The South African suburb adorned with graffiti

Westdene, a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa is becoming a small paradise for graffiti lovers.

The vicinity has one of the largest graffiti collections in the country, all thanks to the Westdene Graffiti Project.

It is a community project where residents offer their walls to established artists.

“We are trying to also empower our community using art. Why are we putting ourselves into trouble? Let’s now start communicating with the property owners of these buildings. Let’s create a relationship with the people that you want to use their surfaces”, said visual artist, Senzo Nhlapo.

The unprecedented project has seen many residents offer their walls for painting.

“From our experience a project like this, this is the first time it’s being done, where people have voluntarily given their walls to graffiti artists to come and work on them and give their time and skills. Their art as you can see in Westdene, if you see all their art around, it’s truly beautiful work, so now it hasn’t been done anywhere else as far as we know”, Clint Hill, a graffiti artist said.

While graffiti has long been synonymous with vandalism, attitudes seem to be gradually changing.

To date, more than 50 works by prominent artists have adorned the walls of houses throughout the suburbs.

Graffiti is becoming a widely accepted form of art in South Africa.