【明報專訊】Officials in Reims (蘭斯), France, commissioned C215, the country's top graffiti artist, to paint in the city. What he did would be part of an upcoming exhibition. But street cleaners scrubbed off what he had painted. The officials had to apologise to him.
The town hall of Reims asked C215, whose real name is Christian Gummy, to produce some street art for the city. One of the pieces, which showed a sulking boy slumping against a wall, was done on a transformer box near the town hall. However, the town's anti-graffiti squad had not been informed of the project.
"What surprised me is that it was removed by the city when it was the city itself that had asked me to do it," said the 42-year-old artist. Officials of Reims apologised to him, and the culture and events department promised that, in future, the anti-graffiti squad would be notified.
(source: Ming Pao, BBC, The Telegraph)
■Photo story
A piece of C215's graffiti was removed by the anti-graffiti squad of Reims.
■Quiz
Choose the correct answers.
(answers on next text)
1. Who is C215?
a. an official of Reims
b. a graffiti artist
c. a member of the anti-graffiti squad of Reims
2. On what was the removed piece painted?
a. a wall
b. a transformer box
c. a wall in the town hall
3. How did Christian Gummy feel when he learned his artwork has been removed?
a. surprised
b. embarrassed
c. angry
4. What did the culture and events department of Reims promised to do in the future?
a. apologise to the artist
b. invite another artist
c. give notice to the anti-graffiti squad ahead of the event
■Words
graffiti 塗鴉
■Glossary
commission (v) 委任
scrub off (phr v) 擦去
apologise (v) 道歉
transformer (n) 變壓器