Good morning,

Today’s Fem Fri is about the women of graffiti, both in history and right now.

We start with the inspiring Dr Joyce Reynolds, who at 99 is working on a major work on the graffiti of Pompeii. She’s also just been given an honorary doctorate from Cambridge, which is great, but feels like it might be a bit of a distraction too? She is ninety nine years old and has a major work to finish!

Born in 1918, Dr Reynolds became one of the world’s leading historians of the ancient world, exploring remote areas of Libya, Syria, Romania and Turkey – often as the only woman on an archaeological dig. She drove an all-woman party of archaeologists across North Africa in the 1950s, and is currently working on a major publication of the graffiti of Pompeii.

https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/university-of-cambridge-honorary-degrees-2018

If you want to know more about the graffiti of Pompeii, Dr Rebecca Benefiel is working on digitising and mapping it. Lots of fun details in this article:

Scholars can tell, for instance, that a tavern was once beyond the wall where a welcoming greeting—“Sodales, avete,”—can still be read. [People] also shared snippets of literature (lines from The Aeneid were popular) and succinct maxims like, “The smallest evil, if neglected, will reach the greatest proportions.” And then there was the trash talk. One speaks of "sheep-faced Lygnus, strutting about like a peacock and giving himself airs on the strength of his good looks"

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/adrienne-was-here/475719/

In the most recent one thousand years, here’s Faith47 talking about her street art in South Africa:

working on the streets is way more experiential. it’s a whole process from finding new spots to actually painting. I mean its much harder to get your ideas and style together and be focused when you have all the outside elements, cars rushing by, people walking past or talking to you, getting mugged, gangsters telling you stories, kids wanting cans. […] on the flip side a canvas is like a personal thing, your thoughts, your music. you can block the world out and lock yourself up; it’s more of a meditation. the one is like breathing in, the other like breathing out.

http://senseslost.com/interviews/faith47-interview/

Maya Hayuk’s work is inspired by Ukrainian crafts and embroidery, so of course I am all over it. She is based in New York so if you have any good photos of her work, let me know:

When we moved in I asked the landlord if I could ‘cover the graffiti’ and THIS WALL COULD BE YOUR LIFE was born. We never had any problems with cops until the moment anyone used a spray can. They would hear the shaking ball bearing from a mile away and be right on top of us asking for permits and threatening to arrest us. As long as we stuck to bucket paint, we somehow did some kind of Jedi mind trick that we were supposed to be there.

http://illsocietymag.com/?p=5062

Happy Friday!

Alex.