“To Transform the Street into a Museum of the Street”. Graffiti and its Actors in a Poor Neighborhood of Ecatepec, Estado de México

Abstract

Through a case of study, this work describes how the global phenomenon of graffiti has been appropriated and resignified by the people who live in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City. The stories told by the streets painters explain how these expressions arose in the gang war that took place in the region at the end of the 20th century and how these images became disassociated from delinquency to become tools of social criticism. The analysis of the image reveals the new uses that street painting has undergone and the types of contents that are circulated in this medium. Finally, if a community values and promotes this graphic production, it is because it reflects the feelings of the collectivity.