Political Walls in Portugal

«More recently, we have seen the emergence of the so-called political walls in Portugal, which had been forgotten since the post-revolution period. While during the post-revolutionary period many of the painted walls were part of a political communication strategy by the existing parties (mainly left parties), we notice that nowadays those responsible for these wall paintings are normally isolated citizens, associations or non-formal groups of citizens. Nowadays, political wall paintings reappear mainly through the hand of citizens who do not belong to party organizations but who wish to have their voice heard in the public arena, expressing their convictions through the most accessible and democratic resource they have at hand: the street and the walls. It is evident that the current economic and political circumstances favour the emergence of this type of phenomena. The street is one of the preferred stages for protest.»

Ricardo Campos (anthropologist and street art specialist)