POWWOW! 10th Anniversary Exhibit hosted by Bishop Museum.

Exhibition curated by Jasper Wong, founder and lead director of POW! WOW! Directors: Kamea Hadar, co-lead director; Jeffrey Gress, ground operations director; Amy Wong, merchandise director; Andrew Tran, documentation director ; Street installation by Rachel Stauffer.

Welcome to The Alley. This is not a particular place, but an imagined origin story—where graffiti was born into a world of adversity and grew to reclaim the unheard voices of resistance. At its start, graffiti was seen by many as opposition to the dominant social norms; in fact, it was often inextricably bound up with criminal activity. But despite the very real existence of vandalism, theft, and gang activity, graffiti also emerged alongside hip-hop culture and served as a communal bonding agent, a mark of identity.

Imagine a kid screaming from the top of his lungs, ʻI’m here, alive, and surviving this here life.’ That’s the essence of Graffiti.—Crash