Italian Street Art Law and the Crime of Expression

“I’m amazed, oh wall, that you haven’t fallen into ruins since you hold the boring scribbles of so many writers.”^[1]

By Visala Alagappan.

2,000 years ago, these words were etched into the wall of a public building in the southwest quarter of Pompeii.^[2] As the author of this message suggests, there are numerous remnants of graffiti and street art designs on this same wall and on others throughout the coastal town. Ranging from observational musings like the one above to political campaign slogans, from romantic poems to sketches of horses and boats, the extant markings on the preserved walls of Pompeii indicate that a street art and graffiti scene was alive and well in the ancient world.

While Italy’s robust cultural heritage and preservation laws have successfully protected the scribbles and sketches of the past, until very recently there has been meagre development in legislation to safeguard contemporary street art and defend street artists’ rights.^[3] A few Italian regional governments have dedicated spaces and funds to street artists. Puglia, a region in southern Italy, was the first in the country to pass a law that directed substantial funds to supporting street artists.^[4] Puglia’s government authorized a funding package of four million euros to help finance artistic projects to enrich peripheral areas of Puglia in disrepair.^[5] The Regional Council of Lazio, the home of Italy’s capital, also recently passed legislation that will allocate 500,000 euros in 2021 and 2022 towards grants offered to street artists and instructs municipalities in the region to each create and publicly display a list of spaces that can be used legally for street art.^[6] These efforts mark the beginning of a trend to make space for a mode of artistic expression that has traditionally been met with lawsuits and fines.