Brussels square named the most 'tagged' in the country

Brussels square named the most 'tagged' in the country
Place Flagey has acquired over 150 graffiti tags in the past couple of weeks. Credit: Fred Romero/Flickr.

With over 150 graffiti tags appearing in the last few weeks, Place Flagey in Ixelles is one of the most graffitied squares across all of Belgium.

The tags that have recently appeared have surfaced on building walls, shop fronts, garbage cans, public benches, the windows of STIB bus shelters and even on the entrance door to the faculty of architecture.

The current situation cannot continue, according to liberal councillor Gautier Calomne, who is calling on public authorities to launch a cleaning operation before Christmas.

“This is a very bad place… it gives a terrible picture of the municipality of Ixelles, of Brussels as a whole, and depresses the residents, especially as these tags are not artistic, they are all very ugly,” Calomne told La Dernière Heure.

The councilor does not understand why authorities have not tackled the issue head-on.

“By not intervening directly, it gives the impression that everything is allowed. This also creates a snowball effect. The more [grafitti tags] there are, the more taggers will keep doing it,” Calomne explains.

In the neighbourhood, there are four public entities that take care of removing graffiti; STIB, Brussels-Mobility, Brussels-Clean and the municipality of Ixelles.

The next cleaning session is planned for next spring, but Brussels Mobility has reportedly indicated that weather permitting, it will intervene in January, BX1 explains.

Evie McCullough

The Brussels Times


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