Street arts

The street art you see across Paris represents a decades-old evolution from illicit graffiti to a celebrated contemporary art form. While modern murals now decorate many high-rise facades, the movement traces its roots back to the early 1980s when artists began using the city as a vast, open-air gallery. One of the most influential pioneers, known as Blek le Rat, began stenciling life-sized rats on Parisian walls in 1981. He famously called these rodents the only free animals in the city, using them as a symbol of urban resistance and a way to bring art directly to people who might never step foot inside a traditional museum.