Street art and evental heritage: from failure to discovery

Conventionally, heritage conservation emphasises value-based systems, material maintenance and the continuation of practices. However, not only do these approaches fail to address street art’s ephemeral and intangible aspects, they are also exclusive. In response, drawing on more-than-representational theory and critical theories of heritage and street art, this paper proposes ‘evental heritage’ as a new frame for conceptualising the affective heritage politics of street art, as well as the ‘heritagisation’ of street art as a dynamic force for material and socio-political change. Exploring three events from Norway, the research argues that the unexpected destruction, removal or ‘threat of removal’ of street artworks is not necessarily negative, as it may enact a democratic heritage politics of street art through which the dominant pole of authorised aesthetics may be challenged and shaped. In particular, the exploration shows that such events can not only lead to a reconsideration of the meaning and value of street art, but also reveals the failures of representation and gives rise to new collective ways of being, doing and thinking about the city commons.