The airing of the documentary Style Wars on public television in 1984 was a seminal moment in the adoption of hip-hop style art by urban youth in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly young M?ori and Pasifika men in Auckland and Wellington. Today, non-commissioned art is not the preserve of a specific ethnic or cultural group, indeed, a research paper written for the Ministry of Justice found “little evidence to suggest that graffiti writers are a distinct subgroup among young people”. Askew One (Elliot O’Donnell) is probably the best-known Auckland street artist. The works of BMD, the most prominent Wellington street artists, adorn many of the capital’s walls. Other often-encountered pseudonyms include “Component, Eeks, Ghstie and Yelz”. Kerryn Pollock observes: “Street art is male-dominated, but some women have gained recognition for their work, including Diva, Misery (Tanja Thompson), Flox (Hayley King), Erin Forsyth, Xoe Hall and Mica Still.” Yarn bombing is also common, notably in Wellington, and, because it is perceived as feminine and non-threatening, widely accepted across generations.

India has a long history of murals although its street art and graffiti scene has begun to develop in a manner which would be immediately recognisable to the West only in recent years, and that too primarily in major urban centres. The impetus appears to be to engage in enjoyable work, to acquire what commissions are possible, to promote traditional arts, and to raise awareness not just about art but also about socio-political issues.

Assuming that the content in question was not socially inflammatory or illegal from the viewpoint of Indian content laws, which are spread across more than thirty statutes, and assuming that the content had not been illegally placed on a ‘high profile’ surface, addressing vandalism, though it is an offence, does not appear to necessarily be accorded a very high priority by the police. On one hand, there exist anecdotal indications that creators are not always the recipients of police beneficence or forbearance while, on the other, there are also cases where the illegal creation of works is not investigated by the police-certainly not of its own accord-which is entirely unsurprising given that its resources are often stretched

The chapter highlights issues raised by attempts to preserve street and graffiti art. It does so by exploring whether street and graffiti artists could successfully oppose the removal or destruction of their works by relying on the moral right of integrity; and whether the heritagisation of these forms of art could also be a valuable legal option to conserve them. Cases where artists have tried to protect their works, and local councils and communities have attempted to conserve street artworks, will also be analysed. The chapter concludes that a reasonable balance between the rights and interests of all stakeholders – artists, property owners and local communities – needs to be achieved, and that this is best undertaken by judges, or administrative bodies, equipped to grasp the specificity and complexity of each case.