Graffiti on campus manhole covers attract people in Changchun

Twelve manhole covers painted with cartoon images on the campus of Changchun Guanghua University have recently caught people's attention.

The graffiti was created by 19 art students at the university who spent a whole day painting cartoon images they had designed earlier on the manhole covers, according to Chi Yue, leader of the painting team.

"Their works are original and the designs make the campus more beautiful," said a student at the university.

A student draws a Japanese manga character on a manhole cover. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]

According to Zhou Hui, a faculty member at the School of Visual Communication Design, Changchun Guanghua University, the activity was approved by the university who provided the paint for the graffiti.

"The university hopes to improve students' practical ability and offer them chances to use their art abilities in applicable ways," Zhou added.

The paintings were later made popular through the internet and brought back many people's childhood memories.

Painting graffiti on manhole covers first turned up in Japan in the 1980s. It was an art form created by Yasutake Kameda and gradually became popular around the world.

A manhole cover is painted with a cartoon image of a dolphin by an art student in Changchun. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]

The graffiti not only beautifies the streets, but also tells people a kind culture. For example, being a country of manga, those characters are a must on the well lids.

Besides paintings on manhole covers, these art students also make artistic phone shells.

"These self-designed products might be available for sale online in the future," Zhou suggested.

Phone shells created by the art students at Changchun Guanghua University. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]