Book launch: Urban surfaces, graffiti, and the right to the city

Join us for the Melbourne launch of Urban surfaces, graffiti, and the right to the city by MC4C research fellow in cities and urbanism, Dr Sabina Andron.

What do graffiti and street art teach us about cities? Can we write a spatial theory of urban surfaces? And what does a wall interview look like? The book explores the importance of surfaces, graffiti, and public signage in thinking about cities, and brings together urban studies, architectural theory, criminology, visual culture and legal geography into an original, richly illustrated argument.

“Andron not only provides a unique and revealing account of graffiti and street art, but instigates a whole new way of thinking about architecture and cities. Anyone interested in the experience of the contemporary city should read this provocative and original book” (Iain Borden, Professor of architecture and urban culture, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK)

Four respondents will discuss different chapters from the book. The book will be available to purchase with a discount on the evening.

Book Respondents:

Megan Hicks is a freelance curator and researcher. Formerly a curator at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and more recently an Adjunct Research Fellow in Urban Studies at the University of Western Sydney, Megan writes about aspects of the streetscape. Her particular interest is graffiti on the ground and the multiple roles of the pavement, both practical and symbolic.

Chris Parkinson is an artist and researcher engaged with lens-based, urban, and conceptual practices. His 2010 book, Peace of Wall: Street Art from East Timor, is described as a ‘book of evocative photojournalism capturing an important moment in East Timor’s history through its walls.’ He is currently completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne, a Rhythmanalysis of collective art practices and public cultures in Yogyakarta, Indonesia through the study of the art collective, Survive! Garage.

Professor Lachlan MacDowall is a scholar of graffiti, street art and digital culture, best known for pioneering research methods that mix genres, images and data. In 2020-22 he was the creative director of Flash Forward. His latest publications are Waves of Zeroes (2022) and the new edition of the World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti (2023). He is currently Director of the MIECAT Institute in Fitzroy.