In college, I fell in love with the world of street art. Multicolored murals and graffiti in France and Spain first caught my eye. The undulating lines of some pieces, the sharp tall letters of others. The small graphics hidden near the bottom of a light post, the large murals sprayed across alley walls. And so, back in Michigan, I dug through library shelves to find the book Subway Art and the 1983 documentary Style Wars. It was years later however, while living in Jordan, that I truly grew to appreciate the genre. For in Amman, street art is everywhere…
Some murals in Amman stretch five, six, or seven stories high, the entire side of a building. In other spots, long walls become galleries for street art, containing a dozen pieces or more. Concrete stairs are painted to reveal images when seen from below. And people join guided walking tours to find and learn about these works.
Jordan and Amman is becoming a hub for street art. The number of talented local artists is growing, and international artists fly in to paint murals as well. Together this movement is changing the city through art – on city walls, online, and through festivals focused on the genre.
Walking Tours
Anyone interested in street art in Jordan should start with the experts. In Amman, the group Underground Amman leads popular walking tours of street art in the city. As members of the hip hop community, they share stories of the artworks while also highlighting the hip hop culture behind them.
As co-founder Hannah explained to me: “The main message in our street art tour is actually about the culture of hip hop and how life-changing this culture has been for artists who have grown up in Amman. Art is not always understood as an important and powerful medium of expression, and especially hip hop artists are often misunderstood or disregarded for the work that they do. Through our tour, we want to celebrate Amman’s street artists and hope to highlight the importance of art and its potential for social change.”
The group’s downtown tour features pieces by a wealth of artists, including: Sardine (@mikevderderian), Wize One (@wesamshadid), Yaratun (@yara.hindawi), Aro (@aro1147), MIG (@migtherobot), Mohammad Shafi (@chaf.41), Miramar (@miramar.muhd), Batool Edais (@batooledais), Suhaib Attar (@suhaib_attar) and CPTN (@aboodgraffiti).
The Annual Baladk Street Art Festival
Since 2013, Amman has also been the site of an international mural festival organized by the Baladk Urban Arts Project. This annual event brings together artists, musicians and community organizations from Jordan and across the globe. For a full week, they celebrate different forms of street art, paint murals around the city, and emphasize their common culture.
In 2020, the eighth iteration stretched into a year long event due to the pandemic, and focused on local talent from Jordan. A few international artists returned in 2021, but were still spread out across the year. Underground Amman told me that the 2022 festival hopes to bring the groups back together again.
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Maps of Street Art
Want to find some street art yourself? Several websites show the location of art pieces in Amman through online maps. The Center for the Study of the Built Environment launched this street art documentation project, while the website Jordan Street Art documents other art works and mentions Underground Amman for local tours.
More Examples of Street Art in Amman
What Next?
Support the street art scene in Jordan and internationally by following the social media accounts that I mentioned above! Look for your favorite pieces there and in the maps online, then tell others about your favorite artists. Should you travel to Jordan, keep an eye peeled for murals and smaller pieces as you wander through the city. Or sign up for a guided tour with Underground Amman to learn more! You can contact them via their website or through Facebook (@UndergroundAmman) and Instagram (@Underground Amman).
Learn about street art in other parts of the Middle East! The book Street Art in the Middle East is an excellent work, covering multiple countries in the region. The book’s website also includes detailed visuals and maps. For a narrower focus, see the book Revolution Graffiti: Street Art of the New Egypt or the Instagram profile Istanbul Street Art.
Then tell us what you think! What are your favorite examples of street art in this post? Do you have murals and other street art where you live? I’m excited to hear from you.
And finally, dive into more of my blog to discover other amazing things from the Middle East. Recent posts feature historic Coptic Monasteries, delicious food from Middle Eastern cookbooks, outstanding examples of Turkish literature, and a guide to some incredible Roman ruins, also in Jordan!
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March 31, 2023 at 3:43 pm
Suemtravels — thanks for quoting my post on your blog! I love your detailed review of Underground Amman’s downtown graffiti tour. Have you checked out their visits to Hashmi in East Amman as well?