Prague: Spray Painting Freedom (cont.)

“There was no graffiti before the revolution,” says Romeo. “Before that society was controlled. Signs of freedom were suppressed. It is an international language where there are no borders. It should become an art. Someone can see it as art. There is always a subjective opinion. Who can know? Who can judge?”

In Prague, the punishment for graffiti range from fines to jail time. In 2001, graffiti began being officially treated as vandalism.  But even at that time, the ambiguity of the issue divided parliament.  One third of the senators were reluctant to recognize the scope of the problem and another third were hesitant to set limitations on art and expression.

Romeo and Bro have never been caught in the Czech Republic, but are aware of the risks. Both know people who have been slapped with fines or served jail time in the name of graffiti. If someone is caught, it is easy to link that person to other acts of vandalism since a name–or at least a street name–is attached to every offense. Both Romeo and Bro have changed their street names several times during the course of their graffiti careers.

Romeo has traveled around Europe and parts of the US, spraying graffiti. He sometimes wrote Prague with his name because he wanted to "represent.” However, he quickly learned the chances of getting caught increase significantly in cities where local authorities have been battling graffiti longer than the 14 years it has existed in Prague. Romeo was arrested in New York in 2001. The charges were dropped, but the risks became more evident.

Prague used to operate without security cameras, but now with the help of technology, times are changing.  In 2002, Prague police caught 177 graffiti vandals; the following year, 234 arrests were made.

Although Romeo still feels graffiti is a part of him, he is moving toward new genres of expression. “I am an artist, but not only because of graffiti,” he said. “Everywhere society is changing. There are going to be different ways of expressing yourself.”

Romeo is now taking university classes and is interested in filmmaking. He said he would like to create a film about Prague’s introduction to graffiti and its original artists in the early 1990s. Romeo does not think graffiti will continue to increase in popularity for much longer in Prague, but said the topic illustrates changes in Czech society and can be used to tell a bigger story.

In a crowded pub outside of the city center, Mikolas Bohacek, sits enjoying a few beers with some friends. The walls around him were covered with small tags and scribbling. He smiles when he says it reminds him of a typical free wall. “It’s like art from the street,” he said. “Today’s art is everything and nothing.”

Bohacek is not a graffiti artist, but admires his peers who are part of the graffiti subculture.
“They are so independent. They do it because they want to. They want their walls to live. It’s gray and they want to make color.  It’s a message for our generation. It’s an expression of our generation and art of our generation,”

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