streetart shanghai 2012

in early 2012 I flew to shanghai for 5 days, my only goal being to take street art photos there. ok, 5 days aren’t very long and january in shanghai is also pretty cold, but I simply had to do it.

I brought along a couple tips with me, e.g. that there is a legal sprayer’s wall in moganshan road. however, I had heard that the wall was to be demolished a couple of weeks before my arrival. I also tried to reach dezio (an active sprayer in shanghai) via flickr, but unfortunately did not receive an answer. so I simply flew there, hoping for the best.

my hostel was located in huangpu, one of the eight “inner” city districts, and thankfully it was right in the middle of an old neighborhood. it had everything that I love about china: colorful life in the streets and delicious food stalls, all far away from the official shopping boulevards. as a trade-off, I was willing to accept the fact that my hostel had no heating. I only removed my jacket when I went to bed.

the day after my arrival, I took the metro toward the “wall” and after a few detours, explored the neighboring districts. between the many skyscrapers you can always find older residential districts; some of them are completely vacant and run-down, others area still partially inhabited.

these “districts of upheaval” offer the perfect conditions to find street art: a high wall enclosing the demolition work. and lo and behold, I found some large stencils, a bunch of graffiti by storm, ether, utah and dezio, and even a banksy. incidentally, I would find further work by storm, utah and dezio more often over the next few days.