The John Lennon Wall in Prague has a very interesting history. At first glance, it looks like any other graffiti wall around the world, but there is a hidden message behind the wall depicting the silent war between the pacifist youth and the Communist police.
When John Lennon was murdered on 8th December 1980, he soon became a hero for the pacifist youth amongst the Czechs people who were still under Communism ruling prior to 1989. These people started to paint this wall with The Beatles' lyrics that promote peace and freedom. Despite several rounds of whitewashing the wall, installation of surveillance cameras as well as assigning night guards, the pacifist youths still risked their freedom from being jailed to keep on painting the wall with messages promoting freedom, which was not allowed under the Communist ruling.
The owner of the wall in the modern days also tried to whitewash the wall but the graffiti kept on coming onto the wall. The authority has already given up in keeping the wall clean from graffiti and it has now become a tourist attraction.
The graffiti on the wall is forever changing as layers of painting keep on coming onto the wall. Some tourists also tried to make their marks on the wall too. No matter how the wall has changed, the spirit of freedom, love and peace will live on.
1 comment:
vandalism turned into art!
cool..
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