Street art in a residential building on the outskirts of Pereslavl-Zalessky

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic study of street art in a residential building in the provincial town of Pereslavl-Zalessky, based on the author’s participant observation. The study proposes an expanded understanding of street art, encompassing not only graffiti in entrance halls but also living art objects, such as stray animals fed by residents, folk flower beds, and homemade sculptures in courtyards. The empirical material consists of graffiti found in an apartment building — a former Soviet family dormitory — where the lack of funding for repainting created conditions for observing a long-term, resident-generated visual “chronicle.” The article analyzes the content, style, and functions of entrance hall graffiti, which reflect residents’ aspirations, love letters, and philosophical statements. The study is situated within the author’s concept of sustainable territorial development through the harmonization of natural and cultural heritage, in which street art is interpreted as a manifestation of the genius loci. It is shown that grassroots folk art produces a space of harmony between nature and culture, operating at a level beyond standardized official urban design and forming an ecosystem of creative neighborliness and biospheric art therapy. The article also reveals a connection between local practices of decorating living spaces, a cosmic worldview (as expressed in the graffiti “You are my cosmos”), and the traditional Russian cultural code of hospitality and kindness.