Graffiti and Street Art in Finnish Society

This bachelor thesis deals with the position of graffiti and street art in Finnish society using primarily a diachronic approach. The initial part of the thesis contains a description of both phenomena in terms of their formal appearance and mutual differences. The thesis includes also a depiction of the early history of graffiti and street art, namely their origin and first steps of being spread around the world. The main part deals with graffiti and street art in a local Finnish context. Emphasis is being mainly put on the historical development of the phenomena in Finland since their first occurrence in 1980s till present while depicting the respective public reactions throughout this time period. Therefore, the primary goal of the thesis is to describe the changes that occurred in the position and form of Finnish graffiti and street art over time, as well as the current state of the phenomena. Keywords street art, graffiti, urban art, Finnish society, Finland, Helsinki, Stop töhryille project, zero toleranc