programme led by the police to eradicate gang graffiti it is difficult to observe gang marks today.

However, she used to pay attention to how the tags and murals they painted were made and how gangs members became more sophisticated with the implementation of new materials. For instance, tags suddenly started to be painted with special graffiti caps.

It terms of where to paint and where not to, my crew and I tend to do graffiti in areas where the gang that controls our neighbourhood operates since it’s pretty dangerous to be in areas controlled by the rival gang. Everyone in El salvador knows the rules on the streets so we must follow them if we want to live in peace…

Madjer, 23 years old from San Vicente, El Salvador

Madjer is an artist originally from San Salvador who has a lot of talent in him and whose work is based on hyper-realism.

When I saw his graffiti for the first time I was pretty impressed with his skills, his  young age, and from being from El Salvador which is a place that is almost ignored for its graffiti culture although known for the war in the ’80’s, the establishment of US gangs in the country in the early 90´s and known for being one of the most violent countries in the world.

Upon my arrival in San Salvador I expected to see plenty of gang signs on the streets but I was wrong. Today, the government has implemented a zero tolerance policy on the gang presence, and as a result, any signs of it will be immediately replaced by biblical passages or whited out.

What I did notice were plenty of well done traditional graffiti, certainly a lively and striving scene.

Madjer started to paint graffiti seriously at the age of 18, inspired by graffiti from outside his neighbourhood. The motivation for his signature came from Rabah Madjer an Algerian football player who became a star of the Porto club in Portugal.

Although he was brought up in a humble household, Madjer comments that his parents were always open about his interests. He continues, “ I grew up in a modest way. My Mom and Dad have always been hard working people and thanks to their support I can say that I enjoyed my childhood. Before graffiti I was heavily into classical music and playing the violin. They are the reason I am an artist today. Consequently, I started selling my art work and I am now fully into graffiti.”

Regarding his style, he tends to paint hyper-realistic characters that try to immortalise the portrayed subjects. Such works evoke feelings of inspiration and admiration but don't seem to have a political connotation.

I feel obliged to ask him if he is at all interested in describing any political opinions in his work to which he responds the following, “I sense that freedom of expression in this country is limited. For instance, I cannot paint certain things like an image of horns or other elements used by certain ‘groups’ or else I would be in danger.”

He plans to be more open about his views on the situation that affects progress in his country in the future, regardless of the possible repercussions…

Eventually, he adds, “Somebody disinterested in politics is an ‘idiot’ to me. In order to improve things around us, we needs to be conscious of the facts”

As a side comment, the difference between El Salvador and many other parts of the world is that graffiti artists here must respect designated territories. They cannot just paint anywhere they want. There are unwritten rules established by such ‘groups’. For example, if a graffiti writer or any person in general lives in a neighbourhood controlled by a certain gang it's highly risky to access the opposite gang’s territory, whether that might be simply to visit a friend, a family member or in the case of a graffiti writer to paint. This is the reason graffiti writers from certain gang-controlled neighbourhoods paint in their own areas so they don't face any dangers.

I immediately feel the urge to ask him his views on ‘human rights’ as a mechanism of protection. Madjer’s response is overwhelming, “human rights are a double-edged sword because one never knows who they benefit more…either the good or the bad', he notes.

He hopes that things will change one day for the well-being of Salvadorian society and that such a change is carried out in a peaceful manner.

Finally, his personal desire is to be a reference to the Latin American graffiti culture and to one day become one of the best in the world.

Empy, 24 years old from Guatemala City, Guatemala

Empy started to paint graffiti through Hip-Hop, an urban culture born in New York City that comprises four elements, rap, graffiti, break-dance and DJ-ing. His interest in rap music led him to discover this art form.

He recalls how in 2006 he started noticing that gang marks around his local area such as bks, ultra sur, MS13 and 18 St. gang were the only form of ‘graffiti’ that existed. Empy used to copy the gang signs in order to learn how to tag but was unaware of the fact that another form of graffiti existed.

Thanks to the influence of gang ‘graffiti’ he began to paint tags around his neighbourhood in cholo (gang) style.

Other graffiti influences in the city contributed towards Empy’s development. They provided him with more tools to get involved thanks to some of the foundations he had learned from observing the art of the streets.

A large number of graffiti murals were hidden away in dangerous neighbourhoods where gang activity was a constant threat. If you wanted to see them it would have to be in the company of a local who knew the rules. Empy remembers seeing his first proper graffiti-based mural production in a more accessible place which filled him with inspiration.

In 2008 he travelled abroad for the first time. He visited Los Angeles to distract himself from severe personal issues which were affecting his life as a whole. On his arrival he became very inspired from seeing all the graffiti around the streets. This convinced him to dedicate himself to painting 100 percent.

Through graffiti, he met people along the way who became long-time friends. Overall, this art form helped him greatly to escape from family issues, as his situation at home was pretty complicated.

A pivotal moment for him in his initial years as a graffiti artist was when he travelled across Central America to accompany a few musician friend. He noticed that there was very much more graffiti than back home, especially in El Salvador where life is pretty violent. From then on graffiti stopped being an excuse to get away from his personal problems and more of a lifestyle to follow.

El Salvador, where he lived for 3 months, was particularly important to him. He could not understand how in a country with huge limitations and higher levels of violence and crime, which was also a poorer economy than Guatemala, there was a flourishing graffiti scene; that inspired him a lot.

He returned to Guatemala even more motivated and ended up living in an area where graffiti wasn’t visible at all. ‘If people, who for the most part were ranchers who tend to carry weapons, saw you spray painting a wall they would associate you with gangs immediately which was something that made it even more complicated’, Empy points out. One would run the risk of potentially being lynched by the villagers. He thinks that explains why graffiti had no place there.

Given the situation, he deduced that it was safer to paint at night as nobody was about. With that in mind he started to cover the streets with his name and within a few weeks, the residents of the town took notice of it.

The people were after him, including the police because of all the damage he had generated. He even went as far as to paint a local drug point, as a result of which some gang members came after him to kill him as it heated things up for their business. In the end, a friend of his was able to resolve the issues and Empy managed to walk free…

From there on he became more strategic about the places he painted. He decided to stop signing his pieces to avoid being identified by the authorities or infuriating citizens. Over time he realised that thanks to that strategy, people started to understand and appreciate this art form more, and at the same time they began to realise that it was something separate from the gangs.

In fact, he even noticed how a transition in people’s perception occurred in wealthy areas; graffiti started to have a place in those areas too and people were more accepting of it overall.

Empy believes that freedom of expression in Guatemala is still limited. To begin with, there is hardly any support from the government towards this art form, added to which, very few places exist whereby young people can practice their skills. As a consequence, it’s the youth themselves who have had to open social and artistic locations to encourage others to exploit their creativity. However, the municipality itself has closed them down. Empy thinks that the blame should not only be put on the authorities, as the organised youth who open up these places tolerate kids taking drugs, which gives them a bad reputation too.

I ask Empy what he thinks about 'justice' in Guatemala and he responds that the civil war that occurred between 1960 and 1996 is a wound in Guatemalan society and unfortunately it has not healed yet. Many families are looking for their disappeared family members and are seeking justice. He adds, ‘the violence that damaged so many Guatemalans back then is still having negative effects on society today’.

Empy doesn’t feel that full freedom exists in his country. To begin with, he explains that buying a house is terribly complicated and that the government imposes all kinds of obstacles to make it virtually impossible to buy one. Most Guatemalans live in precarious conditions and so violence is widespread. Meanwhile, the people in the top echelons of society live very comfortable lives.

On a recent trip he made to Europe, he had the chance to decide to stay and try to find a way in life, but he returned to Guatemala as he believes that a change can take place there. Furthermore, he adds, ‘knowledge is to be shared among each other and I hope others will be motivated to make a change in their lives’.

Given that, he has been lucky to leave his country and observe life in other parts of the world, he admits that he envies life in Europe. Although he encountered poverty there, he did not see the extreme poverty that one notices all the time in places like Guatemala. ‘The opportunities and security that people enjoy over there is something we hope to have over here’, he stresses.

His take on immigration policies from the United States is that Guatemalans, as well as other Central Americans who have had to flee their homes as the violence and lack of opportunities is terrible. Empy notes this and poses a question: ‘people should look for opportunities elsewhere because, if the United States hates immigrants so much, then why bother going there to be treated like garbage?’

On a final note, his perception of how Mexican authorities are dealing with the issue is of great hatred towards Central Americans. The hatred the United States unfairly expresses towards Mexicans is replicated by Mexicans towards their southern neighbours.

Ultimately, we are all Latin-Americans and if we joined forces we would be unstoppable…

Taaf, 23 years of age from Distrito Central (Comayaguela), Honduras

Taaf is the name that his fellow graffiti partners know him as. He is young, loves his country and has been lucky enough to travel all around it thanks to his previous job. He recently dropped out of University as he was investing more time in painting than studying. As a consequence, his parents stopped supporting him financially.

Taaf is another one of the thousands of Hondurans who live under the threat of gang in his area. He tells me that it is much more dangerous in his neighbourhood than in other places given that the gang that operates there uses a lot more violence to terrorise the locals. For this reason, the government has imposed a siege in the vicinity, whereby soldiers and police guard the place around the clock. Nonetheless, that gang still manages to get away with their criminal activities.

Don't see, don't listen, don't speak is the law imposed by gangs on Honduran society, if one breaches any of those rules it could potentially mean death.

He was never interested in being part of a gang, he tells me. Having said that, he has been surrounded by gunmen and all manner of bad people since the age of 13. Taaf has seen too much violence in his lifetime –he points out that around 20 friends of his have been killed due to violence, and unimaginable things have shaped his existence and understanding of life, which has made him strive to become a better human being.

He speaks with great eloquence and has a huge admiration for the great Honduran libertarian Francisco Morazan whose mission was to unify Central America. Such comment allows me to shape my understanding of him as a conscious, creative, politicised and caring person.

Graffiti has nothing to do with gangs, he notes, although the media and police still associate it with them.

On one occasion while he was tagging the streets with a friend, the police caught them in the act. Ariel was not having it with the cops and started to argue back. This infuriated the officers who immediately arrested both of them and were later taken to the police station. On their arrival, the two officers escorted them into the building. Suddenly, one of the officers popped out a long wooden stick and hit Taaf on the palms of his hands twice. When his friend’s turn came up the officer was ready to carry out the same torturous exercise but Ariel’s friend intuitively moved before the stick touched the hand.

Since Taaf’s friend didn’t ‘cooperate' as he should have, they were instantly sent to a cell unit to complete their punishment but unaware of what was to come…

A few minutes later the police turned up, forced them out and kicked them in so badly that they could hardly move.

Finally, after a few hours there, they were taken to see the judge who proposed a deal. If they wanted to leave soon, the judge, a woman, asked them to paint an image of the ancient Greek goddess, Themis (known as the lady of good council) who represents ‘justice’, on the wall of her office. They immediately accepted. Minutes later they were let free but never went back.

Shifting topics, Taaf believes that many Hondurans are asleep about the problems the country faces, in his words he explains, ‘ a large percentage of the population seems not to care about what goes on here and as long as we keep the bandage over our eyes things will be the same or worse’.

Central American migrants, have been escaping violence and a lack of economic opportunities for decades. Although some manage to find a refuge in the United States, thousands perish in the process.

Taaf thinks that migration is a result of political and security policies that are experienced in the country. He adds, ‘with a huge percentage of unemployment despite the fact that there is a large population ready to work, the lack of funding to exploit our own vast natural resources, high levels of illiteracy added to a large amount of demotivated youths who don't see a better future, those are the main factors that increase people's’ motivation to seek opportunities up north. That story is repeated year on year’.

Though Taff is not fully aware on the Mexican policies on migration, he has heard that migrants from Central America, for the most part, are almost always rejected by the Mexican government. On a social level, he believes that 40% of migrants receive some sort of support from normal people and the remained 60% are harassed, intimidated and violently treated by cartels, gangs and society overall in Mexico.

Finally, I ask Taaf if he could name an area in the city where he feels at all free. ‘It would definitely have to be my old University’, he says, without a shadow of a doubt. Every time he goes back there to hang out with his friends he feels at peace, but when he steps outside, he returns to the crude reality…

Kemee, 20 years old from Distrito Central (Comayaguela), Honduras

Keme, as she is known within the graffiti circle in the capital city of Honduras, is a member of the Nerf crew, one of the graffiti groups active in the city. She has been painting for two years now. Outside of graffiti she works as a graphic designer and is currently studying for a degree in visual arts. Keme considers herself a responsible woman, well behaved at home and an excellent student overall.

As it is typical for many citizens in the country, she lives in a neighbourhood controlled by one of the two main gangs and gets angry at the fact that many people there are quite narrow minded; many of the youth reduce their ambitions in life to ‘defending their territory’ and don't canalise their energy into more positive and creative outlets. In her case, her focus goes beyond that and she dreams of helping improve the country’s situation, travelling to distant places to learn and spread her artwork on walls. She also hopes to see a world where men and women are treated equally.

She hopes to visit The Bronx, the birth place of graffiti, one day to get closer to the roots of Hip-Hop and learn more about the culture she belongs to.

When she goes out to paint, she prefers to do it away from her area in order not to catch the gang’s attention as that could lead to serious issues.

After seeing a few of her drawings I notice a Chicano influence in her style. She likes to paint letters in a kind of gothic type style which reminds me of the gang graffiti of California that was later exported alongside the whole gang culture to some parts of Central America. Having said this, she avoids making too close a connection with gang styles, as she does not want to get into trouble.

I decide to touch on her position as a woman in graffiti. Bearing in mind all the dangers that one goes through as a man, these multiply if you are a woman living in Honduras.

I ask her if she feels that graffiti empowers her: “I see it more as a way to be free and not so much as an empowerment mechanism”.

She adds, “Freedom is something I have never been able to define given that in third world countries like mine it is just an unattainable dream. Nevertheless, for me the definition of the word means to be able to coexist in peace and live happily.”

Keme feels that the meaning of the word ‘woman’ today signifies ‘limitations’ and ‘empowerment’. “I am a woman and I know very well that the only limitations are in one’s head…”

Apart from all the positive things that graffiti makes her feel, she is aware of the danger involved when doing it illegally. She is scared that a gang could hurt her or that she could get into trouble with the law.

Although the act of painting illegal graffiti is not typified under any law yet, it can be left to a judge’s own discretion whether to interpret the content of a work of graffiti as either a rebellious act against the State or a gang mark. This could potentially leave a graffiti artist with a prison sentence of four to eight years for terrorism.

For that reason, Keme worries that she could end up in prison at some point simply for expressing herself freely. Nonetheless, she adds, “When you love something so much you will stop at nothing to keep on doing it” and concludes, “graffiti equals love. It’s an unmatchable feeling”..

Smoke 25 years old from Distrito Central (Comayaguela), Honduras

I met Smoke to wander around his home town of Comayaguela in Honduras, one of the most violent places in the country with figures estimated at around 1,027 murders per year, that is about 85.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

Before settling down in the capital with his parents, he lived in San Pedro Sula, sadly acknowledged also as one of the top five most violent cities in the world.

‘I did not like it San Pedro Sula. I could often hear gun shots being fired in the streets.’ he confesses.

Adrian is in his early 20´s and is currently studying psychology at the National University of Tegucigalpa.

He has been passionately devoted to graffiti for some time, although the graffiti scene in the country has been alive only for a short period. It’s a relatively new art form here but it has certainly caught the interest of many young boys and girls who, like Adrian, treat it as a lifestyle.

As a matter of fact, graffiti isn't all over the city like one can see it in other major capitals like Mexico City, Bogota, New York etc. In Tegucigalpa it seems much more suppressed.

Smoke got interested in this art form by looking at another graffiti writer painting in the street. Since then he has embraced it in the form of “vandalism” (I take this to mean “rebellion”).

He tells me that one of the main problems about painting graffiti in his area is the issue with gangs as they control the territory and residents of the neighbourhood must follow unwritten codes of conduct or serious repercussions will result. He therefore prefers to paint in the city centre where a bit more 'freedom' seems to exist, at least in the day time.

Honduras is a tough country due to the violence, impunity, a lack of freedom of expression and State repression etc. For those reasons, graffiti writers who decide to paint illegally must be very careful not to be caught by the various police forces that operate around as well as the army who are not at all friendly.

Smoke tells me that he feels much more scared talking about the gang issues than criticising the government, “ although the government will also repress you if you shout out for your rights, as an example, we have the case of human rights and environmental activist Bertha Caceres who was brutally murdered in 2016”, he points out. He follows this up by sharing an experience he once had in his neighbourhood with the gang that operates there.

“I once painted a graffiti piece in my local area that contained the picture of a marihuana leaf. When the gang saw it, they intercepted me and told me to erase it as they argued that an image like that could heat up the neighbourhood. They gave me three days to get rid of it or else I would be subject to a punishment by them…”

Graffiti writers need to be careful what they paint and what styles they use. For instance, it’s not advisable to use the gothic style fonts since that lettering style is commonly used by the gangs to identify themselves and mark their territories. Smoke mentions that certain colours, such as blue or red, must be avoided in a piece as these are typically linked to gangs too.

Throughout our conversation, he lets me know that he has lost more than 10 friends due to the violence. He is of the belief that the way to eradicate this problem in Honduras and around the world is through Hip-Hop (the amalgamation of four elements: Rap, disc jockey, graffiti and break dancing): ‘an art form like that opens your eyes and provides you with knowledge and power’.

Finally, he shares a sad incident he once experienced. Smoke was about to go out to paint but before that he decided to light up a marijuana blunt. As soon as he was about to finish smoking it a black van drove up to him. Inside the van were 5 men wearing balaclavas from a police unit called the General Office of Criminal Investigation (DPI in Spanish).

As he was unsure on whether they were police officers or gang members he began to run. After a few minutes they fired a torrent of bullets directly at his feet. After the third round of bullets, he stopped momentarily, thinking they would kill him on the spot. When the police caught up with him, they pointed three AK 47 rifles at his face and forced him to identify himself.

As the police thought he belonged to a gang, they threatened to dump him in a nearby gang territory which would have meant death for him. They began inspecting his pockets and found some marijuana leftovers. At that point, the police threatened him by stating that he would be reported in the news as a dead body wrapped in a sack. He was then stripped naked in the middle of the street. At that point, the police were about to let him go on the condition that he gave them information about the gang members activity in the area, to which he refused to do.

Since he did not cooperate with them, they pulled him into the police van and a plastic bag was wrapped around his head. One of the officers exclaimed, ‘O.K., mate, I am going to make you understand the situation’, to terrorise him even more.

They kept placing the bag over his face while they hit him hard in the chest. After half an hour of continuous torture he could not resist any more and shouted, ‘for God’s sake, please let me go!!!’

One police officers shouted, ´I don’t give a fuck about God, you mother fucker, I am God!!!’ Smoke was terrified that they would dump him in another gang controlled neighbourhood. They pushed a gun straight into his cheek again.

Eventually they let him go as they confirmed that in effect he was not a gang member. As soon as he was freed, he ran as fast as he could. His his heart was pumping at a rapid pace, he was nervous and in constant fear.

To this day, regardless of all the dangers –the serious risks involved in breaking the law by painting graffiti illegally in Honduras –he still has the drive to go on doing it. Graffiti has made him the person he is today and prevented him from ending up involved in the gangs...

Snak, 22 years old from Caracas, Venezuela

Although Snak was born in Caracas he grew up and currently lives in Guarenas, a city located a few kilometres away from the capital.

His development as a graffiti writer started, like that of many other kids, at school. It was a friend of his who showed him the secrets of this art form.

He recalls the period when he started travelling to other locations like to the capital city to paint, and adds, ‘It used to be an adventure, I mean going to Caracas to paint was a mission in itself’.

Snak shares an experience that happened to him which got him into a complicated situation: I and a group of friends had planned to paint a suburban train which we had painted before. So, as we got to the motorway that would lead us to the train yard, a bunch of soldiers spotted us. We saw them talking through their radios although we did not think anything of it and continued walking. Little did we know that the army was on a high alert as robbers had been stealing the railway line cable, hence more security had been implemented in the railway depot.

Before Snak and his friends managed to get into the railway depot the soldiers started to fire bullets at them. His friends managed to escape but he didn’t have the same luck. He was arrested and taken into a building, beaten up and unfairly incriminated for wanting to steal things from the railway line.

Subsequently, the police drove him to the local police station where a judge ordered Snak to remain under arrest for 2 months and stand trial to determine his culpability. To this day, he is still awaiting a decision…

So, graffiti has led to problems in his life. His mum, for instance is opposed to his activity but doesn’t mind it when he has permission to do it. She worries every time he goes out and risks his freedom and life.

Snak is also at constant risk on the streets, especially nowadays in Venezuela where the crime situation has risen exponentially. Crime, he says, is currently a big problem, ‘It used to be so much easier to paint a few years back but given the political unrest in the country, delinquents will try to steal anything you have –trainers, a watch, clothes, a mobile phone, etc. –literally anything in order to eat.’

Graffiti has also brought many positive things into his life like meeting people from all around the world. No matter what language they speak, graffiti breaks those boundaries and allows graffiti writers to communicate through letters and style.

Snak points out something important which is that nowadays it’s almost impossible to buy paint or anything that implies luxury; what really matters to most people is trying to buy the essentials like food. 'Graffiti has become a luxury that I cannot always afford', he says.

Regarding the political climate, he is unhappy with the social policies implemented by the Bolivarian government. He is also scared of the repressive measures and finds it unfair that the police are attacking people simple for expressing their views.

He says that even though the government right now is applying extreme measures to counterattack the demonstrators who are putting pressure on President Maduro, that doesn’t stop him from painting. In fact, it has made it a ‘little’ more relaxed because the authorities are much more concerned with the political uprising than dealing with graffiti.

Snak doesn’t think Socialism is the way forward in Venezuela. He was taught at school that Socialism meant everyone is the same and should live the same way but he disagrees with it in theory because all human beings are different. He continues, ‘It’s a crazy system, this one we live in…They teach you to be mediocre. Then you look at all the politicians, whether they belong to the opposition or to the official government all obese and driving in nice and fancy vehicles, but where do we Venezuelans stand?’

That said, he does not have a problem with rich people having money since he thinks that they have genuinely earned it with their hard labour.

Snak does not envision an immediate change in the country while all politicians just care about getting the power they need to govern. In general there is a lot of uncertainty and scepticism about anyone else succeeding Maduro as president. We shall keep watching the situation to see what happens…

Finally, Snak explains that graffiti means 4 things to him: experiences, adrenalin, knowledge and freedom.

Fui, 31 years old from Guarenas, Venezuela

Fui is a graffiti writer originally from Guarenas, a city close to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

Although he was born and grew up there, he spent a great deal of his life in Caracas where he worked and went to university to study visual communications and graphic design.

He recalls that graffiti has been around since ’97 or ’98 roughly but the boom in the Country was really in the 2000´s. Fui got inspired to paint in 2003 through a friend from University who was already an established graffiti artist. Having said that, he was exposed to art from a very early age so he already had a notion about creative practices and the sensitivity to visually describe his feelings and emotions.

As time went by, he realised that graffiti was not a kid’s game, especially in a violent country like his.

As he got older, he was eager to know more about the origins of this art form, where it started, looking at styles in magazines and the internet, getting to know who the pioneers were, etc. He soon realised that in order to protect his real identity he had to come up with a nickname so his first tag was Dros, as in dross, or human waste but spelt with one ´s´ only.

Why did you pick that name up, I asked him? “I was drawn to that name due to the position of each letter and the fact that it was short and easy to paint quickly”.

He was once painting a piece in the day time when a contingent of police officers showed up. Unaware that the police were after him for much of the damage on public and private property in the locality, he was arrested on the spot. The police had opened an investigation and filed all the complaints until they caught him in the act and charge him for all the damage.

At the police station, he was retained and next to him were 3 other guys around his same age who had been detained under the suspicion of killing a woman after they tried to rob her.

One of the police officers in charge of his case spoke to Fui for a while and told him that prison was not a fair punishment for the kind of ‘offences’ he had committed and added that guys like the ones next to him were the real criminals, in other words the officer did not see graffiti as a crime.

Fui received a short length of community work as penalty for the damage caused as well as an obligatory monthly attendance at a police station to check up on him.

The police also suggested he did not paint graffiti until the charges expired –otherwise if he got arrested he would not be able to escape a prison sentence this time.

After that he decided to stop for a while and change his tag from Dors to Fui, as in the past tense (“was”) of the verb “to be”.

Moving on, I ask him if he has suffered any violent encounters while painting on the streets. He remembers two memorable ones. The first one involved a homeless man addicted to crack who lived under a bridge. Fui asked him if he could paint the wall of the bridge, to which he said yes. Once he had finished he told him and said goodbye but the man wanted him to pay. Fui elaborates on the story, ¨The crack-head wanted me to pay but I refused and I said that the only way he would force me was by trying to rob me¨. Seeing that the situation was not getting any better and that the homeless man was about to strip him off of his belongings, Fui grabbed a stone and smashed it on the man’s head to defend himself… After that he ran away, never to see the homeless man again.

The second situation involved the police. Fui was painting a billboard in the middle of nowhere. The police spotted him and demanded that he get down. They fired some bullets at him which luckily didn't hit him and managed to come back down the ladder. They tried to rob him at first but he did not give in. As a way to be left alone, he offered the officers that he would tattoo them. A few days later one of them turned up to his studio to get a tattoo and became a client of his.

Following the murder of his first brother, Fui painted continuously for about two years to heal the pain and avoid falling into a more severe depression. After that he decided to slow down due to his daughter´s birth. In retrospect, he says that graffiti helped him a great deal to try and alleviate the pain and depression he felt over his brother's murder; it distracted him and made him more resilient.

He didn’t use to connect his work within a political context but as times got tougher in the country and before he left for good, he found ways to paint anti-government statements, denouncing the malfunctioning and corruption.

He left Venezuela in 2015 for his own personal reasons and not because of the financial crisis. He wanted to see other parts of the world, get in touch with other people, discover the potential he had.

Fui says that Graffiti is a lifestyle to him that means friendship, experience, trust, attitude, too many emotions in one word he says… He thinks that freedom of expression is something that he can indeed exercise in Venezuela; at least through graffiti but that daring to criticise the government through other more direct methods is a risk he is not prepared to take.

What does change mean to you? He responds that it comes from a decision one makes. Sooner or later a change will come but he thinks that inevitably it will be through violence, unfortunately.

Finally, I get to the word ´fear´, on which he notes, ¨I am not in fear of anything to be honest. Fear is the product of a mental barrier that is inserted into people’s minds¨. Fear is a negative being. People in Venezuela live with fear and they don’t want to detach themselves from it. Action for change will take place the day Venezuelans decide to break loose from fear…

Danger, 22 years old from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Danger started painting graffiti when he was 11 years old though at the time he was much more interested in skateboarding.

Before Danger came up with that graffiti name, he used to paint ‘Peace, Love, Unity and Respect’. He explains why he decided to call himself Danger. ‘My previous tag,’ he elaborates, ‘annoyed local gang members who used to go to school with me though I didn't care and carried on doing my thing.’

On one occasion, a school kid threatened him with a knife but Danger was not stupid and that day he carried a machete to protect himself; he chased the kid all across the school… After that incident he was detained by the school authorities and a social worker told him that he represented a danger to society, hence the reason he now goes by that name.

Before he came to live permanently in Ciudad Juarez he used to live in El Paso, Texas where he was born and grew up; he has lived between both countries all his life.

He says that he feels a lot happier and much freer living in Ciudad Juarez than in the United States because laws in Mexico are less strict.

‘A great deal changed in Juarez’, Danger explains, and continues, ‘before all the violence it was pretty nice and lots of money floated around, harassment from the authorities was not as rampant as it is now.’

During the war, streets were deserted at night, you would only go out if you needed to. Painting graffiti was like committing suicide. If you got caught by the soldiers or the police they would probably associate you with a narco group that was painting narco propaganda on the walls.

He remembers a tragic experience of abuse of power from the federal police during a party that took place during the hardest period of the city’s life.

Danger elaborates, ‘I was smoking a joint with some friends at a party when suddenly we saw a man running past us with a long weapon; then a second one walked passed carrying an even longer weapon. At the beginning we thought they were sicarios, but we later realised they were Federal Police officers. Because we were smoking weed we got scared and tried to escape to avoid being arrested.’

As Danger was trying to run away, the police shouted, ‘Stop!!’ He carried on running until he heard bullets flashing by. Seeing that the situation was serious he decided to hand himself in.

Danger and a friend from Zacatecas were arrested and were beaten up severely straight away. He heard the police say that they, the police, were the ones in

charge of the kidnappings and that they were going to hang them both of them off a bridge… The modus operandi was to drive them up and down in circles, like they usually did, while they tortured them. Danger was forced to swallow a handful of cigarettes and if he spat one out they would make him swallow more.

The police then threatened him that they were going to cut him into pieces. They pushed a knife right up to his ear and he started bleeding. Moments later they arrived at a safe house where they retained Danger and his friend for a few more hours. The police turned up with a huge block of marijuana and showed it off to him telling him, ‘Hey you, you like weed right?’ Afterwards they planted an unassembled weapon they called the ‘cop-killer rifle’ that they had decided to plant on him in order to blame the two of them for a crime they had not committed.

Danger heard screaming nearby, victims of the police he presumes that were kidnapped in the safe house.

To their luck, they were taken back into the police van and driven away to the Chamisal park. When they arrived there the police made them strip naked. After that hellish time, the police let them go but forced them to run as fast as they could while they fired bullets at them.

Danger and his friend, who were terrorised and harshly beaten up had to find a way back home that night…

Shifting gears, he highlights the fact that people in Juarez are very attentive and kind, very friendly too. He loves the food and also likes the fact that the city is a place where all cultures collide, like the chicanos, the Jarochos (demonym used for people from the State of Veracruz in Mexico), the Tarahumara people, etc.

In terms of the harsher migration policies implemented in the United States he has noticed that tougher measures have been put to use against anyone that looks Latino. Danger does not see that things will change if Trump builds that wall and adds, ‘Mexicans are very astute people and they will always find ways of crossing into the US.’

Getting back to graffiti, he likes the adrenaline that graffiti generates in him when he is painting illegally. He paints graffiti as a way to rebel against everyone and likes going against the norms. Danger likes it when people understand graffiti as something negative.

The best feeling that represents freedom to him is when he finishes painting a risky place in the city and is back home smoking a joint while he remembers the feat.

In terms of drug trafficking he is indifferent about it as he views it as another job. To him it is simply another way of trying to get by in life. He explains, ‘the narcos are human beings like anyone else’. What he is opposed to however is the violence that it creates, the murders and all of the injustices.

Finally, his city represents his home, his friends, graffiti, and freedom...

Pino, 27 years old from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Apart from being an avid football fan of the Indios de Juarez football team, Pino has been passionate about graffiti since the age of 18. He got inspired to become a graffiti writer after seeing the level of stagnation of culture in the city. The act of painting makes him feel proud of himself. Pino feels that he embellishes the city with his art work rather than destroying it as many people view it. At the same time, he paints to prove that he is not scared about the violence in the streets.

Overall, graffiti has allowed him to meet many people that are good friends now.

While violence was rampant in the city he did not stop painting. His approach was to spread messages of happiness and hope all across it.

Pino has noticed many changes in Juarez in the past few years, such as an awakening of people, it feels much freer, he says, and notices more hope in people’s eyes.

Pino and a friend, whose nickname was Castor, used to own a small office they used as a small warehouse and to sell the football items they produced. That income enabled him to live and buy graffiti supplies.

One day, they both met up to have lunch and talk. Subsequently, Castor said goodbye to Pino to go and take part in a football match. Pino had a strange feeling and didn't want his friend to go.

A few hours later, Pino received a call from a friend informing him that something tragic had just happened and that they had to meet up urgently. As soon as they got together, Pino’s friend informed him that a shoot out had taken place at the park where Castor was playing that afternoon.

When they arrived at the football pitch, many kids were laying on the ground dead but Castor was nowhere to be found. Pino tells me about the scene of the massacre: ‘there were kids lying on the floor dead, blood everywhere and no police officers in sight.’

They searched for Castor everywhere without any luck. Minutes later, Castor’s mother arrived, shivering, Pino remembers.

After a few more minutes searching for his friend, they approached a van that was parked right by the football ground. They opened the door and Castor fell out covered in blood. They deduced that he had literally just arrived when the commando of sicarios fired bullets in all directions catching Castor inside the car.

By the end of it all, the sicarios had massacred everyone that was innocent but missed the alleged target who was lucky to escape and was never found. There was even a rumour circulating that the sicarios realised they had messed things up and killed the wrong people but exclaimed, ‘to hell with it, let’s go!!’ and disappeared into oblivion leaving a blood bath behind them…

Pino points out that his friend Castor died with his Indios football club shirt on as a sign of pride!

He felt great impotence and frustration about his beloved friend’s death. Castor was also a graffiti writer who died as a result of the extreme violence that was intoxicating the city back then.

His definition of happiness is to share positive episodes in life with his friends and, at the same time, to be able to see and love his mom.

On the question of migration, if Pino had President Trump right beside him he would congratulate him and thank him for raising that wall. He would point out to him that the Mexican people don't need the ‘Gringo’s’ help to achieve development.

In fact, Pino explains that the wall has existed for a long time and argues that Trump’s racist policies have only increased Mexican people’s pride.

Finally, graffiti is something that will always exist, Pino says, noting that it’s a way to express many things. The streets will never stay quiet while graffiti exists…

Mac, 36 years old from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua,  Mexico

Mac is his graffiti name, short for Maclovio, which is his real name. He started to paint graffiti when he was about 15 years old. Mac remembers that life in Ciudad Juarez was much calmer in the 90’s than it is today.

One could walk around the city much more safely then, even though trivial issues such as gang domination in certain neighbourhoods was a common problem. He remembers that decade as the apogee of graffiti in the city.

His influence as a graffiti writer came from looking at American magazines that contained, for the most part, American graffiti. In fact, an old friend from El Paso, Texas was the one who started to teach him the basics and how to do things the right way.

When Mac was young he migrated to Los Angeles, California in the 80’s to live there for a while with his family. He later returned to his home town but would keep going back and forth to Texas where he would learn more about graffiti. He says the United States was a huge influence on his career as a graffiti artist, ‘I basically used it as my school of graffiti.’

His approach as an artist began to drift gently as a result of all the negative things that were taking place in the city. He started to identify two waves within the graffiti movement, those who paint graffiti for political reasons and others who simply do it for aesthetic reasons and to feed their egos.

As a consequence of this discovery and moved by the atrocities that were occurring, he began to integrate a political message into his work. Mac was interested in talking about femicide issues and keeping this topic fresh in the minds of the public in order not to forget that it sadly keeps happening to women.

As a matter of fact, he remembers how at the beginning of 2000 a message that said ‘stop the mujercidio’ was painted across the city. This was long before the term ‘femicidio’ was recognised by the authorities as an act of hatred towards women simply for being women. Also of relevance is that such messages were painted before the discovery of many women’s bodies in the Campo Algodonero.

Mac interrupted his graffiti career for a while due for personal reasons but he later reintegrated it into his life. Between 2006 and 2007 he started to collaborate with social movements in search of peace and justice. It’s at that point that he got in touch with families of people who had disappeared and decided to add a strong political message to his graffiti as a means of bringing about change.

This is an important period for him as he drifted from painting graffiti just to promote his own ego to subsequently wanting to raise his voice in search of justice.

He thinks that as long as one in a million people receives the message of what he is trying to convey that is already a huge gain. To him, graffiti can act as an agent of change, especially among the youth which is so driven to this art form.

Likewise, graffiti, in contrast with other creative practices, knows no boundaries –it’s a free art movement that is exercised and appreciated by people from all walks of life and by every social class from Mexico to Australia and back.

The war in Juarez affected the graffiti movement a great deal. As violence was at an all-time high, it changed the dynamics of life in the city and so Mac’s process as a graffiti writer became paralysed for a period of time. Having said that, he kept drawing and thinking of ideas that one day he would plaster on the walls.

His main fear was never knowing if he would return home safely… At the same time with the narco groups at war with each other and the military, as well as federal forces and local police patrolling the streets, he learned to be strong and resilient. That period of violence taught the people of Juarez to be more cautious and observant and as a consequence, certain circumstances helped Mac understand in greater depth why forced disappearances were taking place.

Shifting gears, Mac talks about Trump and the effects he is having on the world. He says that he is a powerful and dangerous person. He is quite racist but that man needs to remember that he does not make politics all by himself.

Trump’s policies will accentuate racism as we can currently see and he thinks that the mass sale of weapons around the world will increase, hence violence will not end.

In conclusion, he thinks that Trump is a world threat. He represents the rupture of peace between the people of this world.

He also points out that freedom is manifested to him through graffiti, in a song or by the free movement of people. Incidentally, he feels much freer in Mexico than in the USA.

In terms of his own definition of love he thinks it means sensitivity towards other people’s misfortunes. It means being respectful towards one another, although love is sadly missing in the world. He adds, ‘We are losing the capacity for affection because of all this technology that surrounds us.’

Finally, Ciudad Juarez means resistance to him and despite all the tragedies that have taken place in this city, summer keeps coming back…

Lovely, 20 years old from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Lovely started painting graffiti between 2014 and 2015 when she was studying visual arts at University. She currently makes a living from selling her artwork and by helping her parents with a business they have set up, selling health products, etc.

An element that captivates her about graffiti is that it’s an urban art form, hence people from all walks of life can see it freely without any exclusion whatsoever.

She spends a great deal of time walking in the streets of her city to find places to paint her next art work. When she does it, Lovely makes sure she is accompanied by at least one friend so that she feels more protected given that being a woman in Ciudad Juarez is not at all easy.

Being fearless and alert at all times are the main messages she aims to convey with her artwork.

Her parents categorically disapprove of Lovely painting illegal graffiti due to the high levels of insecurity and the fact that the police can pretty well dispose of you at their own leisure.

She barely remembers much about the war in Juarez between 2008-2014 as she was very young but she does recall that she hardly ever left the house because of the violence. Nowadays she goes out much more and takes the opportunity to paint when she is in the mood. She feels that graffiti provides her with the freedom she needs so much.

In terms of violence against women in Juarez, Lovely explains that femicides keep happening, and adds, ‘though it might appear to be safer in Juarez, killings and violence are still a part of the city’s landscape and anyone might be the next target.

Incidentally, after the huge spiral of assassinations decreased in 2014, Ciudad Juarez was charted off of the top 50 most dangerous places in the world in 2015 but returned in 2016 as the murder rate started to go up.

Lovely believes that human rights are pretty much corrupted and that such rights are hardly respected at all. Likewise, she says that we as citizens barely know our own rights, and as a consequence the authorities can abuse their power at any time in order to do whatever they want to us.

When she touches on American policies like migration, she cannot understand why Trump was elected to lead the United States. Nonetheless, she has no doubts that he wasn't placed in the presidency just by mistake: ‘he was put there for a specific reason’.

Lovely is very clear that Trump will not make this world a better place, and adds, ‘one simply needs to look at his policies on the environment; they are catastrophic’, and closes her sentence by adding, ‘he should at least let us paint that beautiful wall he is so determined to build’.

On another note, Lovely feels much freer in her city than on the other side of the border. The border between is actually the place that represents freedom and likes hanging out there every now and then.

On feminism and gender equality, she makes no distinction between women and men and prefers to treat both genders equally, as individuals with their specific characteristics. Having said that, she is well aware of the struggles that groups of fearless women activists faced in order to be included in society but she doesn't align herself with a feminist line of action and reiterates that she likes to treat human beings based on their qualities and not on the gender they belong to.

To Lovely, Ciudad Juarez means her birthplace –it’s a very small city and even though many bad things have occurred over the years she still enjoys being there.

She takes pleasure in observing the sky at dusk, loves looking at the freight trains go by and takes joy by walking among abandoned and destroyed places.