Campania passes law to promote and protect street art

The Campania region in Italy has approved a law to valorize street art, following similar legislation in Lazio (2020) and Puglia (2020). The law, promoted by Massimiliano Manfredi (Pd) and Francesco Emilio Borrelli (Alleanza Verdi-Sinistra), was passed by the Regional Council in April 2023. It aims to give street art dignity as a cultural phenomenon and socially relevant art form. The law includes measures such as creating an annual register of public and private surfaces for street art, awarding prizes for the best works and university research projects, and allocating €200,000 for the 2023-2025 triennium. The approval was welcomed by urban creativity associations in Campania, coordinated by Inward – National Observatory on Urban Creativity, which noted that the law explicitly includes graffiti writing, street art, and new muralism for the first time. Campania already hosts Inopinatum, Italy's first university research center on urban creativity, based at the University of Suor Orsola Benincasa in Naples. Calabria is also considering similar legislation, with discussions initiated in March 2023 by councilor Filippo Quartuccio.