Arts against Adverts: Bristol’s celebration of community arts projects
Image credit: Adblock Bristol
At Badvertising we campaign for an end to advertising of the biggest polluters. Doing so, could free up much of the advertising space which could then be used for other purposes. Removing all the billboards and other advertising structures that populate our environment would leave us with a blank canvas to work on.
How should we then rethink our towns and cities’ centres when liberated from the overarching presence of advertising? What activities should we value and expose? Our cities could be redesigned for entirely different purposes away from excessive consumerism and instead oriented towards activities that centre human development, social cohesion and creative pursuits. This is exactly what the network of Adfree Cities is interested in creating. The organisation campaigns to reclaim space from corporate advertising in order to benefit human and planetary wellbeing. Community art is a prime example of what these public outdoor spaces could be used for once we reduce the disproportionate presence of corporate advertising.
Bristol’s legacy of community arts
The city of Bristol in the UK is a vibrant place full of arts and cultural projects with a strong alternative, counter-cultural scene and a rich multicultural heritage. It is therefore no wonder that the city is host to multiple advertising structures that have been repurposed for community art projects.. Below we list some of those examples:
The Burg Arts Project:
Burgh Arts City Farm - Image credit: Adblock Bristol
This community art billboard is located in St Werburghs neighbourhood in East Bristol. Between 2010-2013, the site showcased a series of artworks by local artists. Since 2018, local anti-advertising group, Adblock Bristol, worked in partnership with the St Werburghs Neighbourhood Association and St Werburghs City Farm to relaunch the project. The area of St Werburghs saw a groundswell of resistance against corporate advertising. Residents in the area have managed to remove 6 out of 13 billboards after organising two petitions addressing their concerns to a full public council meeting in 2008.
PRSC Outdoor Gallery :
PRSC Outdoor Gallery - Image credit: PRSC
Another outdoor art project in Bristol is located in the Stokes Croft area of the city. Since 2006, on Jamaica Street, artists have exhibited their creations on a privately-owned wall which is now part of the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) “Outdoor Gallery”. At the heart of this venture was a question on how art could help visually improve the local environment and serve as a catalyst to discuss other wide-ranging issues affecting the local and wider community such as climate change, corporate advertising and social justice. The project has since attracted both local and international artists and is now expanding into a “school of activism”.
Seven of Saint Pauls:
Carmen Beckford, social activist for her community - Image credit: Iconic Black Britons
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the neighbourhood of St Pauls in Bristol hosted much of the city’s migrant communities, many from the Windrush generation. This was due to the self-enforced segregation separating white and immigrant communities. Faced with daily racism, vast unemployment and discriminatory practices along with no support from the council, the community worked to fend for itself. Today the neighbourhood celebrates this rich multi-cultural and Black heritage on many of its building walls by featuring seven important figures (the “Seven Saints”) who led the fight for social justice in their community.
These projects illustrate positive examples of what could be done if we freed our public outdoor spaces from advertising. Local authorities have huge benefits to reap from ending advertising of the most polluting companies - by reducing the impacts of climate breakdown but also in creating spaces to celebrate community history, cohesion and artistic expression.
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