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Nuart Festival took place on the first weekend of September 2015 in Stavanger, Norway. This was Nuarts fifteenth anniversary and we were excited to check out this special place. We arrived in Stavanger to be welcomed by local street art enthusiast Tor, as he drove us to the house he could not resist giving us a quick street art tour. It’s noticeable from Tor’s knowledge about Nuart, and the artists involved, that he lives and breathes Nuart festival and as a volunteer he certainly is busy.
The next morning we walk around Stavanger, the history of Nuart is evident and art oozes around every corner. We embark on an exciting art trail of hide and seek finding previous dedicated Nuart murals and the current Nuart 2015 murals in the making. It doesn’t take long before we spot our first mural and the next six hours we continue to enjoy the sights and sunshine of Stavanger happily clicking away and admiring the art.
Martin Whatson, Nuart 2014. Photo by Ian Cox
Borondo, Nuart 2014. Photo by Ian Cox
Artists invited for this years Nuart include Bordalo II, Bortusk Leer, Dolk, DotDotDot, Ella&Pitr, Ernest Zacharevik, Futura, Harmen De Hoop, Icy&Sot, Isaac Cordal, Jamie Reid, Martin Whatson, Outings project, Pejac, Pixel Pancho and Sandra Chevrier.
The first mural for Nuart 2015 we eagerly come across is by French artists Ella and Pitr, known for their gigantic playful characters their murals are certainly not difficult to miss! Ella and Pitr have already embarked on the ‘Worlds largest outdoor single mural’ earlier on for this years Nuart, and are now busy painting on the streets of Stavanger.
As we continue walking we excitedly stubble upon Pejacs new wall for Nuart. Pejac dedicates his wall to Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, and paints his reinterpretation of ‘The Scream’. Pejac uses a stencil of a young boy with a toy car in his hand, which the boy has drawn ‘The Scream’ using the wheels of the toy car… genius!
Another mural dedicated to Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is by much loved Norwegian street artist Dolk who very cleverly buffs a soundwave of a scream. This was one of the pieces made for Nuart is part of his new buff series of 100 murals which he has started painting all over the world. This abstract, contemporary style is a giant step away from his traditional stencil art style we are used to, and we are excited to see the evolution of this new style. His other works for Nuart can be seen below.
Iranian street artists Icy and Sot complete their huge mural with reference to the European refugee crisis. The mural is titled Voyage and represents the journey entailed to find peace. Another very powerful piece by the Iranian duo.
Bortusk Leer and his monsters can be found all over the city. We love the large mural of playful monsters full of fun painted opposite a children’s play area which makes the perfect setting for his art.
shh… We also followed street artist Bortusk Leer for a midnight pasting session, leaving his mischievous monsters in Stavanger. Along with his monsters, Bortusk Leer is also a lot of fun to be around.
Dotdotdot’s massive mural for this years new art is of sex pistols, John Lydon wearing a punk mohawk beanie and a studded leather jacket.
Norwegian artist Martin Whatson created these two murals in Stavanger. His first one of a young girl tagging a wall, and the second mural is of a ballerina, both in his colourful signature style.
Lithuanian Ernest Zacharevic paints a traditional ‘cross-stitched’ house whose roof has caught fire. His second piece can be found in the city of Stavanger, nearby the statue “Johanne og Broremann”, known as Johanne and her little brother, which was made by Svein Magnus Håvarstein in 1993. Here Ernest paints the two siblings with a difference… their hands are unlinked as if the little brother wants his own identity.
We hear the legend Futura, pioneer of abstract graffiti, has just finished his new mural by the port of Stavanger so we race down for pictures.
We spot Isaac Cordal up a ladder and fixing one of miniature sculptures, called Cement Eclipses, to the wall of a shop in Stavanger. His sculptures are found amongst urban streets to criticise modern society.
The Outings Project have been out on the streets of Norway and their signature classic people are out and about.
Martha Cooper can be found around Stavanger taking photographs of all things street art.
Harmen De hoop mural ‘Permanent Education’ is about the beauty of knowledge, the mural is derived from a maths lesson with the hep of Jan Uboe, a mathematics and statistics professor. You can watch the full video below.
We walk up to Tou-scene the Nuart Centre and meet the friendly crew and grab a hug from Martyn Reed who is the driving force behind Nuart. We find our friend Bordalo II working on his new Big Trash Animal ‘The Stag’ which is taking shape. The stag’s head is made using local Norwegian trash and depicts the stag as the victim of the ecological impact of our waste.
We finish our day by hanging out at Tou scene. All the artists are working hard on their installations for the Nuart festival, to see the indoor event. Check back later for our coverage in our second part ‘Nuart Festival 2015, Stavanger Norway – Part 2: Tou Scene’ which covers all the indoor works from this years Nuart Festival.
