The Nuart Aberdeen street art festival, launched in 2017 as the Nuart festival‘s son and now at its 4th edition, takes place from June 9th to June 12th 2022 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
“As we emerge blinking from the uncertainty and radical disconnection of the past two years of lockdown and social distancing, it is disorienting to rediscover those social connections and relationships to the people, places, and spaces of our cities that have been stretched to the limit and in many cases broken and lost. No longer objects of risk, fear, and constant surveillance, we hope Nuart’s “Reconnect” edition can help to dial down the background anxiety that had become part of our daily lives. To help us do this, we have connected with artists, academics, and industry professionals from across the globe to explore and present the very best that this culture has to offer.”
The Nuart team
In the past two years, not only have I felt distanced from the world and the social relationships stowed away in it, but I also felt disconnected from art and my own creative practice -that is, writing- which over the years had been fuelled by witnessing the creation of art in the public space and by exchanging opinions with a bunch of different people within the street art community.
Art consumed from a screen has nothing to do with the art I’ve been writing about on the blog and elsewhere, and the more I was losing the connection with the street, the more I was losing purpose in my urban research.
I can’t think of a better place to re-connect with my drive than the Nuart festival. Since my first Nuart back in 2016, the street art community gathering around the festival has been a significant inspiration for me. Meeting street art authorities like Martyn Reed and Martha Cooper, learning from the industry professionals that animate the debate during the excellent panel sessions of the Nuart Plus conference, exchanging ideas with my fellow street art bloggers, interviewing the most groundbreaking artists as well as closely witnessing their creative process… this is what has shaped my way of doing my job, and I’m glad I can finally re-connect with these inspiring people, catching up over a beer in shiny Aberdeen, and documenting the action (finally back) in the streets.
The artists line-up is exciting. Except for Martin Whatson, all the invited artists are experiencing the streets of Aberdeen for the first time, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they will interact with Aberdeen’s granite buildings, whose gray stone sparkles in the sun and turns silver after rain.
And I’m sure Aberdonians’ anticipation is as eager as mine! Visiting the Nuart Aberdeen festival year after year, I could notice a rising pride in residents taking ownership of the murals created in their city. Their welcome has always been warm, as per Scotland’s friendliest people, but Aberdonians have become more engaged with the Nuart festival and aware of the(ir) public space.
Nuart Aberdeen 2022: Artists line-up
The festival will take place between June 9-12th in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Artists this year are:
- Elisa Capdevila (ES)
- Erin Holly (UK)
- Jacoba Niepoort (DK)
- James Klinge (SC)
- Jofre Oliveras (ES)
- Martha Cooper (US)
- Martin Whatson (NO)
- Miss. Printed (NO)
- Mohamed L’Ghacham (MA)
- Nuno Viegas (PT)
- Pejac (ES)
- Slim Safont (ES)
Read also > Meet Jon Reid: Artists, Blogger, and Host of Nuart Aberdeen
Watch also > “Tales of Silver City” by MZM Projects
Announcing the media partnership with Nuart Aberdeen 2022
All that said, I’m glad to be back in Aberdeen as a media partner of one of the street art festivals I admire the most. As usual, I will bring you behind the scenes of the festival and in the front row at the most interesting talks of the Nuart Plus conference.
You can follow a daily chronicle of Nuart Aberdeen 2022 on my Instagram and expect a massive Street Art Guide of Aberdeen here on the blog by the end of June. Right now, I’m doing my homework to prepare for the interviews, but honestly, the artist line-up is so exciting that I haven’t decided yet whose story I want to bring to you.
For sure, given my passion for collages and how much this creative outlet has helped me reshape my worst pandemic nightmares, I’m joining the collage workshop by Norwegian artist Miss.Printed, hoping that all my disconnected pieces will finally come together and make new sense. Just like in a collage.
