Tallinn cracks down on street art while Tartu gives it room

Street art faces strict controls in Tallinn but can remain in public spaces longer in Tartu, artist Sirla and art theorist Margus Tamm said on Vikerraadio’s “Teise mätta otsast” programme, ERR reported. They argued that city residents should have a say in shaping the spaces around them.

The contrast came into focus after a recent dispute between street art group PASR and Tallinn. In the capital, official murals compete with artists’ initials, while Tartu’s more tolerant approach gives unofficial work more room.

Sirla said disputes often arise because people use terms related to street art differently. She distinguished murals, which cover whole building walls, from street art aimed at the public and graffiti, which is directed at a narrower circle.

Artistic theorist Tamm linked graffiti writing to US hip-hop culture of the 1970s and 1980s, and said street art emerged decades later, around the turn of the millennium. Graffiti artists often seek to spread their names and leave a mark, Sirla said. More recent street art aims to reach a wider audience and enrich the urban environment.

Sirla said Tallinn applies a zero-tolerance policy, requiring unauthorised work to be painted over as quickly as possible. She said the policy was reportedly modelled on Helsinki. Tamm compared it with strict approaches taken in New York in earlier decades and said experience around the world showed that zero tolerance did not work.

In Tartu, unofficial works can stay in view longer and become more substantial, Sirla said. She described the city’s approach as allowing different uses of public space to coexist. Tamm said confrontation could deepen tensions and radicalise both sides. Street artists also use their work to challenge the visual dominance of paid advertising and engage with it, the programme discussed.