Graffiti

A cursory search on Graffiti on the Internet will throw up conflicting opinions such as “A class of rude inscriptions scratched on the walls of ancient monuments”, “ one of the most important mode of expression of the modern world” …so what then is graffiti? Is it a mode of vandalism or is it a misunderstood form of expression? Well one can say its something in between… Graffiti is most definitely a deliberate application of a media made by humans on any surface, both private and public.

The term graffiti is the plural of graffito, although the singular form is less commonly used. Both words have been borrowed from the Italian language, and along with the English word "graphic", are in turn derived from the Greek, graphein.

History of Graffiti

Graffiti has existed at least since the days of ancient civilizations such as classical Greece and the Roman Empire. The inscriptions of this order traced by pilgrims, between the fourth and ninth centuries, on the walls of the galleries, proved invaluable to De Rossi and later archaeologists in their explorations of the Roman catacombs.