Spraying the horror: Street art as social response to collective trauma

This study examines street art created in Israel following the October 7, 2023 massacre and the ensuing war through the lens of Terror Management Theory (TMT). Using digital ethnography and visual analysis, we examined 237 street artworks created across Israeli cities during the first six months following the attack. The artworks reflected heightened mortality salience and existential anxiety through recurring visual symbols, captions, and commemorative representations. The analysis identified themes corresponding to the three anxiety-buffering mechanisms proposed by TMT: reinforcement of collective worldviews, enhancement of self-esteem, and the search for interpersonal proximity, including symbolic bonds with the deceased. At the same time, the findings revealed tensions between attempts to restore meaning and experiences of fragmentation, uncertainty, and disruption. Street art following collective trauma may function both as a symbolic coping response and as a public space in which social and existential destabilization becomes visible.