ABSTRACT
The United Nations Buffer Zone is a strip of land of varied width that runs from west to east and divides the island of Cyprus in two. In the heart of Nicosia, the island’s capital, the Buffer Zone (BZ), also called the Green Line, bisects the old city and its sixteenth-century fortifications (Figure 8.1). It is an urban landscape mentally and physically associated with a long history of armed conflict and violence.1 During the last decade, the words, colours and messages of graffiti and street art have reappeared and proliferated in the midst of this landscape,2 with often perception-altering results that affect both the place itself and its users.
