Fulbright-mtvU Fellows

Graffiti in Paris: From the Streets of Belleville to the Grand Palais

Now that hip-hop is maturing in the fields of art, activism, education and business, what are the risks of hip-hop theatre itself becoming elitist and exclusive because of having penetrated mainstream institutions? What happens to graffiti’s aesthetics when the canvas is legal and the museum is commissioning you?… What happens when we share (and sell) the language that the man wasn’t supposed to understand? If the answer is that we create a new language, then where is it? What happens when hip-hop moves into the opera house and we still don’t own the opera house? What happens if we do own it?
— Danny Hoch from “Toward a Hip-Hop Aesthetic”

While hip-hop around the world has been coming to terms with its own maturity for years now, I don’t know if there is a more appropriate place to apply this quote than France. Here, actors in the hip-hop community are especially torn because they want their work to succeed but are deeply concerned about compromising the integrity of their art and of hip-hop’s original values for success. Previously, I’ve looked at how rappers and dancers feel about hip-hop’s transcendence into “high art” but, after a chance encounter with a graffiti artist in Belleville and the coincidental discovery of a Tag exhibit at Paris’ beautiful and historic Grand Palais, my last two weeks have been filled with graffiti and questions about what to do when the canvas becomes legal.
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France’s International Hip-Hop Dance Scene— Interview with Storm

Since arriving in September, I have been to street performances, workshops, conferences, festivals, battles and theatrical spectacles all dedicated to hip-hop dance, and I am always impressed by how many members of the international community come to France to watch and participate. In an earlier post I wrote about the diverse dancers I met at the Who is Who battle last September, and earlier this month, I witnessed France’s hip-hop dance fever on an even larger scale at the finals for the Juste Debout battle at Bercy Stadium. At Juste Debout (which lasted over 10 hours!), dancers who had previously cleared the preselection rounds in their home countries, came to Paris to compete in one of four main categories: hip-hop newstyle, popping, locking, and house dance. Since Juste Debout means “Just Standing” in English, this battle is only for “top” dancing (so no breaking), and these dancers were incredible! Click here to see official photos at the Juste Debout website.
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A long overdue photo tour of Auckland

Pūnehunehu taku titiro
ki te ao nei e
Pōraki ana ahau
i te kimi i te wāhi ki a au

My view is dimmed
upon the world
Frantic in search
to find my place

This is an excerpt from the poem “Pūnehunehu” (Hazey) by Māori poet Charisma. I included it in my ethics proposal because I thought it was a striking summary of the need for “place”, which in my research I am hoping to show can be created through popular music. However in reading the poem again, I have realized that I have not done my city (yes, after merely 2 months I am infatuated with Auckland enough to feel comfortable calling it “my city”) justice by conveying anything about what kind of place Auckland is.

The following photo slideshow is by no means a comprehensive presentation of everything that is fantastic about Auckland. My photo tour is a little limited by the fact that I do not have a car. I’ve tried to capture some of my favourite spots though so that you can get a sense of my “place” in Auckland. Hopefully I’ve shown a bit of how vibrant, active, colourful and stunning the city is. There are some obligatory scenic shots, but also some more subtle things that I appreciate that might not come up through a Google image search of Auckland. I wanted to share this now so that when I put some footage of artists’ commentary on living in the city, you will know a bit more of the city they are talking about.

Enjoy!

Tags: Auckland, New Zealand