Abidjan, the commercial center of Ivory Coast, transforms into a thriving graffiti gallery

The Plateau neighborhood of Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s commercial center, is being revitalized by splashes of vivid color.

Graffiti was once frowned upon by Ivorians, and those who did it faced legal repercussions. However, as the art style has gained popularity, graffiti murals are becoming more and more prevalent on city walls.

Today, the exteriors of main thoroughfares and foreign hotels are adorned with elaborate graffiti and towering murals.

About 40 artists from throughout the country and the world came to the first “Ivory Graff Graffiti Festival” to transform plain walls into 300-meter-long pieces of art over the course of two weeks in November.

Graff Ivoire’s festival organizer, Benjamin Le Lieve, expressed his pride in starting a new project.

Onlookers applauded the artists’ efforts to revitalize the city center and marveled at them while they worked.

According to Ivorian citizen Michael Bende, “It brings a change to the city of Abidjan,”

According to Dbongz Mahlathi, a South African artist, “The graffiti I’ve created isn’t for me… it’s for the people who will see it every day.”