Artful graffiti destroyed; public safety cited

Drawings by two artists, one Chinese and one French, on an abandonded wall in Shanghai's Shikumen area were destroyed. Photos by Yong Kai and Zhang Xinyan/For China Daily

The destruction of drawings on the walls of an abandoned community in Shanghai that had become popular with residents brought an angry reaction.

Featuring Chinese people and expressing affection for old houses, the 10-plus doodles were produced around Jan 20 by two artists－one from France and one from Shanghai－on the walls of a deserted community in the city's central Jing'an district.

The drawings soon attracted lots of visitors. Some even had their wedding photos taken with the graffiti as a background.

While some people were calling for the preservation of the buildings in order to save the drawings, both were abruptly destroyed by local administrative departments "out of safety concerns".

An anonymous official of Jing'an district told Shanghai Morning Post that the walls were being demolished and people should not visit them.

"There are a lot more ways for people to enjoy folk art in Jing'an district that are also free of charge and quite good," the official was quoted as saying.

Despite administrators' stated good intentions, some residents and visitors expressed anger and disappointment online. "We should not give up eating for fear of choking," a netizen wrote on Sina Weibo. "There must be a solution balancing safety and people's love for the pictures."

The destruction also became a hot topic among the representatives of the city's Two Sessions of the People's Congress and People's Political Consultative Conference. The meetings were held during the weekend.

Shanghai municipal political consultative conference member Dai Jianguo, a professor at Shanghai Normal University, had kept an eye on the topic for several days. He told Shanghai Morning Post that the graffiti went viral online because they expressed people's true feelings and aspirations.

"They brought people back to the past and evoked their memories about the old houses," Dai was quoted as saying.

But Dai understood the governmental concern that it would be dangerous if too many people visited the demolition site. Under such circumstances, he suggested a strengthened management including defining a safe area and asking people to wear safety helmets while visiting the doodles.

Chairman of Shanghai Artists Association Shi Dawei said the drawings belong to modern art and represent young people's feelings about society. A city needs and should respect such artworks, he said.