It’s fair to say that the days of big murals and street art festivals producing them are somewhat becoming things of past, and both the mainstream and urban art world are looking for another type of work that will fill that spot. With that said, we’re excited to share with you the lineup of 2018 Nuart Festival in Stavanger, which seems to be continuing their journey towards the new frontiers they’ve introduced last year.
Always on the forefront of Street Art, both in a practical and theoretical way through their Nuart Plus program, Nuart has been setting trends and concepts that were regularly followed by other similar events worldwide. After last year’s introduction of artists who express themselves in the public space in other ways than painting large walls, they seem to be following that route with their 18th edition of the festival, simultaneously using their platform to provide an opportunity to a significant number of local talents.
Bringing lesser-known artists that are creating quirky, unexpected, and smaller-scale interventions, playing with the public space in a more spontaneous, uncontrolled way, and often without permission, it seems that the event is stepping away from bringing a squad of muralists to paint another series of large public art pieces. Instead, they are bringing a large group of diverse creatives that are observing the public space with a different eye and interacting with it in the most impulsive and surprising ways.
Now, we need to mention that these artists didn’t just appear out of nowhere and were suddenly discovered by festival director Martyn Reed and his team. Most of them were actively creating work for a long time, but it wasn’t until the muralist movement got big enough that their work came into the spotlight. With the constant need for fresh and original work, these peculiar intrusions of public space started to get traction, and we’re witnessing more and more events that are providing them with the tools to express themselves. We’re talking about such names as Jan Vormann, Jazoo Yang, Murmure, Octavi Serra and Vlady, all of which will be visiting Stavanger between the 6th and 9th of September.
We should also mention that the festival will still bring a whole troop of relevant artists that will be painting inspiring mural works as well, led by Fintan Magee and Milu Correch, and followed by a small army of local, Norwegian creatives such as AFK, Ener Kronings, Maret Anne Sara, Nimi & RH74 or Nina Ghafari. Also, we’ll be seeing the works of Mexican calligraffiti artist Said Dokins, along with sign painting-based work by Scottish duo Glöbel Bros, plus a whole class of stencil artists such as Martin Whatson, Snik or Elki, and some fresh ceramic mosaics by UK craftivist, Carrie Reichardt. You’re more than welcome to explore the full lineup @ NuartFestival.no, and yes, AM team will once again be there to report from the scene!
