The Graffiti Dialogues Network was established to provide a de-risked environment for interaction between all the stakeholders in the field and to enable graffiti artists who would not normally engage with authorities to share their practices and experiences. The network also offers an online information exchange and it is run by the Socially Responsive Design and Innovation hub (SRDI) and the Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC) at Central Saint Martins.
Since its inception The Graffiti Dialogues Network has facilitated workshops and access to an online networking platform of invited or recommended members, to enable a safe space to share activities, transfer knowledge, and explore what might or might not constitute best practices.
A recent ‘Graffiti Sessions’ event at the Southbank Centre, delivered with the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London (UCL) featured internationally acclaimed speakers including street artist Ben Eine, as well as representatives from London Overground, British Transport Police, leading barristers and solicitors specializing in graffiti cases and senior academics at the forefront of graffiti research from a cultural and social perspective.
The Graffiti Dialogues Network team is a participant in ‘Graffolution’ a pan-European project with the main aim of developing awareness and preventative solutions against graffiti vandalism in public spaces and transport systems. They hope their work will stimulate debate, inform policy-making and generate a growing pool of case studies and creative interventions, both formal and informal, in relation to changing cultures and management of graffiti and street art practice.