Your say / Street Art
‘Graffiti will always have its place in Bristol’
Bristol has been named one of best places in world to visit in 2026 by Lonely Planet in recognition of its street art scene. John Nation, Bristol’s ‘godfather of graffiti’, explores some of the reasons why the artform continues to define our city
I’ve been involved in street art culture from the evolution of graffiti writing in the 80s, the explosion of street art and Banksy in the 2000s, then the rise of See No Evil and Upfest. I’m still someone who strongly advocates for the artists and supports art and Bristol’s contemporary culture.
Whether it’s music, activism or politics, Bristol is such a fertile place for me as a tour guide to seek inspiration. I’ve been a tour guide for 14 years now, just imparting some of my passion, my own history and knowledge. I don’t claim to know everything because I don’t. I’m learning new things every day and there are new artists coming through in Bristol that I need to learn more about.
I want to share on my tours that Bristol is such an inclusive contemporary city for artists. There are so many people from all classes and races compared to how graffiti used to be that was predominantly blokes, entrenched in machismo and testosterone and criminality.
We’ve come a long way but you still have two communities in Bristol. You’ll never lose the graff of Bristol; that’s the underbelly. What makes great art is somebody else’s vandalism.
I look at the roots, history and journey of Banksy, and where he began. His inspiration wasn’t from social media or from the internet. It was walking the streets of Bristol every day and seeing people like Delge (Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja) and Inkie and all the generation of artists before him acting as an inspiration.
The walls spoke of this city and they still speak to this day so in that regard, graffiti will always have its place in Bristol, regardless of police operations and council clean-ups. It’s the most durable youth culture the city’s ever known.
This is an opinion piece by John Nation, who organises street art tours and other events via Where the Wall
Main photo: Martin Booth
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