The Leopard of silence - Street Art in Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania was very different than how I imagined. People were very cool, unjudgmental and very calm. Usually cities are very different as people tend to be fast and look in a hurry. The other thing I noticed is the graffiti all over the streets, which I ignored in the first few days. I was looking at these graffiti, as just a street vandalism, however I realised it was more of an art as soon as I saw this one in Calea Griviței.
The usual graffiti that I noticed were all just names of artists and some weird looking paintings. However, this one caught my attention as it can't be a joke. The artist had put a lot of time designing this and painting it on such a large wall. I quickly realised the entire painting had a lot of text embedded in it, so I took a picture and walked away. I did a lot of search to understand what this art has hidden beneath. Rest of the article talks about, what I was able to decode from art.
KERO-IRLO-OCU
At the very top of the painting you can see names of the artists, Kero, Irlo and Ocu. A quick search on the internet shows that they are quite famous in Romania for a previously controversial painting that was taken down immediately after it was public. This painting, to some extend looks like a revenge on taking down their previous work.
Kero in an interview says, the painting is not a revenge but based on the words: "De ce vezi tu paiul din ochiul fratelui tău și nu te uiți cu băgare de seamă la bârna din ochiul tău?" which translates to "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?".
Ocu said in an interview, "The leopard symbolizes the slow and unconscious movement of our negative side, the automatisms hidden deep in various portion of the mind. Once aware, this movement helps to observe different situations with clarity and transform them into positive parts of life. We move in the direction of self-development through self-observation, and not by judging those around us."
The leopard
The very first thing you notice is the angry leopard and the fence. There is a famous saying in Romania, "Înăuntru-i vopsit gardul și afară-i leopardul". The translation means, "Outside is a painted fence, inside is a leopard". Though the expression sounds meaningless in literal terms, Romanians use this expression to emphasize the glaring difference between what is seen and what is reality.
There is a different meaning behind this saying, which is believed to be the origin. In a circus, there is usually a huge drawing with leopards and other animals to attract the customers. The employee of circus shouts, "The fence is painted outside, the leopard is inside.". This means, "What you see outside is just a painting and there is a live beast inside for which you need to buy tickets". However, the meaning of how this expression used today is very different.
If you take a deeper look at the leopard, the rosette spots on the leopard are not random. They have continuous words that says "Acesta nu este un leopard. Acestea sunt fricile noastre. Petele noastre. Păcatele noastre. Înainte să o dai de gard, întreabă-te: ce e un leopard?" which directly translates to "This is not a leopard. These are our fears. Our spots. Our sins. Before you jump on the fence, ask yourself: what is a leopard?". You can also notice the copyright symbol at the end of the tail "© 2020".
The huge chain in the leopard's mouth is taken from a character's neck who is rich and preaches things that he does not follow for himself.
Overall, the fierce expression of the leopard conveys that the things you hide will come back and haunt you.
The spiritual leader removing the graffiti
The character who looks like a religious leader in the foreground layer, removes the graffiti on the fences while he himself wearing a cloth made of graffiti. This definitely sounds like a revenge on the previous work by the same artists being taken down due to pressure from a nearby church. This remind me of the saying "When one person makes an accusation, check to be sure he himself is not the guilty one. Sometimes it is those whose case is weak who make the most clamour.". The art beautifully portrays the same saying.
Learning
I was staring at this photo for a week, and read from various sources to write this article. Couldn't find a single place where I could decode what the artist was saying, so putting everything I learnt from this art.
What was shocking to me, is the fact that this is not just graffiti but a revolution by art.
