From activism to fine art

The aesthetics of green guerrilla. From activism to fine art.

by Agnieszka Gralińska-Toborek DOI: https://doi.org/10.1344/waterfront2021.63.1.01

Abstract

Grassroots movements – the activisms associated with the greening of the cities, reclaiming wastelands, establishing community gardens, improving the quality of life in industrialized places through minor nature-based interventions, as well as protection and safeguarding of the scraps of nature within cities – are what in this article I call green guerilla.

I want to demonstrate how these small-scale grassroots movements grow; how their actions lead to official solutions; how they become institutionalized and, sometimes, commercialized.

However, above all, by linking them with the environmental and participatory aesthetic trends, I wish to indicate their aesthetic aspects and the fact that they frequently bear the hallmarks of art. 

Keywords

urban greenery; guerrilla gardening; DIY urbanism; public space