In the historical center of Ghent, Belgium, a 14th-century medieval Belfry rises high above a square just feet away from picturesque canals. Across the same square is Saint Nicholas’ Church, built in the 13th century, and a City Hall and Masons’ Guild Hall, both dating back to the 1500s.
With so much history in such a small area, one might think the local government would have a zero-tolerance policy against vandals wielding spray paint cans. Yet Ghent — a city that was founded around the year 650 — is actually a major graffiti destination, with a thriving street art scene that’s epicenter is just a couple of minutes’ walk from the bustling tourist square Korenmarkt.
And perhaps the most surprising part of all is that it’s (almost) entirely legal, with city officials going so far as to encourage local artists to do their best work on the city’s walls.
A cool reason to visit: Ghent, Belgium is a city with a rich history, gorgeous historic buildings — and a thriving community of graffiti artists
Starting point: The most well-known spot to see graffiti in the city is Werregarenstraat, which has come to have the nickname Graffiti Street
Graffiti Street is famous: There, it’s entirely legal to paint all over the walls — and people do
The short, winding alleyway is totally covered with spray paint designs, and has been for years
Over 20 years running: The street was opened up to graffiti artists in 1995, and since then it has become an institution
There’s a mix on the walls, including plenty of messy tagging, scribbles, and marks that could hardly be called ‘art’
Spend some time here: There are also carefully planned-out and painted designs, like this one of a fish
The street is home to some large murals, like this one by Rick Molyneux, which are just painted over what came before it
Starting fresh: Every year, the city paints the walls over and invites artists to come work on a fresh canvas
A name to know: One of the more well-known artists, Roa, has some of his work on Graffiti Street
Graffiti here is open to anyone who’d like to paint, though actual artists take it more seriously. If they catch someone making a mess, they’ll chase them off
Graffiti Street turned out to be just the beginning, and a thriving street art scene has developed in the city
By the books: Artists showcase their work there, and also on other walls in Ghent’s four legal graffiti zones
A picture-perfect path: Even a gate along Graffiti street has been covered in paint
Unfortunately, sometimes people who just want to vandalize and not create something nice to look at will scribble over art
There are four legal zones across the city where artists can play without facing repercussions, but the most well-known spot is a tiny, curving street called Werregarenstraat — or as it’s come to be known, Graffiti Street.
The winding alley has become a veritable graffiti destination, completely covered from one end to the other in spray paint designs for over 20 years. It was first launched during the Gentse Feesten summer festival in 1995, when the city welcomed artists to have a ‘graffiti jam’ there and fill it with paint.
Every year, the walls of Werregarenstraat are painted over again with a single color, and artists are invited back to show off their work on a fresh surface.
In the years since its founding, Graffiti Street has become an institution, and tourists stop by to take pictures — finding both actual works of art mixed in with crude scribbles and tags, an unavoidable (yet still mostly unwelcome) side-effect of legalization.
Rick Molyneux, the 24-year-old co-founder of the street art collective Wallin’, noted that there is plenty of mess on the walls there, which is left by troublemakers messing around and kids whose parents give them permission to let loose. But the real artists still reign supreme on that street, and will chase out anyone making problems if they see them.
But Werregarenstraat isn’t the only place to find street art in the city. There are paintings, stencilworks, and even giant murals all over town — if you know where to look.
It’s got a rich history: Ghent was found in Flanders around the year 1650 and has quite a few gorgeous historic buildings and canals
Many of the artists who specialize in graffiti also do other types of art, like sculpture and design
An artist to know: This is another work by Rick Molyneux, the founder of the street art nonprofit Wallin’
Wallin’ was launched in 2015 ‘to create opportunities for artists to create in a legal context’ and encourage them to ‘hone their skills in a positive context’
They also host graffiti jams, similar to the one the city puts on in Graffiti Street every summer
Though Graffiti is legal in some areas, illegal graffiti still abounds — like this art under a bridge
The whole range: The illegal graffiti comes in many forms, from actual art to messy scribbles and tagging
In addition to allowing graffiti in some places, the city will also remove it from private property at the owners’ request
Sometimes, the city will be OK with illegal graffiti on public property, if it is deemed to add something to the area and have artist value
Some of it is hidden in plain sight, with tourists and locals alike walking past it every day without realizing it’s there. And some of it needs to be sought out. For that, the organizers of the annual street art festival Sorry, Not Sorry offer a map on their website, marking where curious fans can find everything from paintings that scale several stories to teeny, tiny works of art painted on squashed gum on the sidewalk.
Right in the historic city center, a visitor can stop on Sint-Michielsbrug, a bridge that goes into Korenmarkt. But instead of staring ahead at Saint Nicholas’ church, they can look south along the canal and see a huge mural splashed on the side of a building.
Done at first in honor of the movie Monuments Men, the 100m² painting by Bart Smeets looks like it’s breaking through the brick wall, and was left up to honor soldiers of World War II.
Elsewhere in Korenmarkt is a tiny portrait by painter Michaël Borremans, part of which was actually painted over by an overzealous city worker. And lest anyone think these graffiti artists are all young kids looking for some trouble, Borremans is actually 55.
And as for those city workers: To keep locals from having their property vandalized, the city of Ghent also removes any unwanted graffiti from buildings for free, at owners’ request. That ensures that those crude tags and any illegal ‘bombing’ don’t destroy historic buildings or encroach on people’s homes — and it also bolsters the integrity of the real street art.
Real street art, like the works of Klass Van der Linden, has become a point of pride for Ghent. Van der Linden has several large, legal mural across the city, including a self-portrait casting him as a fisherman on a street called Rembert Dodoensdreef, which he painted during the maritime-themed Ghent Art Festival in 2016.
Klass Van der Linden is one of the more well-known street artists. He created this mural, a self-portrait casting him as a fisherman on a street called Rembert Dodoensdreef, during the maritime-themed Ghent Art Festival in 2016
Another one: Van der Linden also painted this legal mural on the side of an energy company building
This mural was painted by another well-known tsarists, Matthew Dawn, in partnership with Wallin’
Cute! 43-year-old graffiti artist Bué the Warrior is known for his cartoon characters, which span the sides of buildings
Multiple artists may work on the same wall — like how Bué’s cartoon characters to the right are joined here by ROA’s lined animals to the left
Incredible! Belgian artist Cee Pill painted these horses, which are distorted with color on either side
Better than bricks, for sure! Some building owners will welcome artists to create works on the walls or garage doors to beautify them
Another side of Ghent: Some of the graffiti is easily spotted, while other works need to be sought out
Interested visitors can find some murals and larger works on a map provided by Sorry, Not Sorry (to the left is work by Matthew Dawn; to the right is work by Resto & Sam Scarpulla)
Sam Scarpulla, a member of the graffiti group Kapow Collective, painted this black and white mural
Some of the murals are enormous. And they’re not just by Belgians: Artists travel from around the world to produce works in Ghent (the one on the left is by A Squid Called Sebastian; on the right is by Portuguese artist Violant)
This is another work by Van Der Linden, who admits he first started doing illegal graffiti as a kid
Walls of the city: This is another painting by Bué, which has been partially covered by stickers
Making quick work: Portuguese artist Nuno Viegas painted this paper airplane in record time
Artists: Illustrator Jan Van Der Veken, 43, works in several mediums including graffiti
Van der Linden first paints on canvas, and then painstakingly translates those works to murals using spray paint.
‘Spray paint is a super tool,’ the 32-year-old told Daily Mail Online. ‘It’s fast, you can get really cool effects. Also it works on bricks — and if you had to do brushwork on bricks, it would get messed up. I think spray paint is a really good tool for walls. And with spray paint you can get really good luminous light effects.’
A full-time artist, Van der Linden got his start in illegal graffiti, back when he was just 12 years old. He’d head to other cities around the country with his backpack and learn from other graffiti artists, even when it meant getting in trouble with his parents.
‘But they were happy that I was creative. There are worse things than making graffiti. At that time, though it definitely had a bad vibe — but the bad vibe is gone now. Now it’s called street art.’
Van der Linden participates in several events hosted by the city and local graffiti organizations, including Molyneux’s nonprofit, Wallin’.
Molyneux also got his start with illegal art as a teenager, but eventually started doing it by the book — and wanted to help other artists do the same. In 2015, he launched Wallin’ ‘to create opportunities for artists to create in a legal context’ and encourage them to ‘hone their skills in a positive context’. To that end, the organization hosts graffiti jams, organizes fixed murals, and is now building up a commercial arm that does commissioned work and corporate assignments.
Look closely! Crouch down low to find works of art by British artist Ben Wilson, who paints tiny masterpieces on pieces of gum on the sidewalk
That movie magic! On the corner of the Predikherenlei and Van Stopenberghestraat, right near the tourist center, is a 100m² mural by Bart Smeets that was originally painted for the release of the film Monuments Men
Artists use plenty of tools for graffiti, too. Some like stencils for intricate works — or to spray quickly when doing illegal painting. Others use stickers for their street art, including Short Horse (the top sticker in the picture to the right)
Bling and you’ll miss it! A few really require a person to be paying attention — like this work by Resto that you might be able to peek while walking ont he other side of the canal
Look up! In Korenmarkt is a tiny portrait by the painter Michaël Borremans, in which the subject has beams coming out of her eyes. The beams once extended further, but an overzealous city worker got carried away while cleaning
Buggy signature: Pol Cosmo is known for his black and white animal and insects
Cosmo gets permission from the buildings’ owners by slipping stickers under their doors. If they hang them up, he knows he is free to paint
Molyneux pointed out that street art comes in a lot of shapes and sizes — it’s not just block letters on the side of a building.
There are enormous murals by the likes of Matthew Dawn and Cee Pil. There are giant drawings by ROA, collections of cartoon characters by Bué, and those who work in stickers, like Short Horse.
Some work with stencils, though they may do so for very different reasons. Stencils are a favorite among illegal graffiti artists, since the design can be created ahead of time and painted quickly without getting caught.
But some use them for legal art. Look around the city and you’ll find countless works by Pol Cosmo, whose signature are black and white animals and insects covered in intricate patterns. Pol Cosmo’s creatures pop up on people’s homes, but he gets permission first.
In the past, he has slipped works through homeowners’ letterboxes with instructions: If they approve of him doing art outside, they simply need to hand the sketch up in the window.
While a fan can certainly just stroll around the city with eyes peeled to find art, more information can be found from Sorry, Not Sorry, Wallin’, and Kapow.