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Street Art in Lisbon
Lisbon has a rich history of art on walls, with Portuguese Azulejo ceramic painted tiles dating as far back as the 13th century. And, while muralism is strongly associated with South America (primarily Mexico), muralism in Portugal dates back to the 15th century. Today, wall art continues to be a part of Portugal's vibrant culture in the form a thriving street art scene, with Lisbon as the center hub.

The current street art scene can be traced back to the Carnation Revolution. The revolution started as a coup, and resulted in all-out civil resistance. Street art exploded out of the revolution as a way to communicate politically, but continues today as a strong part of Lisbon's rich culture.

Today, the street art in Lisbon is primarily government sanction, sometimes even government funded. With programs intended to use street art to liven dilapidated areas, build civic pride, and to bring in tourism by encouraging icon streets. Programs such as Galeria de Arte Urbana (GAU), an initiative that catalogs and promotes street art through tours and a publication about street art in Lisbon titled Issuu. Even the artists themselves, like street art collective Underdog, get involved in educating and enriching the public by offering their own tours and outreach programs like Lata 65, a program where street artists teach street art to the elderly.

One of the most successful programs to utilize street art for beautification is the award winning Reciclar o Olhar, a program designed to introduce the general public to street art whereby artists beautify the city by painting recycling bins, garbage cans, and garbage trucks into works of art. The program was heralded as groundbreaking, publicly viewed as aiding in the reduction of illegal crime and vandalism.

Lisbon is also host to Festival de Arte Urbana LX, a street art festival sponsored by Galeria de Arte Urbana and funded by the Department of Heritage, where artists from all over the world are invited to enrich Lisbon by bringing their art to walls in run down areas. Spectators are also invited to come view the art and witness it being made.

Lisbon's most famous street artist, Vhils (real name Alexandre Farto), is a member of the street artist collective, Underdog. In 2016 he collaborated with Shephard Fairy (Obey) for an untitled mural in Lisbon stylized after Shepard's "Universal Personhood" series.

Criticism
Even with the out-reach efforts, there are residents who see no difference between street art and graffiti. There is also a legitimate concern that the urban beautification will raise property values and rents, and push out the lower income individuals who previously lived there. Some artists have complained that the entire scene is too corporate to be of value to either citizens or artists.