Organizing street art – what for?

Example of illegal street art in Tartu by MinaJaLydia. Photo by suur jalutuskaik.
Example of illegal street art in Tartu by MinaJaLydia. Photo by suur jalutuskaik.

Today we have Vandalog’s second guest post from Sirla, an organizer of the Stencibility festival in Tartu, Estonia. I find it inspiring to see festival organizers thinking deeply like you’ll find in this post. – RJ

Street art festivals are the most organized form of street art – coordinated, sponsored, approved under certain conditions, etc. Street art festivals also garner significantly more attention on most blogs and other media than illegal and spontaneous street art marching to the beat of its own drum. Street art festivals are hot stuff and new ones are constantly popping up. According to a recent letter I got from the Freiraumgalerie in Germany, there are close to 125 different international street art festivals in Europe alone.

In many cities with active street art and graffiti movements, the authorities ruthlessly combat spontaneous public art, a move largely supported by the people in those cities. With that in mind, it can be fairly complicated to hold annual legal street art festivals in cities such as those. As a solution, the festivals are held as one-off events or in smaller cities that don’t have years of experience with fighting the so-called “graffiti problem.” Due to the absence of a local scene, however, it’s typical in those smaller cities that nothing much happens on the streets before or after the festival, and the festival’s emphasis tends to be on murals rather than street art as a whole.

This brings us to an exception that’s by no means singular, however it’s closest to my own heart, namely the city of Tartu and our street art festival Stencibility, of which I am an organizer. With her 100,000 inhabitants, Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. Known for its university and a generally youthful vibe, it has also been dubbed the street art capital of Estonia. Since Stencibility has evolved out of the local stencil scene, both the illegal street art and the legal festival are thriving side by side, supporting one another.

Stencibility began 6 years ago as a small get-together of local street artists, and it has expanded every year since. Three years ago, we hosted Kashink, our first foreign artist, and two years ago we garnered some major media attention when MTO painted Stencibility’s first large-scale mural.

Ms. Reet by MTO, from the 2014 Stencibility festival. Photo by Sirla.
Ms. Reet by MTO, from the 2014 Stencibility festival. Photo by Sirla.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is known for its graffiti, but street art is practically non-existent and, much like the neighboring capitals Helsinki and Riga, Tallinn upholds a strict policy of zero tolerance. Just a few months ago, a highly illustrative incident took place when Edward von Lõngus, one of the most popular Estonian street artists, made a stencil piece in the city centers of both Tallinn and Tartu for the anniversary of the Estonian Republic. It depicted a naked emperor as a commentary on the way the government is functioning. The one in Tallinn was erased after a few weeks with an official statement that it was not art, while the one in Tartu still stands. The situation went viral when MinaJaLydia, another stencil artist from Tartu, placed her own stencil right on the cleaned spot in Tallinn, a still life with the line “Is it art now?” which the media reported as a clash between the spirit of Tartu and the authority of Tallinn.

Continue reading “Organizing street art – what for?”

Labrona and friends, new murals in Montreal

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Labrona and Gawd’s mural in Montreal.

It’s not really a surprise if I tell you that Labrona is one of my favorite artist in the Montreal art scene… I could probably say he is my favorite. so I am really lucky to have time to catch him on several projects this summer. First, just before the MURAL festival, Fred Caron, Kashink and him collaborated on a mural in Griffintown area. Second, he painted 3 doors during MURAL. Then there is this big wall he painted with Gawd in mid-July (above), and finally a beautiful series of portraits with Monosourcil pasted on the streets in June. Very stunning collaborations! And it’s only the beginning of the summer…

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Labrona and Gawd

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Mural by Labrona, Fred Caron, Kashink:

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Kashink, Labrona, fred Caron.
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details, Labrona.
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dog by Caron, hands by Kashink.

2 of the 3 doors produced during MURAL festival:

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And the pieces with Monosourcil…

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little more, a detail of the last ceiling he is actually finishing, part of the mural he started last fall:

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Photos by Aline Mairet

Street art in Tartu, Estonia

MTO for the Stencibility festival in April 2014. Photo courtesy of Sr.
MTO for the Stencibility festival in April 2014. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.

Today we have a guest post from Marika Agu and Sirla, two organizers of the Stencibility festival in Tartu, Estonia. The example of Tartu shows that even smaller cities can have a thriving street art scene. – RJ Rushmore

With a population of 100k, Tartu is the second largest town in Estonia. It’s mostly known for its university, which might not sound attractive in the context of globalization, when it’s cheaper than ever to travel to culturally vibrant capitals. Nevertheless, the town has something unique and unexpected – for a small place like Tartu, there’s an extremely high concentration of highly varied street art. It’s something really new for the town as the scene has evolved in the past 7-8 years.

Works by Multistab (Estonia) and Kashink (France) for the last year's Stencibility festival. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
Works by Multistab (Estonia) and Kashink (France) for the last year’s Stencibility festival. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.

The local street art festival is called Stencibility. It started out from the stencil scene 5 years ago, since then Stencibility has turned into a street art festival that has bigger significance each year. The festival emphasizes including the local community with educational programs, lectures, workshops, photo competitions, guided tours, street art map, exhibitions etc., and the people living in Tartu are generally positively minded towards street art. Even the city council acknowledges it, even though most of the time the festival is shamelessly promoting illegal street art. For example, one of the local street artist Edward von Lõngus was awarded in 2013 with an official cultural award for an illegal stencil work.

"Ouroboros" by Maari Soekov at Stencibility 2012. Photo by Jyri L Mets.
“Ouroboros” by Maari Soekov at Stencibility 2012. Photo by Jyri L Mets.

This intense activity has led Tartu to become the street art capital of Estonia and an alternative to nearby larger cities like Tallinn, Helsinki and Riga that have declared a zero-tolerance policy on illegal graffiti and street art. Tartu’s self-designated galleries, hidden treasures in abandoned buildings together with bits and pieces all over town, are must-see spots for every urban explorer. Tartu hosts a wide range of works from foreign and local artists like MTO, Kashink, Facter, Multistab, Edward von Lõngus, MinaJaLydia, Thobek, Brush Lee, Müra2000, Okeiko and many others.

An illegal gallery under the bridge called the Freedom Gallery. Photo by Ruudu Rahumaru.
An illegal gallery under the bridge called the Freedom Gallery. Photo by Ruudu Rahumaru.

As the street art and graffiti scenes in Tartu have grown, local officials have implemented methods of control that rely on their discretion rather than a one-size-fits-all policy. In May 2013, a controversial incident happened involving the city council and the street art activists who have been organizing Stencibility. Tartu officials decided to buff the most active self-designated gallery in the city, a spot under a bridge called the “Freedom Gallery.” After some alarmed citizens noticed something strange happening under the bridge, they called the mayor Urmas Kruuse to ask for an explanation (it might seem strange, but this can be taken as a positive aspect of a small town). The mayor interrupted the removal work and asked for a consultation with the organizers of Stencibility on how to deal with the spray-painted images. After some thought, those of us organizing the festival decided not to intervene in the city’s natural changing process or the government’s decisions by being the curators of illegal street art. We let the mayor and the other city officials decide for themselves what would stay and what would go. In the end, the “Freedom Gallery” was partially buffed, keeping the works that the city workers in charge of the removal deemed “beautiful” and removing the rest. So, the city is not a free-for-all, but at least officials seem open to the idea that even illegal street art and graffiti may have some benefits.

Although the phenomenon of street art can be found in all parts of the world, it’s important to note that Tartu, with its small size, is significant especially for its street art. You can take this as an invitation because I’d suggest to join the view as long as it’s alive and kickin’.

"Artuuro" by KAIRO and MinaJaLydia. Photo by MinaJaLydia.
“Artuuro” by KAIRO and MinaJaLydia. Photo by MinaJaLydia.
KAIRO's works on the streets. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
KAIRO’s works on the streets. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
A large scale pattern by TAF. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
A large scale pattern by TAF. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
Edward von Lõngus. Photo by Edward von Lõngus.
Edward von Lõngus. Photo by Edward von Lõngus.
MinaJaLydia's error smiley
MinaJaLydia’s error smiley. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
An anonymous work and MinaJaLydia's harajuku twins. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
An anonymous work and MinaJaLydia’s harajuku twins. Photo courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla.
Sometimes it's so good not to do anything that you can't resist and do it anyway. Photo by Ragne Schults
Translation: “Sometimes it’s so good not to do anything that you can’t resist and do it anyway.” Photo by Ragne Schults.
Facter visiting Estonia. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
Facter visiting Estonia. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
Fans admiring a work by Edward von Lõngus. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
Fans admiring a work by Edward von Lõngus. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
Water measurer by Hapnik. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
Water measurer by Hapnik. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.
A dialogue on the street between Thobek (Latvia) and Kashink (France), who have never met in real life. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik
A dialogue on the street between Thobek (Latvia) and Kashink (France), who have never met in real life. Photo by Suurjalutuskaik.

Photos by Jyri L Mets, Ruudu Rahumaru, Edward von Lõngus, Ragne Schults, and Suurjalutuskaik, and courtesy of Marika Agu and Sirla

Ladies Run Basel with Women on the Walls

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Maya Hayuk

This year Wywood Walls turned five and to mark the special occasion curator Jeffrey Deitch called on on the finest ladies in the field for Women on the Walls. International artists AikoMiss VanFafiMaya HayukLady PinkFaith47LakwenaKashinkSheryoOlekTooflyClaw MoneyJessie & Katey, Myla, and Shamsia Hassani all created murals or showed in the adjacent exhibition space. The participating artists have come from cities such as Cape Town, Paris, New York, and London. Part gallery part mural exhibition, the project acts as a history guide to the great presence of women muralists.

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Miss Van

Women on the Walls is a dream come true and also a proverbial screw you to people who say that the reason women artists are often overshadowed in the media is due to a dearth in street art. That, to be blunt, is bullshit. Older artists and the younger generation they inspired came together in the Wynwood district of Miami this Art Basel to prove their stronghold in the public art community. The scope of media alone proves their mastery of the craft as spray paint, yarn, text, stencils, and free handed characters all co-mingle to form a variety that has something to please most tastes.

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Sheryo

Not only is the perfect storm of artists curated in this year’s Wynwood Walls enough to be in awe of, additionally Martha Cooper has shared some breathtaking progress photos. As artfully as the walls are decorated, each image thoughtfully reveals the personas behind the iconography. Each picture displays the strength of these women, whether unveiling the sheer amount of effort behind a production to those who stand boldly in front of completed pieces. Cooper shows that these women are heroes, or warriors as Toofly depicts, taking on whatever challenges lay in their wake and simply killing it.

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Lakwena
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Aiko
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Kashink
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Fafi

All photos by Martha Cooper