“Stencils” or “pochoirs” are pictures sprayed in public places using stencils. Since graffiti tend to be removed very quickly, www.stencilboard.at serves as an archive for preserving at least some of this creative, dynamic and critical art form.

An ulterior motive in developing this website was also to establish a steadily growing, collectively compiled, extensive and international archive of stencil art and to make it accessible to the general public. The website strives to facilitate a comparison of different styles and activities from different regions and cities, as well as to collect artists’ comments and visitors’ statements on the works displayed.

The stencil art collection also enables the identification of distinctive cultural features and focuses. Stencils are often interesting due to their surroundings and their function of critically exploring the development of social systems and society per se. The images are a means of protest in urban space and often have artistic intentions. Users who would like to upload photographs are asked to make both a close-up of the motif and a long shot with its surroundings. This enables viewers to get a better idea of how stencil graffiti relate to and affect their environments.

Due to the legal situation, it is difficult for stencil artists to instigate a discussion of their works in a critical context. stencilboard.at gives artists and anyone else interested a platform to present their own works or those of others anonymously to viewers around the globe, and to get their opinions and evaluations of them.