Ian Curtis Wall

Every day I walk past the Ian Curtis wall, the graffiti memorial to the Joy Division singer that has marked up Wallace Street’s concrete expanses for nearly three decades. (Mentioned on his Wikipedia page.)
Recently, it was removed by the local graffiti clean-up crew.
This is a genuine international attraction, and it’s been scrubbed off the map. (That link goes to Meredith Yayanos, international lady of mystery and recent emigre to Wellington; I have been bemused to watch her discuss Wellington’s many positive attributes in Twitter conversations with William Gibson and Warren Ellis, among others.) I’d be frustrated except its only a matter of time before the graff reappears; it’s already been chalked back up, bigger and brighter than ever.
But – it’s yet another blemish in the council’s record of understanding and dealing with street art. (See also the Drypnz fiasco.) Not that this is an easy task, graffiti slips right through the cracks of our social mechanics, but they can do a damn sight better than they’ve been doing. If we’re trying to a be a city of culture, then a bit of sorting out is past due.