title: Vlaams Belang

text: On May 26, 2019, in what was known as "Super Sunday" in Belgium (owing to the fact the Federal, Regional and European elections took place on the same day) the party made substantial gains in all three elections which some political analysts described as a significant comeback.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The party polled second place in the Flemish region with 18.6% of the overall vote, increasing its number of MPs in the Chamber of Representatives to 18 (its best result since 2007). In the Flemish Parliament the party also finished second, gaining 23 representatives. The party's campaign was managed by Bart Claes. Political analysts noted that the VB saw an increase in support among voters under 30 which was attributed to the party's use of social media campaigning.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: In response to the results there was some speculation that the N-VA leader Bart De Wever would break the "Cordon sanitaire" imposed on the party after he decided to hold talks with the VB as part of the coalition formation on the Flemish level, as their strong results made forming a coalition without them more difficult. The ending of the Cordon Sanitaire was further speculated after the VB leader Tom Van Grieken was invited to a customary meeting with King Philippe for the first time along with the leaders of the other main parties. The former "Vlaams Blok" party had previously been denied a meeting with the King in 1991 and 2003. Eventually though, the party remained in opposition both at the regional and federal level, as, with the exception of N-VA, no other party was found willing to break the cordon.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The policies of the Vlaams Belang focus mainly on the issues of Flemish independence, opposition to multiculturalism, and defence of traditional Western values.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The VB's main goal is to establish an independent Flemish republic. The party seeks a peaceful secession of Flanders from Belgium, citing in its program the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway (1905), Czechoslovakia (1992), and the independence of Montenegro (2006) as examples that such would be possible. The reason to seek independence is given as the "enormous cultural and political differences between Flemings and Walloons," and according to the party, Belgian governments are also "paralyzed by ongoing disputes between Flemish and Walloon politicians." Members of Vlaams Belang argue that the French speaking Socialist Party de facto rules the country and does not represent the interests of Flemish voters. Other stated reasons given for secessionism are the financial transfers from Flanders to the capital of Brussels and to Wallonia (Belgium's other half), which Vlaams Belang considers to be unjustified. The party also calls for the exclusive use of the Dutch language in Flanders. In contrast to its "Vlaams Blok" predecessor, the VB has downplayed and placed less emphasis on ethnonationalism in recent years when discussing Flemish national identity. Political author Hans-Georg Betz noted that the party no longer features the ethnically defined version of people (“volk”) that was featured in the former Vlaams Blok "Own People First" slogan and instead uses the neutral sounding "mensen" — the Dutch word for human beings in its messages.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The Vlaams Belang supports returning Brussels to the full control of Flemish region as opposed to its current state as a bilingual capital region. It also wants Dutch to be the sole official language of Flanders. The party also favours abolishing the Belgian Senate.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Although the party almost exclusively stands in the Flemish region of Belgium, it ran a list of candidates in the Walloon Brabant electoral district in 2007 as a protest against the lack of splitting between Flemish and Francophone communities in Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The Vlaams Belang official immigration policy has been slightly moderated from that of the former Vlaams Blok. In its new program, the party simply call for the repatriation of those immigrants who "reject, deny or combat" Flemish culture as well as certain European values, including freedom of expression and equality between men and women. Prominent members of the party, under which Filip Dewinter and Dries Van Langenhove, furthermore tap into the Great Replacement-theory, using the term "omvolking" (replacing-populating).


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The former Vlaams Blok was, according to political scientist Cas Mudde, only very rarely accused of anti-Semitism – and even then, it was strongly condemned by the party leadership. Accused of being anti-Muslim, the party favors the expulsion of all who opposed Western values and after the March, 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, called for closed borders. The party is also opposed to what it regards as lenient immigration policies and state multiculturalism forced on the Flemish region by the Belgian federal government and the European Union, arguing that such policies leave Flanders vulnerable to terrorism and have eroded Flemish culture. It is also states that immigrants must adapt to Flemish values and culture rather than Flanders having to change to adopt the cultures of migrants, and that immigrants who cannot adapt to Flemish culture or laws should be offered incentives to voluntarily repatriate themselves. The party also supports the expulsion of illegal immigrants and foreign residents with criminal records from Flanders.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Currently the party sees itself as strongly pro-Israel, regarding Jews and Israelis as allies against radical Islam. Filip Dewinter, for example, has stated that women wearing the hijab have "effectively signed their contract for deportation." In Antwerp, sections of the city's large Jewish community actively support the party, as they feel threatened by the new wave of anti-Semitism from the growing Muslim population. In 2010, the party was part of a delegation to Israel (along with some other rightist parties), where they issued the "Jerusalem Declaration," which defended the right of Israel to exist and defend itself against terrorism. Israeli Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara in turn visited the party in Antwerp in 2011. In March 2014, a party mission headed by Dewinter visited Israel and met with Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Ofir Akunis. and Samaria Regional Council, Gershon Mesika and Yossi Dagan.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Like its "Vlaams Blok" predecessor, the Vlaams Belang was initially opposed to same-sex marriage and instead advocated civil partnerships for same-sex couples. After assuming leadership, Tom Van Grieken stated that the party had dropped its opposition to gay marriage. In 2014, the party moderated its stance and changed its policy to support same-sex marriage. This more moderate stance has not been widely accepted by all party members. On abortion the party is socially conservative.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: In order to secure Flemish cities, the party wants to implement a policy of zero tolerance. It supports the abolition of the Belgian parole law, which allows convicts to be released after only one third of their prison sentence has been served. The party also opposes drug liberalization. Citing "a massive overrepresentation of immigrants in crime statistics," the party also wants to deport criminal and illegal foreigners, as well as seeking to "combat Islamic terror threat."


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The party describes itself as pro-European in terms of protecting European cultural identity and cooperation between nations to secure peace, but takes a eurosceptic stance towards the European Union as a whole. In its program, the VB is strongly against any evolution towards a Federal European Superstate, argues for Flemish withdrawal from the Schengen Area and the reinstatement of border controls, abolition of the Eurozone and opposes the accession of Turkey to the European Union.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: The party's economic policy has been changed significantly from the Vlaams Blok. While the Vlaams Blok called for a rather mixed economy, the Vlaams Belang moved towards neoliberalism. However, for the 2019 federal election, the party returned to a protectionist economic program.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Like its predecessor, Vlaams Belang has been accused of racism and for promoting hostility and xenophobia by both French and Dutch speaking political opponents in Belgium. Since its founding, most parties in Belgium have refused to cooperate with the VB and in 2004 continued the "cordon sanitaire" on the party in the Federal Parliament. The party itself has repeatedly denied that it is racist and believes such accusations are based on attempts to discredit the party. Politicians, like prime former Belgian minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD) and Karel De Gucht (VLD) have called the Vlaams Belang or its leaders "fascist". However, history professor Eric Defoort has stated the use of this terminology creates "a distorted image of their antagonist, whom they can then scold with missionary zeal." Prominent conservative philosopher Sir Roger Scruton argued that while Vlaams Belang contains policies that could be determined as disagreeable, it is not a racialist or fascistic movement and compared to other right-wing European parties, it is unduly attacked and marginalized by members of the political establishment who have sought to destroy the party through legal battles as the VB's aims threaten vested the interests of the European Union which is centered in Belgium.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prominent critic of Islam in the Netherlands, and to whom Vlaams Belang on different occasions referred to defend its points of view on Islam, called the party "a racist, anti-Semitic, extremist party that is unkind to women and that should be outlawed." The party responded that Ali had been misinformed and considered this to be part of a smear campaign. Vlaams Belang underlined that Ali supposedly made the statement on the occasion of a debate organised by the left-liberal think tank Liberales, whose president is Dirk Verhofstadt who is known for regularly publishing accusations against the party. Vlaams Belang also wrote an open letter to Ali supporting her work. In 2011, all the French speaking Belgian parties in the Federal parliament, as well as the Flemish Groen! and sp.a, called on the Belgian Council of State to withdraw all allocation of parliamentary money to the party, claiming statements and policies proposed by its leadership violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, the Council of State rejected the calls, arguing that the party had not violated the rules of the ECHR and that other accusations made against the party were based on old evidence revolving around the former "Vlaams Blok" trial. The VB's leadership described the accusations against the party as politically motivated and undemocratic.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Although collaboration with the party still remains controversial within some political circles, more mainstream Belgian politicians have started to discuss the possibility of including the party in coalition talks and lifting the cordon sanitaire, arguing that the VB's gradual moderation and growth in support cannot be ignored and that some of the policies the party has campaigned on have since been adopted by the main parties.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: In the European Parliament, the party has generally been part of the Non-Inscrits. In 2007, the party was however part of the short-lived European Parliament group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty alongside parties such as the French National Front. The party has also had some contacts with the Freedom Party of Austria, the Italian Northern League, the Dutch Forum for Democracy, the Danish People's Party, the Slovak National Party, the now-defunct German Freedom Party, and the Sweden Democrats.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: In 2007, the party hosted the second international counter-jihad conference in the European and Flemish Parliaments in Brussels together with Edward "Ned" May of the blog "Gates of Vienna", which brought together many counter-jihad ideologues and activists including Bat Ye'or, Pamela Geller, Robert B. Spencer, Gerard Batten, Hans Jansen, Andrew G. Bostom and Lars Hedegaard.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: In the ninth European Parliament, the party sits with France's National Rally, Italy's Lega Nord, the Dutch Forum for Democracy, the Freedom Party of Austria, Alternative for Germany, the Finns Party and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia in the Identity and Democracy parliamentary group.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: Outside the EU, it has ties to the Israeli Likud, the Swiss People's Party, South Africa's Freedom Front Plus, the US Republican Party, and United Russia.


title: Vlaams Belang

text: VB holds three seats in the ninth European Parliament (2019–2024) for the Dutch-speaking electoral college.


Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is the fifth studio album by the American band Big Thief, released as a double album through 4AD on February 11, 2022. Produced by drummer James Krivchenia, the album features 20 songs which were recorded over five months in five different locations across the United States. The album was supported by six singles. It received universal acclaim from critics upon release and entered the top forty in several territories, including Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The album is nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

text: In 2019, Big Thief left Saddle Creek and signed to 4AD, releasing two studio albums: "U.F.O.F." in May 2019 and "Two Hands" in October 2019. The albums were the band's most successful and acclaimed to date: "U.F.O.F." received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and both albums appeared on the "Billboard" 200 chart, with "Two Hands" peaking at 113. Their song "Not" from "Two Hands" was named by many publications as one of the year's best songs and was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Big Thief toured in support of the albums until March 2020, when their European tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drummer James Krivchenia released a solo album titled "A New Found Relaxation" in June 2020. In October 2020, Lenker released two solo albums: "Songs" and "Instrumentals". Guitarist Buck Meek released his second solo album "Two Saviors" in January 2021.


text: "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" album was produced by drummer James Krivchenia, who conceived the concept behind its recording. In late 2019, while at a hotel in Copenhagen, Krivchenia presented the band with the concept that they would travel to four different locations: Upstate New York, Topanga Canyon in California, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and the Colorado mountains. They would record at four different studios with four separate engineers, and go to each place with a specific sonic plan in mind. Krivchenia's intent was to capture a full expression of Lenker's songwriting and the band onto a single album. Krivchenia's production handling also marks the band's first album not produced by their longtime collaborator Andrew Sarlo.


text: The band recorded over the span of five months, resulting in 45 complete songs which were ultimately edited down to the album's 20 tracks. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band initially quarantined in the Vermont woods for two weeks in July 2020. The first session was in July and August 2020 at Sam Evian's Flying Cloud Recordings in Upstate New York. The second session was with Shawn Everett in October 2020 at Five Star Studios in Topanga, California. The third session was with engineer Dom Monks, who previously engineered "U.F.O.F." and "Two Hands"; the session took place in November 2020 at MusicGardens – Studio In The Clouds in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, located just outside Telluride. The fourth and final session was in December 2020 at Scott McMicken's Press On Studio in Tucson, Arizona. Mat Davidson, a former member of the Low Anthem and a longtime friend of the band who performs under the moniker Twain, was invited to contribute to the recordings in Arizona. Davidson had previously featured on the band's second studio album, "Capacity" (2017), with his vocals and fiddle performances featuring heavily throughout the Arizona "Dragon New Warm Mountain" recordings, marking the first time the band incorporated a fifth instrumentalist for such a substantial contribution. The album also features recordings from a fifth location, in April 2020 at The Elf Inn in Westhampton, Massachusetts.


text: On April 22, 2021, Lenker announced a series of solo tour dates for November and December 2021. On May 11, 2021, Big Thief announced North American tour dates for September and October 2021. On June 8, 2021, the band announced a European tour from January–March 2022. However, the European tour dates were rescheduled.


text: On August 10, 2021, Big Thief released the songs "Little Things" and "Sparrow". The singles marked the band's first new music since the release of the 2020 single "Love in Mine", an outtake from "Two Hands". On September 7, 2021, the band released another song, titled "Certainty", followed by another, named "Change", on October 6. They also announced plans for a North American tour slated for April and May 2022.


text: In the November 2021 issue of "Mojo", Big Thief revealed plans to release a 20-track double album in early 2022. On November 16, 2021, the band confirmed the album's title "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" and February 11, 2022, release date. On December 14, 2021, Big Thief released the singles "No Reason" and "Spud Infinity". On January 19, 2022, "Simulation Swarm" was released as the album's final single.


text: The album is named after the lyrics in its title track "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You", which Lenker first performed live in early 2019.


text: "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" was released to critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.


text: The album received a 9.0 out of 10 rating from "Pitchfork", with reviewer Andy Cush calling it a "20-song epic of kaleidoscopic invention, striking beauty, and wigged-out humor, rambling far beyond the bounds of their previous work." Peter Watts of "Uncut" called it a "landmark" album, writing, "Adrianne Lenker's genius has fully blossomed on this monumental double LP, which seamlessly blends her ambiguous melodies and absorbing narratives with a yearning for classic Americana and the band's indie-rock leanings." Ethan Shanfeld of "Variety" praised the album's "spirit of experimentation," writing, "If the ethereal folk of "U.F.O.F." and earthy indie-rock of "Two Hands" indicated each end of Big Thief's sonic spectrum, "Dragon" posits an entirely new axis." James McNair of "Mojo" praised the album's "admirable ambition" but criticized its lack of stylistic cohesion as being jarring at times. Helen Brown of "The Independent" gave the album a perfect five-star rating, writing, "In a market saturated with arty folk rockers, Big Thief stand out not by doing things weirder, but by doing them better." Brown praised Lenker's "questing outward gaze and quirky lyrical choices" and her "beady-eyed magpie knack for catchy melodies." Kaelen Bell of "Exclaim!" praised the "astonishing" effectiveness of the album's sonic diversity, writing that the songs "feel in conversation rather than competition, linked by the band's near-mythic symbiosis and Lenker's durable writing. Her songs are stretched, knotted and vaporized across the record, buried in instrumentation and effects on "Time Escaping" and "Flower of Blood" only to be dusted clean, naked as the day on the spellbinding "The Only Place" or "Promise Is a Pendulum"." Writing for "No Depression", John Amen praised the album, concluding, "Lenker emerges as one of the more gifted melodists, subtly versatile singers, and liberated lyricists of her generation. The band demonstrate their encyclopedic absorption and seminal reconfiguration of diverse genres and subgenres as well as production styles ranging from lo-fi to hi-fi, from the garage-y to the celestial."


text: In a less favorable review, Marcy Donelson of AllMusic wrote, "It seems unfair to call "DNWMIBIY" a failed experiment, as it's loaded with gems – including some of Big Thief's most free-spirited work to date – however, it lands much more like a showreel than a plotted album." Tony Inglis of "The Skinny" wrote that the "highs here are some of the highest in the band's prolific discography", and praised the "beguiling" experimentation on the tracks "Heavy Bend", "Blurred View", "Little Things", "Time Escaping", and "Flower of Blood"; Inglis, however, criticized the album's second half, which he felt "[clumps] together without discernible personality" and was worse than any of the songs on Lenker's solo album "Songs" (2020).


text: "Little Things" was ranked the fifteenth on "Pitchfork"s "The 100 Best Songs of 2021" list. "Little Things" was awarded the Best New Track distinction by "Pitchfork", who commented, "Big Thief perfect their natural ability to turn fleeting moments into unrestrained narrative."


title: Street art

text: Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.


title: Street art

text: Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graffiti into a more commercial form of art, as one of the main differences now lies with the messaging. Street art is often meant to provoke thought rather than rejection among the general audience through making its purpose more evident than that of graffiti. The issue of permission has also come at the heart of street art, as graffiti is usually done illegally, whereas street art can nowadays be the product of an agreement or even sometimes a commission. However, it remains different from traditional art exposed in public spaces by its explicit use of said space in the conception phase.


title: Street art

text: Street art is a form of artwork that is displayed in public on surrounding buildings, on streets, trains and other publicly viewed surfaces. Many instances come in the form of guerrilla art, which is intended to make a personal statement about the society that the artist lives within. The work has moved from the beginnings of graffiti and vandalism to new modes where artists work to bring messages, or just beauty, to an audience.


title: Street art

text: Some artists may use "smart vandalism" as a way to raise awareness of social and political issues, whereas other artists use urban space as an opportunity to display personal artwork. Artists may also appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. A common motive is that creating art in a format that utilizes public space allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised to reach a much broader audience than other styles or galleries would allow.


title: Street art

text: Whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used spray paint to produce their work, "street art" can encompass other media, such as LED art, mosaic tiling, stencil art, sticker art, reverse graffiti, "Lock On" sculptures, wheatpasting, woodblocking, yarn bombing and rock balancing.


title: Street art

text: New media forms such as video projections onto large city buildings are an increasingly popular tool for street artists—and the availability of cheap hardware and software allows such artwork to become competitive with corporate advertisements. Artists are thus able to create art from their personal computers for free, which competes with companies' profits.


title: Street art

text: Slogans of protest and political or social commentary graffiti on walls are the precursor to modern graffiti and street art, and continue as one aspect of the genre. Street art in the form of text or simple iconic graphics of corporate icons can become well-known yet enigmatic symbols of an area or an era. Some credit the "Kilroy Was Here" graffiti of the World War II era as one such early example; a simple line-drawing of a long-nosed man peering from behind a ledge. Author Charles Panati indirectly touched upon the general appeal of street art in his description of the "Kilroy" graffiti as "outrageous not for what it said, but where it turned up". Much of what can now be defined as modern street art has well-documented origins dating from New York City's graffiti boom, with its infancy in the 1960s, maturation in the 1970s, and peaking with the spray-painted full-car subway train murals of the 1980s centered in the Bronx.


title: Street art

text: As the 1980s progressed, a shift occurred from text-based works of early in the decade to visually conceptual street art such as Hambleton's shadow figures. This period coincides with Keith Haring's subway advertisement subversions and Jean-Michel Basquiat's SAMO tags. What is now recognized as "street art" had yet to become a realistic career consideration, and offshoots such as stencil graffiti were in their infancy. Wheatpasted poster art used to promote bands and the clubs where they performed evolved into actual artwork or copy-art and became a common sight during the 1980s in cities worldwide.


title: Street art

text: The group working collectively as AVANT was also active in New York during this period. Punk rock music's subversive ideologies were also instrumental to street art's evolution as an art form during the 1980s. Some of the anti-museum mentality can be attributed to the ideology of Marinetti who in 1909 wrote the "Manifesto of Futurism" with a quote that reads, ""we will destroy all the museums"." Many street artists claim we do not live in a museum so art should be in public with no tickets.


title: Street art

text: The northwest wall of the intersection at Houston Street and the Bowery in New York City has been a target of artists since the 1970s. The site, now sometimes referred to as the Bowery Mural, originated as a derelict wall that graffiti artists used freely. Keith Haring once commandeered the wall for his use in 1982. After Haring, a stream of well-known street artists followed, until the wall had gradually taken on prestigious status. By 2008, the wall became privately managed and made available to artists by commission or invitation only.


title: Street art

text: A series of murals by René Moncada began appearing on the streets of SoHo in the late 1970s emblazoned with the words "I AM THE BEST ARTIST". René has described the murals as a thumb in the nose to the art community he felt he had helped pioneer but by which he later felt ignored by. Recognized as an early act of "art provocation", they were a topic of conversation and debate at the time; related legal conflicts raised discussion about intellectual property, artist's rights and the First Amendment. The ubiquitous murals also became a popular backdrop to photographs taken by tourists and art students, as well as for advertising layouts and Hollywood films.


title: Street art

text: Franco the Great, also known as the "Picasso of Harlem" is another world famous street artist internationally known also for his New Art form. There were riots in the streets when Martin Luther King Jr. was slain in 1968. Harlem business owners retaliated by installing drab-looking metal gates on their storefronts. Franco decided to turn a negative into a positive by developing a new art form on the steel gates in 1978. He has painted over 200 gates from the west to the east side of 125th street on Sundays since then, when stores are closed." 125th Street in Harlem is unofficially known as "Franco's Blvd" because of his magnificent paintings on the metal business gates.


title: Street art

text: Some street artists have earned international attention for their work and have made a full transition from street art into the mainstream art world — some while continuing to produce art on the streets. Keith Haring was among the earliest wave of street artists in the 1980s to do so. Traditional graffiti and street art motifs have also increasingly been incorporated into mainstream advertising, with many instances of artists contracted to work as graphic designers for corporations. Graffiti artist Haze has provided font and graphic designs for music acts such as the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. Shepard Fairey's street posters of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama were reworked by a special commission for use in the presidential campaign. A version of the artwork also appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine. It is also not uncommon for street artists to start their own merchandising lines.


title: Street art

text: Street art has received artistic recognition with the high-profile status of Banksy and other artists. This has led street art to become one of the 'sights to see' in many European cities. Some artists now provide tours of local street art and can share their knowledge, explaining the ideas behind many works, the reasons for tagging, and the messages portrayed in a lot of graffiti work.


title: Street art

text: Berlin, London, Paris, Hamburg and other cities all have popular street art tours running all year round. In London alone there are supposedly ten different graffiti tours available for tourists. Many of these organizations, such as Alternative London, ParisStreetArt, AlternativeBerlin, pride themselves on working with local artists, so visitors can get an authentic experience and not just a rehearsed script.


title: Street art

text: Many of these guides are painters, fine-art graduates and other creative professionals that have found the medium of street art as a way to exhibit their work. With this commercial angle, they can let people into the world of street art and give them more of an understanding of where it comes from. It has been argued that this growing popularity of street art has made it a factor in gentrification.


title: Street art

text: Street art can have legal problems. The parties involved can include the artist, the city or municipal government, the intended recipient and the owner of the structure or the medium where the work was displayed. One example is a case in 2014 in Bristol, England, which illustrates the legal, moral and ethical questions that can occur. The "Mobile Lovers" by Banksy was painted on plywood on a public doorway, then cut out by a citizen who in turn was going to sell the piece to garner funds for a boys' club. The city government in turn confiscated the artwork and placed it in a museum. Banksy, hearing of the conundrum, then bequeathed it to the original citizen, thinking his intentions were genuine. In this case, as in others, the controversy of ownership and public property, as well as the issues of trespassing and vandalism, are issues to be resolved legally.


title: Street art

text: Under United States law, works of street art should be able to find copyright protection as long as they are legally installed and can fulfil two additional conditions; originality in the work, and that it is fixed in a tangible medium. This copyright would then survive for the lifespan of the artist plus 70 years. In case there is a collaboration between two artists, both would hold joint ownership in the copyright. Street artists also hold moral rights in their work, independent of economic rights arising from copyright. These include the right to integrity and the right to attribution.


title: Street art

text: Recently, street art has started to gain recognition among art critics, and some major companies have found themselves in trouble for using this art without permission for advertising. In such a case, H&M, a fast fashion retailer used street art by Jason "Revok" Williams in an advertisement series. In response to Williams' 'Cease and Desist' notice, however, H&M filed a lawsuit, alleging that since the work is a "product of criminal conduct", it cannot be protected by copyright. This view has been taken earlier too, in the cases of Villa v. Pearson Education and Moschino and Jeremy Tierney. In all three cases, before the judge could make a ruling on the issue of the illegality of the art, settlements were reached. These companies typically settle out of court to avoid costly, time-consuming litigation.


title: Street art

text: When it comes to the question of the destruction of street art, the United States has applied the Visual Artists Right Act (VARA) to introduce moral rights into copyright law. In English v. BFC & R East 11th Street LLC and Pollara v. Seymour, it was held that this Act was inapplicable to works of art placed illicitly. A distinction was also made between the removable and nonremovable works, indicating that if a work can be removed trivially, it cannot be destroyed, irrespective of its legal status. Another important factor considered by the court in the latter case was whether the artwork was "of a recognized stature".


title: Street art

text: In a case where a group of artists was awarded $6.7 million, the judge held that the art was not made without permission of the owner of the building, and that an important factor was that the demolition was done ahead of the intended date, indicating willful thought.


title: Street art

text: Graffiti is characteristically made up of written words that are meant to represent a group or community in a covert way and in plain sight. The telltale sign of street art is that it usually includes images, illustrations, or symbols that are meant to convey a message. While both works are meant to represent or tell a message to viewers, one difference between the two comes in the specific viewers that it is meant for. One trait of street art that has helped to bring it to positive light in the public eye is that the messages shown are usually made to be understandable to all.


title: Street art

text: While both of these types of art have many differences, there are more similarities than their origins. Both graffiti and street art are works of art that are created with the same intent. Most artists, whether they are working anonymously, creating an intentionally incomprehensible message, or fighting for some greater cause are working with the same ambitions for popularity, recognition and the public display or outpouring of their personal thoughts, feelings and passions.


title: Street art

text: The term street art is described in many different ways, one of which is the term "guerrilla art". Both terms describe these public works that are placed with meaning and intent. They can be done anonymously for works that are created to confront taboo issues that will result in a backlash, or under the name of a well-known artist. With any terminology, these works of art are created as a primary way to express the artist's thoughts on many topics and issues.


title: Street art

text: As with graffiti, an initial trait or feature of street art is that it is often created on or in a public area without or against the permission of the owner. A main distinction between the two comes in the second trait of street art or guerrilla art, where it is made to represent and display a purposefully uncompliant act that is meant to challenge its surrounding environment. This challenge can be granular, focusing on issues within the community or broadly sweeping, addressing global issues on a public stage.


title: Street art

text: This is how the term "guerrilla art" was associated with this type of work and behavior. The word ties back to guerrilla warfare in history where attacks are made wildly, without control and with no rules of engagement. This type of warfare was dramatically different from the previously formal and traditional fighting that went on in wars normally. When used in the context of street art, the term guerilla art is meant to give a nod to the artist's uncontrolled, unexpected and often unnamed attack on societal structure or norms.


title: Street art

text: Some have asked if it is sufficient to place art in the street to make street art; Nicholas Riggle looks more critically at the border between graffiti and street art and states the "an artwork is street art if – and only if – its material use of the street is internal to its meaning". The street is not a blank canvas for the street artist. It has a character, a use, a history, a texture, a shape. Street art, as well as broader urban art, transforms the street or opens the dialogue. Justin Armstrong states graffiti is identified as an aesthetic occupation of spaces, whereas urban street art repurposes them.


title: Street art

text: Guerilla sculpture is the placement of sculptures in street settings without official approval; it developed from street art in England in the late 20th century. In addition to the nontraditional setting of the works of art involved, there are also many different techniques used in the creation of this artwork. The artists tend to work illegally and in secrecy to create and place these works in the dark of night, cloaked in mystery regarding their origins and creators. The sculptures are used to express the artist's views and to reach an audience that would not otherwise be reached through more traditional methods of displaying one's work to the public. In performing these acts of artistic expression, they are not working to gain acceptance or love of the people that they reach, but at times may even anger those who view their work.


title: Street art

text: An example is the overnight appearance of an unsanctioned sculpture of Edward Snowden onto a column in Fort Greene Park in New York City. In other cases, the sculptures integrate two-dimensional backdrops with a three-dimensional component, such as one by Banksy titled "Spy Booth" (2014). The backdrop was painted on a wall in Cheltenham, England and featured Cold-War spy characters adorned in trench coats and fedoras, with spy accoutrements, microphones and reel-to-reel tape decks. These characters appeared to be tapping into a broken telephone booth.


title: Street art

text: On 15 July 2020, a month after the statue of Edward Colston was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests in Bristol, artist Marc Quinn used the empty plinth to display his sculpture "A Surge of Power (Jen Reid)". The life-sized piece, created from black resin and steel, was inspired by a picture of protester Jen Reid, raising her fist during the Bristol protest that subsequently went viral and caught the attention of Quinn. The statue was removed by Bristol City Council on 16 July 2020.


title: Street art

text: A deviation from the unsanctioned street sculpture is "institutionalized guerilla sculpture", which is sanctioned by civic authorities and can be commercialized. One such artist from the Netherlands is Florentijn Hofman, who in 2007 created "Rubber Duck", a colossal rendition of the childhood tub-toy.


title: Street art

text: In Latin America, especially Mexico, the term "antimonumento" has developed as the equivalent to political guerilla sculpture, or simply, an illegal installation of a politically themed sculpture. They are used to denounce the inaction of the state and reclaim public space. Normally an "antimonumento" is installed during a demonstration and, as writes, "corresponds to a desire to actively recall the (painful) past." Some of the issues commemorated are disappearances, massacres, migration, and the killing of women.


title: Street art

text: Although street art may be ubiquitous around the world, the popularity of its artistic expression is relatively recent. Street art has undergone a major transformation in public opinion to become socially accepted and respected in some public places. Even with this degree of acceptance, defacing private or public property with any and all message, whether it is considered art or not, is still widely illegal.


title: Street art

text: In the beginning, graffiti was the only form of street art that there was and it was widely considered to be a delinquent act of territorial marking and crude messaging. Initially, there were very clear divisions between the work of a street artist and the act of tagging a public or private property, but in recent years where the artists are treading the line between the two, this line has become increasingly blurred. Those who truly appreciate the work of famed street artists or street works of art are in acceptance of the fact that this art would not be the same without the medium being the street. The works are subject to whatever change or destruction may come because since they are created on public or private surfaces which are neither owned by the artist or permitted to be worked on by the property owners. This acceptance of the potential impermanence of the works of art and the public placement of the uncondoned works are what contribute to the meaning of the piece and therefore, what helps the growth of street art popularity.


title: Street art

text: Perhaps contrary to earlier anti-museum and ticket sale sentiments of some street artists; a dedicated exhibition to Street Art under the title 'Urban' opened in Peterborough Museum, United Kingdom, on the 11th December 2021. With tickets for the preview evening selling at £5 GDP and subsequent entry being charged at £8 per person. The exhibition has been promoted as being of 'major national [UK] importance' and celebrating artists such as Banksy, Damien Hirst, My Dog Sighs, the Connor Brothers, Pure Evil and Blek le Rat. While street art and sculpture has been on display at Bristol Museum since a Banksy 'takeover' in 2009.


title: Street art

text: Given the various benefits and sometimes high return on investment street art provides businesses, schools, neighborhoods and cities with a movement as a tool to create safer, brighter, more colorful and inspiring communities, a trend which has recently been more widely recognized. Organizations like "Beautify Earth" have pioneered cities to leverage these benefits to create widespread beauty where it would be otherwise empty or dilapidated public wall space.


title: Street art

text: A Washington Post article written by Sydney Page has stated that according to a safety study produced by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the consulting firm Sam Schwartzentitled "Asphalt Art Safety Study", crosswalks painted with murals have been found to significantly reduce the frequency of accidents occurring at such sites.


title: Street art

text: In Manhattan, "post-graffiti" street art grew in the 1980s from the then largely vacant neighborhoods of SoHo and the Lower East Side. The Chelsea art district became another locale, with area galleries also hosting formal exhibitions of street artist's work. In Brooklyn, the Williamsburg and Dumbo neighborhoods — especially near the waterfront — are recognized street art sites. New York City's unofficial Mural District is in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, with curatorial gatekeeping by a non-profit organization called The Bushwick Collective.


title: Street art

text: Chicago has many forms of street art emerging but some of the most popular artists that can be seen everywhere in Chicago is Sentrock, Jc Rivera (The Bear Champ), and Hebru Brantley.


title: Street art

text: Programs in the Pennsylvania cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh provide funding to agencies who employ street artists to decorate city walls. The Mural Arts Program established in 1984 has helped Philadelphia earn praise as the "City of Murals".


title: Street art

text: The project was initiated to encourage graffiti artists toward a more constructive use of their talents. Murals backed by The Sprout Fund in Pittsburgh were named the "Best Public Art" by the "Pittsburgh City Paper" in 2006.


title: Street art

text: Street art in Atlanta centers on the Old Fourth Ward and Reynoldstown neighborhoods, the Krog Street Tunnel, and along the 22-mile BeltLine railway corridor which circles the inner city. Atlanta established a Graffiti Task Force in 2011. Although the city selected a number of murals that would not be targeted by the task force, the selection process overlooked street art of the popular Krug Street Tunnel site. Art created in conjunction with the Living Walls street art conference, which Atlanta hosts annually, was spared. Some actions were taken by the unit, including arrests of artists deemed vandals, caused community opposition; some considered the city's efforts as "misdirected" or "futile". After being sued by a group of artists in 2017 the city of Atlanta agreed not to enforce an ordinance requiring artists to obtain city approval for murals on private property. Images and locations of over 200 works of Atlanta street art can be found on the Atlanta Street Art Map.


title: Street art

text: An independent offshoot known as "Going Vertical" sponsors works by street artists, but some have been removed as controversial.


title: Street art

text: Los Angeles's Arts District is known for its high concentration street murals. The neighborhood of Hollywood and streets such as Sunset Boulevard, La Brea, Beverly Boulevard, La Cienega, and Melrose Avenue are among other key locations. LAB ART Los Angeles, opened in 2011, devotes its 6,500 square feet of gallery space to street art. Artwork by locals such as Alec Monopoly, Annie Preece, Smear and Morley are among the collection.


title: Street art

text: San Francisco's Mission District has densely packed street art along Mission Street, and along both Clarion and Balmy Alleys.


title: Street art

text: Streets of Hayes Valley, SoMa, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Tenderloin have also become known for street art.


title: Street art

text: San Diego's East Village, Little Italy, North Park, and South Park neighborhoods contain street artwork of VHILS, Shepard Fairey, Tavar Zawacki a.k.a. ABOVE, Space Invader, Os Gêmeos, among others. Murals by various Mexican artists can be seen at Chicano Park in the Barrio Logan neighborhood. Chicano Park, which was a part of people’s land takeover in 1970, celebrated its 52nd anniversary in 2022. The more than 80 murals depict many aspects of Latino culture from lowrider culture to Aztec warriors. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Ground Floor Murals has created works that recognize the multicultural communities of San Diego, including Mexican singer Vicente Fernández, players from the San Diego Padres, and important local community members. Their first mural was of Padres’ legend, Tony Gwynn in City Heights.


title: Street art

text: Montreal (Canada) With over 80 murals and counting since the foundation of MURAL Festival in 2013, the annual street art festival contributed to creating Le Plateau-Mont-Royal as an epicenter for urban arts. Villeray, Downtown Montreal Le Sud-Ouest, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and multiple art districts also continue to broaden the street art circuit within the Island of Montreal. The Under Pressure annual graffiti festival, the largest of its kind in North America, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021.


title: Street art

text: Calgary (Canada) While historically having a smaller graffiti street art scene, the city recently started the Beltline Urban Mural Project (BUMP) with artists from all over the world creating large murals in the city center.


title: Street art

text: Richmond, Virginia has over 100 murals created by artists, many of whom are alumni of Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts or current students there. Some of the murals are privately commissioned by individuals and businesses, some are created by solo street artists, and some are collaborative group fund-raising projects.


title: Street art

text: Denver street artists have been busy brightening (and enlightening) the urban landscape for decades by making canvases of the city's alleyways, building exteriors, warehouses, garage doors and storefronts. The city of Denver has a whole area called the River North Art District (RiNo) that is dedicated to the work of local creative artists. Most artists in the RiNo district are commissioned by the local business owners who want to give their buildings colorful imagery.


title: Street art

text: The manifestations of street art in Mexico began in the late 80s in Mexico City, inside multifamily buildings in the north of the city and also in the subway. Since then, urban art and graffiti have formed an essential part of cultural identity in the different city halls of the metropolis.


title: Street art

text: Currently, some different associations and groups are dedicated to the creation and search of spaces for urban art in Mexico City and throughout the country. Even several artists, both national and foreign or emerging and consolidated, have taken their art to the Latin American country.


title: Street art

text: There are also media, such as All City Canvas, specialized in the dissemination of urban art in Mexico, Latin America and the rest of the world. In that way, it has been possible to create a universal language around this artistic manifestation. Even in 2012, All City Canvas was the first organization to create a street art festival in Mexico that sought to join international efforts and create urban art for a week in Mexico City. In recent years, they have produced several murals in collaboration with talented artists such as Vhils, It's a Living and Bier in Brood, as part of the All City Canvas Global Series in some cities in Mexico and the United States. The objective of the initiative is to create an impact on society through a large-scale piece of art.


title: Street art

text: Buenos Aires has developed a reputation for its large scale murals and artworks in many subway stations and public spaces. The first graffiti artists started painting in the street in the Argentine capital in the mid-1990s after visiting other countries in Europe and South America. One of the first recognized street artists in Argentina is Alfredo Segatori, nicknamed 'Pelado', who began painting in 1994 and holds the record for the largest mural in Argentina measuring more than 2000 square meters.


title: Street art

text: An abundance of buildings slated for demolition provides blank canvases to a multitude of artists, and the authorities cannot keep up with removing artists' output. "Population density" and "urban anxiety" are common motifs expressed by "Grafiteiros" in their street art and "pichação", rune-like black graffiti, said to convey feelings of class conflict.


title: Street art

text: Influential Brazilian street artists include Claudio Ethos, Os Gêmeos, Vitche, Onesto, and Herbert Baglione.


title: Street art

text: Bogotá has a lot of walls dedicated to street art and a powerful artistic movement. The tourist can appreciate several wall performances: ), and the historical neighborhood La Candelaria. Also, there is the Distrito graffiti (graffiti district), that is a dedicated place with gubernatorial curatory with more than 600 pieces of Colombian and international artists.


title: Street art

text: Caracas at the beginning this art the works had a more cultural air, much of the first street arts in the country were related to politics. Messages of disagreement or support for the leaders of the moment predominated. Over the years, street art in Venezuela has evolved. The works with political accents continued to star in the streets of the country, but culture became part of the arena.


title: Street art

text: London has become one of the most pro-graffiti cities in the world. Although officially condemned and heavily enforced, street art has a huge following and in many ways is embraced by the public, for example, Stik's stick figures. Dulwich Outdoor Gallery, in collaboration with Street Art London, is an outdoor "gallery" of street art in Dulwich, southeast London, with works based on traditional paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery.


title: Street art

text: Bristol has a prominent street art scene, due in part to the success of Banksy, with many large and colorful murals dominating areas of the city.


title: Street art

text: Ostend, Belgium, Belgium hosts an international street art festival. In 2018, US art magazine Juxtapoz described The Crystal Ship as "an art festival that is quickly becoming one of the major annual street art events in the world". Today, it is just that. Having seen the light of day in 2016, every year, The Crystal Ship paints the town of Ostend red (and blue, and green, and yellow, and quite possibly every other colour you can imagine) by inviting a host of acclaimed street artists to get inspired by its people, landscape, and heritage. Curator Bjorn Van Poucke is the driving force behind this street art walhalla where the work of artists like Axel Void (USA), Paola Delfín (Mexico), Escif (ES), Miss Van (FR), Sebas Velasco (ES), Elian (AR) and Wasted Rita (PT) transform the city.


title: Street art

text: Paris, France has an active street art scene that is home to artists such as Space Invader, Jef Aérosol, SP 38 and Zevs. Some connect the origins of street art in France to Lettrism of the 1940s and Situationist slogans painted on the walls of Paris starting in the late 1950s. Nouveau realists of the 1960s, including Jacques de la Villeglé, Yves Klein and Arman interacted with public spaces but, like pop art, kept the traditional studio-gallery relationship. The 1962 street installation "Rideau de Fer" (Iron Curtain) by Christo and Jeanne-Claude is cited as an early example of unsanctioned street art. In the 1970s, the site-specific work of Daniel Buren appeared in the Paris subway. Blek le Rat and the Figuration Libre movement became active in the 1980s. The 13 arrondissement is actively promoting street art through the Street Art 13 project. That includes two remarkable frescos by D*Face from London: "Love will not tear us apart" and "Turncoat". Between October 2014 and March 2015, Fondation EDF hosted Jérôme Catz's exhibition "#STREET ART, L'INNOVATION AU CŒUR D'UN MOUVEMENT", which featured new technologies integrated with pieces by artists including Shepard Fairey, JR, Zevz, and Mark Jenkins. The exhibition became the second most-visited exhibit at EDF since it opened in 1990. Street artist John Hamon's work primarily involves projecting or pasting a poster of his photograph above his name on buildings and monuments across the city.


title: Street art

text: Street art on the Berlin Wall was continuous during the time Germany was divided, but street art in Berlin continued to thrive even after reunification and is home to street artists such as Thierry Noir Tavar Zawacki a.k.a. ABOVE and SP 38. Post-communism, cheap rents, and ramshackle buildings gave rise to street art in areas such as Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, and Friedrichshain. In 2016, StreetArtNews initiated an urban artwork in the name of Urban Nation Berlin, in which several famous artists participated.


title: Street art

text: The second largest city in Estonia, Tartu, has been called the Estonian street art capital. While Tallinn has been against graffiti, Tartu is known for the street art festival Stencibility and for being home to a wide range of works from various artists.


title: Street art

text: The street art scene in Greece has been active since the late 1980s but gained momentum in Athens leading up to the country's 2011 financial crisis, with a number of artists raising voices of resistance, creating allegorical works and social commentary in the historic city center and Exarhia district. The "New York Times" published a story about the crisis in relation to street art and art in general.


title: Street art

text: Street art by Bleepsgr, whose work has been categorized as "artivism", can be found in neighborhoods such as Psiri.


title: Street art

text: In Spain Madrid and Barcelona represent the most graffiti populated cities, while Valencia, Zaragoza and Málaga also have a street art scene.


title: Street art

text: Italy has been very active in street art since the end of the 1990s; some of the most famous street artists include BLU, 108, and Sten Lex.


title: Street art

text: Street art in Amsterdam (Netherlands) has a long history. In the mid-1960s, the counterculture movement named the provos already used the street as a canvas. Member Robert Jasper Grootveld wrote things like "Klaas komt" (English: "Klaas is Coming!") throughout the whole city. At the end of the 1970s, young artists from the punk culture wrote on the decayed city. Well-known artists from this 'No Future-generation' are Dr. Rat and Hugo Kaagman, the stencil art pioneer who made his first stencil back in 1978.


title: Street art

text: Yaki Kornblit brought New York graffiti artists like Blade, Dondi, Futura 2000 and Rammellzee to Amsterdam to exhibit in his gallery in the early 80s. This inspired the youth, from which a new generation style writers emerged that was later recorded in the documentary Kroonjuwelen (2006). Names as Delta, Shoe, Jaz, Cat22, High, Again and Rhyme left their mark on the city. In the early 1990s, Amsterdam became the epicenter of the graffiti movement, with a focus on its Metro system, bringing writers such as Mickey, Zedz and Yalt to the capital of the Netherlands. Figurative street art became more and more common in the streets around the turn of the century. Morcky, Wayne Horse, The London Police en Laser 3.14 communicated through their work on the street.


title: Street art

text: The city of Bergen is looked upon as the street art capital of Norway. British street artist Banksy visited the city in 2000 and inspired many to take their art to the streets.


title: Street art

text: Dolk is among local street artists in Bergen. His art can be seen around the city. Bergen's city council in 2009 chose to preserve one of Dolk's works with protective glass.


title: Street art

text: In 2011, the city council launched a plan of action for street art from 2011–2015 to ensure that "Bergen will lead the fashion for street art as an expression both in Norway and Scandinavia".


title: Street art

text: The city of Stavanger is host to the annual NuArt Festival, an event dedicated to promoting street art; the festival is one of the oldest curated "street art" festivals in the world. Nuart Plus is an associated industry and academic symposium dedicated to street art. The event takes place each September. Oslo, by contrast, traditionally has a zero tolerance policy against graffiti and street art, but the sanctioned NuArt RAD project is changing that.


title: Street art

text: Street art came to Sweden in the 1990s and has since become the most popular way to establish art in public space.


title: Street art

text: The 2007 book "Street Art Stockholm", by Benke Carlsson, documents street art in the country's capital.


title: Street art

text: The street art scene of Finland had its growth spurt from the 1980s onwards until in 1998 the city of Helsinki began a ten-year zero-tolerance policy which made all forms of street art illegal, punishable with high fines, and enforced through private security contractors. The policy ended in 2008, after which legal walls and art collectives have been established.


title: Street art

text: Wheatpaste and stencil graffiti art in Denmark increased rapidly after visits from Faile, Banksy, Ben Eine, and Shepard Fairey between 2002 and 2004, especially in urban areas of Copenhagen such as Nørrebro and Vesterbro. Copenhagen is home of TEJN, the artist credited with introducing the Lock On street art genre.


title: Street art

text: The street art scene in Switzerland saw the artist Harald Nägeli in the late 1970s. Activity from the nineties on included artists like Toast and NEVERCREW.


title: Street art

text: Since the collapse of communism in 1989, street art became prevalent in Poland throughout the 1990s. In the city of Łódź a permanent city exhibition was financed in 2011, under the patronage of Mayor Hanna Zdanowska, called "Urban Forms Gallery". The exhibition included work from some of Poland's elite street artists as well as globally known artists. Despite being mostly accepted by the public, with authorities occasionally allowing artists licenses to decorate public places, other properties are still illegally targeted by artists. Warsaw and Gdańsk are other Polish cities with a vibrant street art culture.


title: Street art

text: A monument in Bulgaria depicting Soviet Army soldiers was targeted by anonymous street artists in June 2011. The soldiers of the monument, located in Sofia, were embellished to portray Ronald McDonald, Santa Claus, Superman, and others. The monument existed in that condition for several days before being cleaned. Some citizens were in favor of allowing the embellishments to remain.


title: Street art

text: Moscow has increasingly become a hub for Russian graffiti artists as well as international visitors. The Street Kit Gallery, opened in 2008, is dedicated to street art and organizes events in galleries, pop-up spaces and on the streets of the city. The 2009 Moscow International Biennale for Young Art included a section for street art. Active artists include Make, RUS, and Kyiv-based Interesni Kazki (also active in Miami and Los Angeles). Britain's BBC network highlighted the artwork of Moscow street artist Pavel 183 in 2012.


title: Street art

text: The dissolution of the Soviet Union left Georgia with tantalizing urban space for the development of street art. Although it is a relatively new trend in Georgia, the popularity of street art is growing rapidly. The majority of Georgian street artists are concentrated in Tbilisi. Street art serves as a strong tool among young artists to protest against the many controversial issues in the social and political life in Georgia and thus gets considerable attention in society. Influential artists include Gagosh, TamOonz, and Dr.Love.


title: Street art

text: Sarajevo has become a major hub for street art in Southeastern Europe. It hosts the Sarajevo Street Art Festival and the acclaimed 3D street art festival, Beton Fest. The former is held in July of every year and lasts for three days. Each year's edition is made up of numerous street performances, the creation of a new street arts bohemian quarter in the city, concerts, the painting of large murals and the showcasing of other creative art forms. The latter is the only 3D street art festival in Southeastern Europe and has hosted many renowned street artists such as Vera Bugatti, Giovanna la Pietra, Tony Cuboliquido, Manuel Bastante and others.


title: Street art

text: In India, street art is hugely popular. Many of the film and TV series promotional materials were created by street painters/artists. Currently, digital art is replacing hand painted posters. From 1960 to the 1990s, the street posters worked well and impressed audiences. In the 1990s the hand painted posters started to be replaced by flex banners outside theatres. After the 2000s, the popularity of street posters started to decline, being replaced by digitally printed posters. Street art painting and street art drawing sketch has since declined in India due to the replacement by digital posters.


title: Street art

text: In George Town, Penang, Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic created a series of wall murals depicting local culture, inhabitants and lifestyles. They now stand as celebrated cultural landmarks of George Town, with "Children on a Bicycle" becoming one of the most photographed spots in the city. Since then, the street art scene has blossomed.


title: Street art

text: In South Korea's second-largest city, Busan, German painter Hendrik Beikirch created a mural over high, considered Asia's tallest at the time of its creation in August 2012. The monochromatic mural portrays a fisherman. It was organized by Public Delivery.


title: Street art

text: In United Arab Emirates' largest city, Dubai, several famous painters created urban mural artwork on the buildings, which was initiated by StreetArtNews and named it Dubai Street Museum.


title: Street art

text: Melbourne is home to one of the world's most active and diverse street art cultures and is home to pioneers in the stencil medium. Street artists such as Blek le Rat and Banksy often exhibited works on Melbourne's streets in the 2000s (decade). Works are supported and preserved by local councils. Key locations within the city include Brunswick, Carlton, Fitzroy, Northcote and the city centre including the famous Hosier Lane.


title: Street art

text: Dunedin pioneered "official" street art in New Zealand with over sixty bus shelters being given unique murals by painter John Noakes during the 1980s, many of them featuring local scenes or scenes inspired by the names of their locales. The Dunedin City Council has since commissioned a series of similar designs to grace electric boxes around the city. Street murals have also become a popular addition to Dunedin, with over 30 works by both local and overseas artists being added to the central city — especially around the Warehouse Precinct and Exchange areas – since an international street art festival was held there in the early 2000s. These include one of New Zealand's tallest works, a seven-story mural on the wall of the Southern Cross Hotel by Fintan Magee.


title: Street art

text: Christchurch was devastated by 2 earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and as a result, 8000 homes and 80 percent of the central city were condemned. It wasn't until two and half years later that the city was able to host its first major cultural event - "Rise Street Art Festival" held at Canterbury Museum produced by Australasian street art organizer Oi YOU!.


title: Street art

text: The event attracted over 248,000 visitors (the most-visited show in the Museum's history) and saw 15 murals painted across the devastated central city. The murals became community icons for the re-emergence and rebuild of Christchurch.


title: Street art

text: Two further Oi YOU! Festivals, both under the name of "Spectrum", featured large internal exhibitions as well as adding to the city's stock of murals. Since "Rise", over 40 murals have been produced in the central city and the Lonely Planet guide to global street art featured Christchurch as one of the best cities in the world to experience the art form.


title: Street art

text: In Auckland in 2009, Auckland's city council permitted electrical boxes to be used as canvases for street art. Local street art group "TMD" (The Most Dedicated) won the "Write For Gold" international competition in Germany two years in a row. Surplus Bargains is another local collective. In 2019 in Auckland, a heritage building in the city was painted without the owners' permission by Ares Artifex.


title: Street art

text: Although street art in South Africa is not as ubiquitous as in European cities, Johannesburg's central Newtown district is a center for street art in the city. The "City Of Gold International Urban Art Festival" was held in the city's Braamfontein civic and student district in April 2012.


title: Street art

text: The "New York Times" reported Cairo's emergence as a street art center of the region in 2011. Slogans calling for the overthrow of the Mubarak regime has evolved into æsthetic and politically provocative motifs.


title: Street art

text: Street art from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya has gained notoriety since the Arab Spring, including a 2012 exhibition in Madrid's Casa Árabe.


title: Street art

text: In 1981, Washington Project for the Arts held an exhibition entitled "Street Works", which included urban art pioneers such as Fab Five Freddy and Lee Quiñones working directly on the streets.


title: Street art

text: Sarasota Chalk Festival was founded in 2007 sponsoring street art by artists initially invited from throughout the US and soon extended to internationally. In 2011 the festival introduced a "Going Vertical" mural program and its "Cellograph" project to accompany the street drawings that also are created by renowned artists from around the world. Many international films have been produced by and about artists who have participated in the programs, their murals and street drawings, and special events at the festival.


title: Street art

text: The Street art festival istanbul is Turkey's first annual street art and post-graffiti festival. The Festival was founded by the artist and graphics designer Pertev Emre Tastaban in 2007.


title: Street art

text: Living Walls is an annual street art conference founded in 2009. In 2010 it was hosted in Atlanta and in 2011 jointly in Atlanta and Albany, New York. Living Walls was also active in promoting street art at Art Basel Miami Beach 2011.


title: Street art

text: The RVA Street Art Festival is a street art festival in Richmond, Virginia began in 2012. It is organized by Edward Trask and Jon Baliles. In 2012, the festival took place along the Canal Walk; in 2013 it took place at the abandoned GRTC lot on Cary Street.


title: Street art

text: The Pasadena Chalk Festival, held annually in Pasadena, California, is the largest street-art festival in the world, according to Guinness World Records. The 2010 edition involved about six hundred artists of all ages and skills and attracted more than 100,000 visitors.


title: Street art

text: UMA - Universal Museum of Art launched a comprehensive Street Art exhibition "A Walk Into Street Art" in April 2018. This exhibition in virtual reality offers works from Banksy, JR, Jef Aérosol, Vhils, Shepard Fairey, Keith Haring, among others.


title: Street art

text: The Eureka Street Art Festival is an annual public art event in Humboldt County, California. Artists from throughout California and the world to paint murals and create street art during a week-long festival. The 2018 festival saw 24 artists create 22 pieces of public art in the Old Town area of the city, focusing on Opera Alley. The 2019 festival is centered on the Downtown region.


title: Argent (band)

text: Argent were an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of the Zombies. They had three UK top 40 singles: "Hold Your Head Up", which reached number five and spent 12 weeks on the chart, "Tragedy" (number 34), and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" (number 18). Two of their albums charted in the UK: "All Together Now", which peaked at number 13 in 1972, and "In Deep", which spent one week at number 49 in 1973.


title: Argent (band)

text: Rod Argent put together Argent just as his former band The Zombies's posthumous single "Time of the Season" was becoming a worldwide hit in 1969. Argent had enjoyed considerable success with The Zombies but wanted his new outfit to become part of the burgeoning progressive rock scene. Indeed, his new band employed much heavier rhythms and a generally weightier sound, but also continued the minor keys and complex lyrics of The Zombies, often by Argent's writing with former Zombie bassist Chris White. Guitarist and vocalist Russ Ballard also developed strong melodies and hit singles, writing a string of FM staples. The band was completed by bassist Jim Rodford and drummer Bob Henrit. Lead vocal duties were shared between Ballard, Rodford, and Argent.


title: Argent (band)

text: Their first album, "Argent", was critically acclaimed, if not a massive seller. It was a solid start and contained the song "Liar", which was subsequently covered by Three Dog Night. 1971's "Ring of Hands" was their second album and feaured the minor hit "Sweet Mary". "All Together Now" was their third album released in 1973. It featured the song that they are best remembered for: "Hold Your Head Up" which was a top 5 hit in both UK and the US charts.


title: Argent (band)

text: Their next album "In Deep" contained two more hits in "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" and "It's Only Money". 1974's "Nexus" did not have any songs the band considered to be a potential hit; Rod Argent's writing dominated the album, with Ballard only contributing 3 of the album's 9 songs. The album's centerpiece "The Coming of Kohoutek" was inspired by that year's appearance of the comet of the same name. Uninspired by this change and seeking a vehicle for his prodigious songwriting, Ballard left after the album's release to pursue a successful career as a solo artist. Ballard's departure was followed by the release of the live album "Encore", whose sound quality is considered to be poor.


title: Argent (band)

text: The band regrouped as a quintet with the addition of a young virtuoso guitarist John Grimaldi and guitar/vocalist John Verity. Both of their final albums "Circus" and 1975's "Counterpoints" were poorly received and failed to sell, though their final concert tours were well attended. In 1975, John Grimaldi decided to leave the band. While Rod Argent considered whether to continue Argent, the remaining members (Henrit, Rodford and Verity) became Phoenix.


title: Argent (band)

text: The original Argent lineup reunited at the High Voltage Festival in Victoria Park, London on 25 July 2010, and undertook a short five-date concert tour in December 2010, with gigs in Frome, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Leamington Spa, and London.


title: Argent (band)

text: Argent also reunited for a five-show tour from January to February 2012, before performing one last show at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury as part of a benefit concert, on 2 June 2013, supporting the Zombies, on a bill that also included Marillion members Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery.


title: Argent (band)

text: Argent's biggest hit was the Rod Argent and Chris White composition "Hold Your Head Up", featuring lead vocals by Russ Ballard, from the "All Together Now" album, which, in a heavily edited single form, reached No. 5 in the US. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. By 2005, all albums, including compilations, have been re-released on CD, except "Counterpoints".


title: Argent (band)

text: The sound of the band was a mix of rock and pop, but also covered more progressive rock territory in songs like "The Coming of Kohoutek", an instrumental from their "Nexus" album. When Ballard left the band after "", they took an even more progressive/fusion turn with their final Epic album "Circus" and then signed to a new record label (RCA) for the final 1975 album "Counterpoints". By 2005, all albums, including compilations, have been re-released on CD, except "Counterpoints".


title: Argent (band)

text: Argent recorded the original version of "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", written by Russ Ballard, which was covered by Kiss in 1991 under the name "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II", and featured prominently at the end of the film "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey". The song also became a Contemporary Christian rock anthem and was twice covered by the Christian Rock band Petra, in 1977 (on the album "Come and Join Us") and again in 1984 (on the album "Beat the System"), with new verses.


title: Argent (band)

text: Some of Ballard's compositions became hits when they were covered by other artists, including Rainbow ("Since You Been Gone", from the album "Down to Earth", and "I Surrender", from the album "Difficult to Cure"), Kiss, Petra, Hello, Santana, and more recently the Brazilian metal band Oficina G3. The Russ Ballard song "Liar", on Argent's first album, became a hit for Three Dog Night in 1971 and was also released as a single, ten years later, by Graham Bonnet (former Rainbow vocalist, who sang the vocal on "Since You Been Gone"), taken from his debut album "Line-Up".


title: Argent (band)

text: Fish (former lead singer of Marillion) recorded a version of "Hold Your Head Up" for his 1993 album "Songs from the Mirror", a selection of his favourite songs. The American band Phish play an instrumental version of "Hold Your Head Up", usually as a transition into a "joke song" by drummer Jon Fishman. "Hold Your Head Up" was covered in 1987 by the band 20/Twenty and (in the same year) by Australian group the Party Boys. Mother Love Bone recorded a cover of "Hold Your Head Up" in 1989. Their version was released on a promotional only 7" vinyl in 1989. It was reissued on 7" vinyl in 2014 as a limited edition Black Friday Record Store Day release on Stardog/Republic Records. The band Jellyfish opened most of their shows with an abbreviated version of "Hold Your Head Up".


title: Jeff Monson

text: Jeffrey William Monson (born January 18th 1971) is an American-Russian mixed martial artist who competes primarily in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1997, he has competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, PRIDE, M-1 Global, Impact FC, World Victory Road, and Cage Warriors. In Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling, Monson is a two-time winner of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, and a No Gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu World Champion.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson is an anarcho-communist known for his radical left-wing political views. He is the host of "Monson TV" on RT.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he also grew up for most of his childhood. He attended Timberline High School and continued on as a Division I wrestler at Oregon State University and at the University of Illinois and was a Pac-10 champion for Oregon. He also competed at senior level at USA Wrestling events for a number of years.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he was the assistant coach of the wrestling team.


title: Jeff Monson

text: He worked as a mental health professional for five years, both in a crisis evaluation role for Cascade Mental Health in Lewis County, Washington, as well as a child and family counselor. However, having major success in Abu Dhabi and other MMA shows, he decided to leave the mental health profession to devote himself full-time to mixed martial arts.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Champion. He is an MMA fighter and has also had three professional boxing bouts. His boxing record is two wins and one draw.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson is considered to be one of the world's top submission grapplers. He is a multiple event winner at NAGA, Grapplers Quest and FILA, among other submission tournaments. He is nicknamed "The Snowman" for his performance at the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. The Brazilian fighters at the tournament gave him the nickname because he came in as an unknown, but beat four Brazilians in a row to win the 88–98 kilogram weight class. As he went along in the tournament and continued to beat his opponents, they said he was like a snowball (white, compact, rolling and getting bigger and stronger as the tournament went on).


title: Jeff Monson

text: At UFC 57, Monson submitted Branden Lee Hinkle by north–south choke in the first round. At UFC 59, he fought Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Marcio Cruz (ADCC veteran and longtime rival). Monson won by decision after three rounds. At UFC 61, Monson fought another Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Anthony Perosh, whom Monson defeated by TKO in the first round.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On November 18, 2006, at UFC 65, Monson fought Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. He lost a five-round decision and would later ask to be released from his UFC contract in the hopes of facing then-PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at a BodogFIGHT scheduled for March 2007. However, negotiations fell through and the match did not happen during that time.


title: Jeff Monson

text: At the main event of PRIDE 34, on April 8, 2007, Monson defeated Kazuyuki Fujita via rear-naked choke submission at 6:37 of the opening round.


title: Jeff Monson

text: His next fight was scheduled to be against Chris Guillen on August 17, 2007, for the Global Fighting Championships' Heavyweight Championship, but the event was canceled after four of the eight scheduled bouts were removed from the card. Monson lost against Pedro Rizzo at Art of War 3, which was held on September 1, 2007. During the bout, Monson displayed a much improved level of striking, and kept the fight standing virtually the entire time.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On September 7, 2007, Monson won two matches in the FILA World Championship in Turkey, defeating France's Zoro Piere and England's Tom Blackledge by submission. Monson was awarded the 275-pound gold medal when his final opponent Ramon Diaz suffered an injury and was forced to bow out.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez in the main event of the Mixed Fighting Alliance "There Will Be Blood" event on December 13, 2008. He avenged a loss to Rodriguez from almost seven years prior.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On March 21, 2009, Monson won a controversial decision against Roy Nelson on Roy Jones Jr.'s hybrid boxing/MMA card "March Badness." He then beat Sergej Maslobojev on a Cage Wars card on March 29, 2009. He immediately went to Japan and defeated top Russian Heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov on April 5, 2009, at Dream 8, giving him three wins in two weeks.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On September 12, 2009, at Bitetti Combat MMA 4, Monson had his seven-fight win streak snapped, losing in a rematch with Pedro Rizzo by unanimous decision.


title: Jeff Monson

text: At 5150 Combat League/Xtreme Fighting League: New Years Revolution, Monson defeated John Brown by split decision on January 16, 2010.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On March 13, 2010, Monson fought in France at 100% Fight II and defeated Francisco Nonato by submission (guillotine choke) in the first round. He lost to Travis Wiuff in a split decision at XKL Evolution 2 on April 24, 2010.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On May 14, 2010, he lost in Abu Dhabi to Shamil Abdurahimov by majority decision at the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship in the Quarter Finals of the 2010 Openweight Grand Prix.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson faced Jason Guida on August 21, 2010, at an event called "Fight Time 1". He defeated Jason Guida at 3:04 in the second round by a guillotine choke submission.


title: Jeff Monson

text: His next fight was scheduled to be against Neil Wain at "KnuckleUp: Kings of the North," but Neil Wain pulled out of the fight due to injuries. Stepping in to replace Wain was the very man who took him out of the fight, Dave Keeley. Monson defeated Keeley by submission (north–south choke) in the first round.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson defeated Sergey Shemetov at the inaugural Israel Fighting Championship event on November 9. After the fight, he said he wanted to drop down to the Light Heavyweight division for his next fight and his friend, Ricco Rodriguez, who later won his fight in the main event, said he wanted to fight Monson in the International Fighting Championships (IFC) at Light Heavyweight.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson said that after he fought in April and May, he hoped the UFC would want him back, but this time he would like to fight in the Light Heavyweight division.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson stepped in for injured Shane del Rosario to face prospect Daniel Cormier on the June 18 card in Dallas, Texas, and lost via fight via unanimous decision.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson defeated Paul Taylor in Birmingham, England at the Sprawl n Brawl promotion on October 9, 2011.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson fought Fedor Emelianenko at on November 20, 2011 in Moscow, Russia and lost by unanimous decision.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson was unbeaten in his four fights after the loss against Fedor, and in June 2012 signed a four-fight deal with the Super Fight League in India.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson was originally announced to fight at SFL 4 on September 29 against former UFC fighter Todd Duffee but after the event was pushed back twice the SFL decided to change the structure of their shows, with weekly events replacing monthly events. Duffee and SFL agreed on his departure in September and he is currently fighting in the UFC. Following this news, the fight was canceled.


title: Jeff Monson

text: From June 2013 to April 2014, Monson would go 1–6 in seven fights, defeating Denis Komkin, and losing to notable fighters such as Alexey Oleynik, Satoshi Ishii, and Mike Hayes. After a loss to up-and-comer Chaban Ka, Monson defeated Kevin Brooks via north-south choke at Fight Time 20 on August 29, 2014.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson faced Dmitry Titkov on September 5, 2014, at Fight Star: Saransk vs. Penza. He lost the fight by cut TKO, after a cut opened up on Monson.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson then faced Mikhail Shein at Fight Star: The Battle of the Sura 2. He won the fight via rear-naked choke in the second round.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson faced Ivan Shtyrkov on 6 May, the promoter and him decided to do an exhibition match due to Monson having an injury that would have forced him out of a legitimate MMA match. When the match started it quickly became clear that Shtyrkov was treating it as a real fight and shortly after dropping Monson with a straight right finished him with an armbar on his injured arm.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On 12 January 2021, Monson announced his official retirement from all forms of combat sports, including both MMA and Submission Grappling.


title: Jeff Monson

text: In 2004, when facing Marcio Pe de Pano at the Arnold Gracie competition, Monson allegedly attacked a referee and caused a brawl. The original attack was not caught on camera, but Monson is caught on video being restrained by several competition staff and coaches. As a result of this brawl the "can opener" was made illegal in IBJJF competitions. Both Monson and Pe de Pano were barred from competing at the next year's event.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson is an anarcho-communist. He presently hosts a multi-platform (TV/social media) political and social commentary program on RT called, "Monson TV".


title: Jeff Monson

text: In 2015, Monson sought Russian citizenship, citing that he felt "Russian in spirit." He was granted Russian citizenship in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin.


title: Jeff Monson

text: In April 2016, Monson expressed his desire to join the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in a video appeal to the party and praised socialism as "the only way as a human species that we’re going to survive." Soon after, he was invited to meet Communist Party of the Russian Federation leader Gennady Zyuganov in his office in the State Duma, where they discussed the future of communism in Russia and globally. Monson later led a procession across Red Square into Lenin's Mausoleum together with Zyuganov dedicated to the anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's birth. He was appointed as a special representative for international cooperation by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation's Sport Club in June 2016.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson was the subject of a party political advertisement released in the run-up to the 2016 State Duma Elections.


title: Jeff Monson

text: On September 11, 2016, Monson announced on Twitter that he had become a citizen of the Luhansk People's Republic to support local people who suffered in the War in Ukraine. He was made an honorary citizen of the Republic of Abkhazia in October 2016 for "supporting nations striving for self-determination."


title: Jeff Monson

text: On September 9, 2018, Monson was elected to the City's Duma (local city parliament) of Krasnogorsk, a city located near Moscow. Monson won the mandate as a candidate on the list of the ruling party "United Russia," which nominated him without membership in the party. In order to be able to carry out the mandate, Monson had to give up his American citizenship in accordance with Russian law.


title: Jeff Monson

text: Monson has two children from his first marriage, Michaela and Josh. He has a daughter, Willow, from his second marriage. He now has a fourth child from a Russian woman. Monson is a Christian and has said he prayed to God before every match.


title: Jeff Monson

text: In late 2008, Monson spraypainted an anarchy symbol, peace symbol, "no war", and "no poverty" on the Washington State Capitol in photographs published in ESPN magazine. Charged with first-degree criminal mischief, Monson pled guilty in July 2009.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In Einstein's theory of general relativity, the Schwarzschild metric (also known as the Schwarzschild solution) is an


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: exact solution to the Einstein field equations that describes the gravitational field outside a spherical mass, on the assumption that the electric charge of the mass, angular momentum of the mass, and universal cosmological constant are all zero. The solution is a useful approximation for describing slowly rotating astronomical objects such as many stars and planets, including Earth and the Sun. It was found by Karl Schwarzschild in 1916, and around the same time independently by Johannes Droste, who published his more complete and modern-looking discussion four months after Schwarzschild.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: According to Birkhoff's theorem, the Schwarzschild metric is the most general spherically symmetric vacuum solution of the Einstein field equations. A Schwarzschild black hole or static black hole is a black hole that has neither electric charge nor angular momentum. A Schwarzschild black hole is described by the Schwarzschild metric, and cannot be distinguished from any other Schwarzschild black hole except by its mass.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild black hole is characterized by a surrounding spherical boundary, called the event horizon, which is situated at the Schwarzschild radius, often called the radius of a black hole. The boundary is not a physical surface, and a person who fell through the event horizon (before being torn apart by tidal forces), would not notice any physical surface at that position; it is a mathematical surface which is significant in determining the black hole's properties. Any non-rotating and non-charged mass that is smaller than its Schwarzschild radius forms a black hole. The solution of the Einstein field equations is valid for any mass , so in principle (according to general relativity theory) a Schwarzschild black hole of any mass could exist if conditions became sufficiently favorable to allow for its formation.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In the vicinity of a Schwarschild black hole, space curves so much that even light rays are deflected, and very nearby light can be deflected so much that it travels several times around the black hole.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild metric is a spherically symmetric Lorentzian metric (here, with signature convention ,) defined on (a subset of)


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: where formula_2 is 3 dimensional Euclidean space, and formula_3 is the two sphere. The rotation group formula_4 acts on the formula_5 or formula_6 factor as rotations around the center formula_7, while leaving the first formula_8 factor unchanged. The Schwarzschild metric is a solution of Einstein's field equations in empty space, meaning that it is valid only "outside" the gravitating body. That is, for a spherical body of radius formula_9 the solution is valid for formula_10. To describe the gravitational field both inside and outside the gravitating body the Schwarzschild solution must be matched with some suitable interior solution at formula_11, such as the interior Schwarzschild metric.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In Schwarzschild coordinates formula_12 the Schwarzschild metric (or equivalently, the line element for proper time) has the form


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild metric has a singularity for formula_33 which is an intrinsic curvature singularity. It also seems to have a singularity on the event horizon formula_34. Depending on the point of view, the metric is therefore defined only on the exterior region formula_20, only on the interior region formula_36 or their disjoint union. However, the metric is actually non-singular across the event horizon, as one sees in suitable coordinates (see below). For formula_37, the Schwarzschild metric is asymptotic to the standard Lorentz metric on Minkowski space. For almost all astrophysical objects, the ratio formula_38 is extremely small. For example, the Schwarzschild radius formula_39 of the Earth is roughly , while the Sun, which is times as massive has a Schwarzschild radius formula_40 of approximately 3.0 km. The ratio becomes large only in close proximity to black holes and other ultra-dense objects such as neutron stars.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The radial coordinate turns out to have physical significance as the "proper distance between two events that occur simultaneously relative to the radially moving geodesic clocks, the two events lying on the same radial coordinate line".


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild solution is analogous to a classical Newtonian theory of gravity that corresponds to the gravitational field around a point particle.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: Even at the surface of the Earth, the corrections to Newtonian gravity are only one part in a billion.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild solution is named in honour of Karl Schwarzschild, who found the exact solution in 1915 and published it in January 1916, a little more than a month after the publication of Einstein's theory of general relativity.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: It was the first exact solution of the Einstein field equations other than the trivial flat space solution. Schwarzschild died shortly after his paper was published, as a result of a disease he developed while serving in the German army during World War I.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In the early years of general relativity there was a lot of confusion about the nature of the singularities found in the Schwarzschild and other solutions of the Einstein field equations. In Schwarzschild's original paper, he put what we now call the event horizon at the origin of his coordinate system. In this paper he also introduced what is now known as the Schwarzschild radial coordinate ( in the equations above), as an auxiliary variable. In his equations, Schwarzschild was using a different radial coordinate that was zero at the Schwarzschild radius.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: A more complete analysis of the singularity structure was given by David Hilbert in the following year, identifying the singularities both at and . Although there was general consensus that the singularity at was a 'genuine' physical singularity, the nature of the singularity at remained unclear.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In 1921 Paul Painlevé and in 1922 Allvar Gullstrand independently produced a metric, a spherically symmetric solution of Einstein's equations, which we now know is coordinate transformation of the Schwarzschild metric, Gullstrand–Painlevé coordinates, in which there was no singularity at . They, however, did not recognize that their solutions were just coordinate transforms, and in fact used their solution to argue that Einstein's theory was wrong. In 1924 Arthur Eddington produced the first coordinate transformation (Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates) that showed that the singularity at was a coordinate artifact, although he also seems to have been unaware of the significance of this discovery. Later, in 1932, Georges Lemaître gave a different coordinate transformation (Lemaître coordinates) to the same effect and was the first to recognize that this implied that the singularity at was not physical. In 1939 Howard Robertson showed that a free falling observer descending in the Schwarzschild metric would cross the singularity in a finite amount of proper time even though this would take an infinite amount of time in terms of coordinate time .


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: In 1950, John Synge produced a paper that showed the maximal analytic extension of the Schwarzschild metric, again showing that the singularity at was a coordinate artifact and that it represented two horizons. A similar result was later rediscovered by George Szekeres, and independently Martin Kruskal. The new coordinates nowadays known as Kruskal-Szekeres coordinates were much simpler than Synge's but both provided a single set of coordinates that covered the entire spacetime. However, perhaps due to the obscurity of the journals in which the papers of Lemaître and Synge were published their conclusions went unnoticed, with many of the major players in the field including Einstein believing that the singularity at the Schwarzschild radius was physical.


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: Real progress was made in the 1960s when the more exact tools of differential geometry entered the field of general relativity, allowing more exact definitions of what it means for a Lorentzian manifold to be singular. This led to definitive identification of the singularity in the Schwarzschild metric as an event horizon (a hypersurface in spacetime that can be crossed in only one direction).


title: Schwarzschild metric

text: The Schwarzschild solution appears to have singularities at and ; some of the metric components "blow up" (entail division by zero or multiplication by infinity) at these radii. Since the Schwarzschild metric is expected to be valid only for those radii larger than the radius of the gravitating body, there is no problem as long as . For ordinary stars and planets this is always the case. For example, the radius of the Sun is approximately , while its Schwarzschild radius is only .