Graffiti as Method: Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Political Perception and Community Relations in Belfast

This article explores the methodological possibilities that a graffiti dataset offers to a spatio-temporal analysis of peace and conflict. Leveraging our original visual dataset of Belfast’s changing muralscape, the analysis unpacks how messages painted on walls offer a lens into evolving local sentiments, politics, unity, and divisions. We suggest that tracking changes in graffiti across time offers methodological innovation in understanding contested spaces, and, when used as a foundational method, a dataset enhances researcher understanding of violence, avoidance, memorialisation and publicly debated social issues, paving the way for further research on graffiti as a lens for understanding complex societal phenomena.