An Aberdeen artist has had a run-in with a housing officer for painting his trademark SLAVE pieces on a legal graffiti wall at Donside Village and was told never to paint it again because it “threatens residents in the area”.
He told us “It’s not like I have ever written slave in an offensive manner.”
Fellow artist ‘V-Lad’ who runs this legal wall space for Wallspot was told to cover the work before the police were involved. The pair’s solution was to change the pieces into a message about censorship and a discussion about enslavement in the 21st century.
What do you think? Was SLAVE being a little insensitive, or was the housing officer overstepping their authority? Does the resulting discussion bring the issues to a wider audience? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
About POST
Kevin Mitchell and Chris Sansbury founded POST. This was from a desire to cut through the noise to share the great things that happen in Aberdeen. They focus on community, culture and also the interesting people of the city. The local artists, businesses and charities; photographers, musicians and entertainers. These are the people that make a positive impact on our city every day. So they use video, audio, writing and social media to amplify the voices in our community. And to ultimately give a platform to Aberdeen folk to engage and tell their own stories.
Recent work includes coverage of Spectra 2023, interviews with We Are Here Scotland founder Ica Headlam; Paralympic gold medalist, Neil Fachie; Aberdeen rapper Chef and his push for success; an article about the pedestrianisation of Union Street; coverage of Nuart Aberdeen and TEDx Aberdeen, as well as coverage of the campaign to Save the Belmont.
We are independent and entirely self funded. We just about cover our costs, but if you would like to help support our work, you could buy us a coffee.