Graffiti is an unauthorized inscription or drawing on a public surface, and it is meant to be confronted by a viewing public and elicit a reaction or perhaps a response, notes Fernando Orejuela. He also notes that graffiti born from the hip hop subculture of the 1970s can be understood as resistance through adornment. This talk, by Orejuela, aims to address a cultural phenomenon when the act of vandalism is transforms into a highly-stylized art form recognized and adopted all over the globe.

A Senior Lecturer and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at IU, Orejuela teaches courses on hip hop culture, subcultures, and youth music scenes; critical race theory and music; children’s folklore and service learning; and play, gaming, and sports. His is the author of Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture published with Oxford University Press and currently co-editing a volume with fellow ethnomusicologist, Stephanie Shonekan on Black Lives Matter Movement and Music to be published by Indiana University Press. He is also a music consultant for the National Music of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee and a member of the advisory team for Carnegie Hall’s A History of African American Music. The lecture will be free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

For more information contact:

Mathers Museum of World Cultures
(812) 855-6873
[email protected]