Dialogues-Graffitti

Fernanda Jiménez, Oliver Vera, Andrea Alvarado & Alan García

Fer: Hi! We are the Ancient Graffiti team that is conformed with Oliver Vera, Andrea Alvarado,
Alan Garcia, and me, Fernanda Jimenez.
Oliver: The first drawings of wall appear in caves thousands of years ago, it was used to write
languages, commemorate past hunting victories, or used it as part of rituals.
Andy: Graffiti was originated in ancient Italy by making inscriptions and drawings on sculptures
and walls.
Alan: The first ever made graffiti was found in 1851 in the ruins of Pompeii.
Fer: Just like the Romans, the Greeks practice graffiti by signing their names, poems and protest
in buildings and walls.
Oliver: Also, another example is Arabic graffiti, they used it to talk about day-to-day life, make
engravings and paintings of deeper nature, and to write philosophical or religious messages.
Andy: But the Egyptians were not far behind, they used graffiti to serve the needs of the elite by
interpreting their beliefs and messages, also because they believed the pieces of artwork were
designed to serve a purpose of the gods.
Alan: Now we are going to talk about graffiti during an important historical event. During WW2
graffiti was popular as Nazis used it to make party-propaganda.
Fer: And some soldiers wrote “Kilroy was here, a brief sketch of a bald man with a big nose in
sign of connection with the soldiers who were having a rough time.
Oliver: Now we have some examples of ancient graffiti.
Andy: The first example is the graffiti of “Wild animals” which was made in walls in Sudan, they
pictured animals such as baboons, dogs, elephants, etc. Some of them are seen holding
religious iconography.
Alan: Another example is the “Word Square”, found in modern-day Turkey. It is the first known
example of word game graffiti.
Fer: “Lupanar” is also an example of ancient graffiti, it was found in the ruins of Pompeii, it was
a popular social hub, where its walls are scribbled with graffiti about sports advertisements,
colloquial messages, and political propaganda as examples of day-to-day life.
Oliver: Now we have an example of Arabic graffiti which is “The forgiveness of Al Jawn”, it was
found in Jordan, and it is made in a rock on which a message of latter kind is written. It shows a
man by the name of Al-Jawn begging for mercy for his sins.
Andy: A graffiti located in the “Cueva de las Manos”, in Santa Cruz, Argentina, which shows
written language is another example.

Alan: And our last example for this time are some examples of
Egyptian graffiti, which were competitions between pyramid gangs,
this inscriptions can be found in the walls of some pyramids.

Fer: And that´s all, we hope you like it and thanks for your attention.

References:

 learnenglishteens.n.d. History of Graffiti [online]

 Available at:https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-
intermediate-b2/history-graffiti [Accessed 16 March 2022].
 Cyprus, S., 2022. What are the Origins of Graffiti? (with pictures). [online] Wisegeek.
Available at: https://www.wise-geek.com/what-are-the-origins-of-graffiti.htm [Accessed
16 March 2022].
 Art, S., 2022. Street and Graffiti Art - Concepts & Styles. [online] The Art Story. Available
at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/street-art/history-and-concepts/
#:~:text=Beginnings%20of%20Contemporary%20Graffiti%20in,of%20the%20aerosol
%20spray%20can [Accessed 30 March 2022]
 The Art Story. n.d. Street and Graffiti Art - Concepts & Styles. [online] Available at:
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/street-art/history-and-concepts/ [Accessed 16
March 2022].