You may think that there’s quite enough graffiti around Belgrade already and that anything or anyone that encourages more of it is behaving criminally in every sense of the word.

Aleksandar Slivnjak, founder of a new ‘Graffiti Shop’ in Serbia's capital, disagrees. Slivnjak, aka Lortek, but known to many in Belgrade as CO2, his tag over the last ten years, believed that it was unacceptable for a city as large as Belgrade not to have a shop of this kind. As a (graffiti) writer, he is also very familiar with the difficulties involved with getting equipment in Serbia, and decided to take things into his own hands.

When you say graffiti in Belgrade, most people think of the ugly political propaganda on the walls of buildings, the “Say no to NATO,” “(Random War Criminal’s Name) is Innocent,” Justice for Uros” and other scribblings, but real street art has been marginalised in Belgrade and has never had a chance to shine as it has in some other large cities in Europe.



There are one or two places where you can see great work, for example the plateau in front of the Brankov Bridge and the Jugopetrol wall near the Ada Ciganlija beach, but other than that, you’ll have a hard time finding real street art done by dedicated artists in Belgrade.

And whilst many would regard this a good thing, the team behind the store hope that it will help to legitimise graffiti and street art in Serbia and lift it from the cauldron of illegality and deep underground status, that the artists have been dwelling in for so long. It may also encourage more young people to get involved and open a new chapter in Serbian street-art, which itself is still in its formative years.

The operators of the shop also encourage people who are unfamiliar with street art and graffiti to come down, have a look at the pictures on the walls and soak up some of the atmosphere surrounding the illegal art form.

While the new shop opening will not provide Serbian graffiti artists the freedom and availability they need to flourish, they will at least now have a place to find materials and the support of other enthusiasts and colleagues. Instead of having to order materials from abroad, Serbian artists will now have everything they need available at their fingertips.

The store has a wide variety of spray paint, caps in various sizes, markers and ink for markers, as well as protective masks gloves and other equipment needed for serious graffiti work.

Located in the heart of downtown Belgrade, at Cumicevo Sokace 44, the owners say the Graffiti Shop is “what the graffiti scene in Serbia has dreamed about for years.”

The shop also has clothes from some of the leading graffiti brands worldwide including Drip and Sabotaz. And for those who don’t live in Belgrade, the shop has set up an internet store where writers from the entire region can order what they need.

More important than anything says Lortek, the shop will serve as a meeting place for similar minded people, where they can meet, consult and support each other. Belgrade artists and people coming in from abroad now have a place that will give the graffiti movement a scene of its own, a meeting place, where people can talk about new styles new equipment, locations that are good for drawing, talk about new trends in graffiti.

And of course, it provides a great place to gossip about who the hottest new writers and lamest biters in Belgrade are.

This article is courtesy of Balkan Insight, the online publication of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which contains analytical reports, in-depth analyses and investigations and news items from throughout the region covering major challenges of the political, social and economic transition in the Balkans.

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