When graffiti is sacred

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the intersections between art, city, and religion through the circulation of religious graffiti in Recife. In a context where religion is increasingly mediated by symbolic and visual languages, the presence of sacred imagery outside traditional places of worship — inscribed on the city’s walls — reveals significant shifts in the experience of the sacred. We ask: in what ways does religiosity, mediated by graffiti, operate as a device of symbolic dispute in urban space? And how do these images convey religious moralities that challenge both hegemonic Christianity and the dominant secular ethos? To explore these questions, we conducted a sensory ethnography grounded in visual anthropology, with close attention to the perceptual layers that traverse the experience of a graffiti-covered city. Fieldwork involved the photographic mapping of religious-themed graffiti and participation in collective activities of urban creation and occupation. Throughout this process, we identified four predominant modes of sacred inscription on Recife’s walls: Throughout this analysis, we identify four predominant modalities of sacred inscription on the walls of Recife: motivational christianity, battle christianity, territorialized christianity, and afro-brazilian spirituality.