Italian street artist CIBO (Italian for “food”) is doing more than making the streets of Italy a little more colorful—and mouth-watering.
CIBO (Instagram) 
CIBO (Patreon) 
CIBO (Instagram)
Since 2008, CIBO (aka: Pier Paolo Spinazzè) has transformed vandalism and graffitied messages of hate into vibrant murals of fruits, vegetables, cheese, pastries, pasta, sweets, and sausages. In the artist’s statement on his Patreon page, CIBO writes:
“I use the power of art to erase every taste of hate from my city walls, in the hope of educating cities and citizens to respect each others.
Why food? In Italy, food embraces a huge part of our tradition, culture, and national pride but, most important of all, food means spending time with the people we love, sharing joy and happiness.
I really believe that we can erase hate from our countries, that’s why I want to share with you this tasty project which hopefully becomes contagious and spicy enough to inspire other people, all over the world, to do the same thing using their own style and language.”
CIBO works primarily in the Italian city of Verona, painting over swastikas and other hate-filled messages from supporters of Italy’s far-right extremist groups. His art has had a unifying (and beautifying) impact, and when the vandals come back and deface his work, he paints over their vandalism with bigger and better food murals.
In an interview with Frontrunner Magazine, CIBO says that he wants “to show others that if ideas are good, they should be shared”. He can’t erase all messages of hate, especially as fascists around the world are emboldened to make their presence known, but he hopes to inspire other anti-fascists to “do it their own way.”
There are countless ways to erase hate and spread unifying messages of tolerance and peace—it just takes persistence and courage. And sometimes spray paint.
More About CIBO!
- Follow CIBO on Instagram and Facebook to see more of his art.
- Support CIBO on Patreon. He offers three different membership levels which are (of course) food-based: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
- Watch CIBO at work in this 2018 VICE News video.
- Meet CIBO, the Street Artist Who Covers Swastikas with Food Murals (Italics Magazine)
- This Street Artist is Fighting Nazis With Giant Images of Food (Twisted Sifter)
- CIBO: Urban Art Against Hatred (Frontrunner Magazine)