Guest lecture

The history and development of street art as a modern-day phenomenon. Students will learn more about the origins of graffiti, the first interactions with the established art world, artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the role of Dutch museums in the acceptance of street art as a museal art form. Ultimately, they will have a better understanding of the current popularity of street art as a modern art form and global movement.

This guest lecture revolves around the question ‘what makes art art?’. Students will learn more about the so-called gatekeepers in the cultural field and the advocates of graffiti as a museal artform through the history and ‘artification’ of graffiti and street art. This way, the history of graffiti and street art is combined with a deeper pondering of the question ‘when is something considered art?’. 

In this guest lecture we’ll take a closer look at the predecessors of STRAAT. Why were Dutch museums Boijmans van Beuningen and Groninger Museum the first acclaimed international museums to exhibit graffiti as art in 1983/1984? Where do renowned Dutch museum directors Wim Beeren and Frans Haks place graffiti in the bigger story of art history?