Graffiti finds acceptance in West Africa

It was the middle of the day when Omar Diaw, known by his artist name "Chimere" - French for chimera - approached a blank wall off the main thoroughfare in Guinea's capital and started spray-painting.

- BY ANNIE RISEMBERG

MISPER APAWU Associated Press

"OUR REALITY, our values": A street vendor walks past a mural depicting dancers in Conakry, Guinea.

"They know who I am," he said confidently. Though it wasn't clear who "they" were, civilians and police didn't bat an eye as Diaw's fellow artists unloaded dozens of paint cans onto the roadside in Conakry.

Graffiti has thrived for years in Diaw's native Senegal, where the modern urban street art first took off in West Africa. But when he moved to Guinea in 2018 to explore a new place, he said such art was nearly nonexistent.

"It was thought that graffiti was vandalism," he said. To win over the public, Diaw took a gentle approach, using graffiti for public awareness campaigns. One of his first was to raise awareness about COVID-19 preventive measures.

"We had to seduce the population," he said.

The port city of Conakry faces rapid urbanization. Diaw's graffiti has become an undeniable part of its crowded, concrete-heavy landscape.