Google promotes street art via Maps

In a move that will help preserve street art works, Google has launched the 'Google Street Art Project' which brings together a collections of graffittis from all over the world via Google Maps and Google Earth.

The website displays, on Google Maps, the graffitti hotspots worldwide, from New York, to Chile, to Poland and other. In Street View mode you can explore buildings with street art painted on them, some of which are already gone, washed away or closed to the public and some of which will probably disappear sometime in the future.

The Street Art Project is a way of preserving art through technology but also making it available to the large public.

Some famous artists whose works are included in the project are the elusive Banksy, the French painter Ladislas Kijno and Shepard Fairey.

'The transient nature of street art means it can be at risk of being scrubbed out and lost forever to its legions of fans. But long after the paint has faded from the walls, technology can help preserve street art, so people can discover it wherever and whenever they like,' said Lucy Schwartz, Program Manager at the Google Cultural Institute.