Street art in Sarajevo

Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina has gained international notoriety for its diverse range of street art and associated subcultures.

[3] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of the city's youth was influenced by the graffiti of New York, which subsequently became popular in Sarajevo's suburbs and working-class neighborhoods such as Alipašino Polje, and along the railway and tram lines.

[5] Even though street art was present in Sarajevo while Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Yugoslavia, it only truly became prevalent with the start of the Bosnian war in 1992, when the city came under siege.

Guerrilla artists increasingly seem to be moving towards a philosophy of painting a continuous work of art, adding to it over time as less developed elements of the piece are erased by graffiti cleaning efforts or in the battle for space.

[10] The most important development in the street art movement and the reason for its 'guerrilla' tag is the adoption of guerrilla marketing techniques over traditional artistic methods.

[16][17] Large colourful murals and images decorate some of the derelict and crumbling walls of Sarajevo's suburbs, acting to commemorate victims of the war or to distract people from the unrepaired damage.