EXCERPT
Today, as street postering remains a key element in both community organizing and independent culture, I share some reflections on contributing to the street art scene in Montreal over the last two decades, as illustrated through a recent donation to the Artexte collection of posters that I have saved over the years. These posters that I have donated speak to the role of poster art in sustaining and promoting independent cultural spaces and expression, and revisit my own relationship and connection to social activism in this city.
Reflecting on my participation in street art culture in Montreal, the first images that come to my mind are late-night and early-morning-hours walks through the city, scouting out the right locations to paste up works, while carrying a bucket of wheat paste, a brush, and a knapsack full of posters announcing upcoming protests and events.
Like independent arts, grassroots political work remains deeply connected to street art culture. As independently based campaigns for vital issues in the city—such as housing rights, support for Indigenous community demands for justice, or campaigns for migrant justice—most often operate at a community level, organizationally distant from the structural institutions of power and with very small budgets, street-level communications and publicity are key. Such campaigns also often highlight critical voices that challenge the paradigms of reality asserted by mainstream politics. As their demands are often ignored or mocked by the major media, street art therefore becomes an essential tool for communicating the ideas and the conceptual and political frameworks that activists are campaigning on.
Source:
https://artexte.ca/en/articles/art-on-the-streets-reflections-on-participating-in-an-open-space-for-ideas-artistic-voice-and-confronting-the-powerful/