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    Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2024

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    From June 6th to June 9th, Aberdeen once again played host to the electrifying Nuart Aberdeen festival, transforming the city into a vibrant canvas of contemporary street art. Now in its eighth edition, this internationally acclaimed festival brought together 11 distinguished artists under the theme of ‘Living Heritage,’ igniting creativity and cultural dialogue throughout the Granite City.Nuart Aberdeen, founded on the principles of artistic innovation and community engagement, has become a beacon for street art enthusiasts worldwide since its inception in 2017. This year, the festival continued its tradition of blending local heritage with global perspectives, showcasing a diverse array of artworks that ranged from awe-inspiring murals to thought-provoking installations.The 2024 edition of Nuart Aberdeen featured a stellar lineup of artists renowned for pushing the boundaries of urban art. Lineup includes Know Hope, Bahia Shehab, Case Maclaim, Cbloxx, Hera, KMG, Mahn Kloix, Millo, Molly Hankinson, Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman, and Wasted Rita. Each artist brought a unique vision to the city, exploring themes of identity, sustainability, and the preservation of cultural heritage. From large-scale murals that dominate city walls to intricate, hidden gems tucked away in unexpected corners, the artworks not only beautified Aberdeen’s urban landscape but also sparked conversations about the intersection of art and heritage.Beyond its aesthetic impact, Nuart Aberdeen has consistently delivered significant economic and cultural benefits to the region. By attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year, the festival has bolstered local businesses and reaffirmed Aberdeen’s status as a cultural hub in Scotland. Moreover, the festival’s commitment to sustainability and community involvement ensures that its legacy extends far beyond the lifespan of the artworks themselves.Nuart Aberdeen 2024 was made possible through the collaborative efforts of Aberdeen Inspired, Aberdeen City Council, and Reed Projects, with support from various local businesses and community organizations. This partnership underscores the festival’s commitment to fostering creative expression and cultural exchange in Aberdeen.As Nuart Aberdeen 2024 draws to a close, the city remains transformed, enriched by the legacy of this year’s festival. The artworks, now integrated into the fabric of Aberdeen, will continue to inspire and provoke thought, serving as a testament to the enduring power of public art in fostering cultural understanding and community cohesion.Nuart Aberdeen 2024 has once again demonstrated why it stands at the forefront of global street art festivals, combining artistic excellence with a profound respect for heritage and community. As Aberdeen looks toward the future, the echoes of this year’s festival will undoubtedly resonate, inviting both locals and visitors alike to discover the magic of urban art in the heart of Scotland’s Granite City.A parting note from Nuart Festival Director and curator, Martyn Reed:“The ephemeral nature of much of the culture we work with and produce at Nuart can be regarded as intangible cultural heritage. This incorporates the parts of our shared past that live in the present -everyday rituals and practices, cultural expressions, celebrations, festivals, stories, songs and craft that help to define who we are. These don’t have to be as old as time, this is heritage that lives in the present. This was the theme that we set out to explore this year, and as we sit here to unpack and decompress, we share WhatsApp messages and photos, trawl through thousands of drop box images and share those stories that become “sticky” with meaning. It’s this “stickiness” of certain stories during Nuart that keeps the work on the wall far more than the paste and paint. So I’d urge everyone, in this media saturated world of pretty murals, to spend a little extra time thinking about what and who is behind these final hero shots and how they contribute to making the city a slightly better place to be in these trying times.We’d like to thank all of our crew, artists, partners, press and extended Nuart Family the world over.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); More

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      “Rewilding” Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022

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      Street artists and muralists from across the World once again descended on Aberdeen for the 2023 Nuart Festival. 12 artists created eight new painted murals alongside four street works which primarily featuring paste up and poster art.It marked another successful return to Aberdeen for Nuart who were celebrating their sixth year of working with the city. As in previous years, the combination of permanent and transitionary artworks provided a real art feast for people to seek out and stumble upon.Returning to the Scottish city, Nuart Aberdeen 2023 will feature 13 artists who will paint their imaginative and engaged murals around the city centre and its surrounding areas. The list includes AIDA Wilde, Eloise Gillow, Escif, Jamie Reid, KMG, Manolo Mesa, Murmure, NeSpoon, SNIK, Stanley Donwood, Swoon, Tamara Alves, and Thiago Mazza.“Rewilding”. A topical theme that touches on many issues related to “Trespass and Transgression” which we’ve been researching this past year with friends and colleagues for Nuart Journal, but one which provokes different questions and responses as it sends us down different pathways and tributaries.Rewilding isn’t without its own issues of course – it’s not all meadows full of wildflowers and the freedom to roam. There’s also the question of the local industries and people that have for generations built their lives around the enclosing of “common” land – not unlike those “creative industries” that have grown exponentially around “art” and the “artist”. In taking a “birds eye” view of a future “rewilded” city, where the roots from the art on the streets are entwined around the granite columns of our illustrious art institutions, and the carefully curated and cultivated flowers of the institution are flooding through the double doors and out into the high-street, we attempt to provoke reflections on what a city where art is truly free, might look, sound, smell and feel like. What happens to those industries and “enclosures” when art becomes unshackled from its chains?In a culture of the permissioned and commissioned mural where the tag still runs wild and free, how do we harness the power of one without losing the vitality and exuberance of the other?It’s an interesting picture, and those are exactly what we live for – and what we’ll hopefully be contributing to the local environment come June. We hope you’ll join us in exploring some of these new works and themes.‘To be honest, it will be some time before I’ve processed everything about Nuart 2023,  in a lot of respect, when a Nuart “ends” , it’s very much the beginning for me. So I’ll let it settle, pick up the bills, enjoy the imagery and memories and hopefully come away with a sense of fulfillment. In saying that, I think that anyone involved in previous editions, would attest that there was something quite magical about this year. It really felt like we were a community of like-minded souls, that we caught and channeled something quite ancient and genuine and authentically human. Perhaps it was the rewilding theme, this yearning for something more than what the current system offers and how we’re forced to navigate it in order to put food on the table. I hope we managed to show some alternatives or triggered some thoughts around what this culture genuinely has to offer away from the glitz and the glamour, the novelty and the merch. Over the course of the production, I see deep and genuine friendships emerging, bonds forming that in some cases will last a lifetime. Apart from all the wonderful art, a genuinely interested public, the production and partners and all that goes into a Nuart edition, there are aspects of it that we’ll never know, the friendships and narratives and the seeds of ideas that are planted, new relationships to each other and to the world that are formed, this is the real story and value of what we all collectively create. – Martyn Reed,  the director and curator of Nuart, on the evolution of Nuart Festival.Text from the Nuart Team More

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      KMG at Nuart Aberdeen Summer 2021, Scotland

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      Aberdonian mischief painter KMG kicks off Nuart’s ‘artist residency’ line-up in her home city. KMG is the first of numerous artists to take to the streets of Aberdeen for Nuart 2021, armed with raw, bright character art and a healthy dose of rebellious attitude.KMG is a Scottish based artist, illustrator, printer and painter. Her curious nature leads her work to explore themes ranging from the precarious to the mundane, often of a subversive nature. A weird combination of youthful enthusiasm mixed with utter cynicism leaves her work with a sarcastic, raw and yet playful tone.These brightly coloured & tightly stylised personalities, presented in often-raw, borderline-chaotic compositions, are used as her means of connecting with the public, and engaging them in dialogue around ignored or overlooked issues that exist within society.“We’re incredibly happy to announce that we’ll be back on the streets of Aberdeen this Summer with a series of projects we hope can give everyone a lift – by reconnecting with those spaces and places that have become a part of us” said Martyn Reed, Nuart founder and creative director.Scroll down below for more photos of KMG’s murals. Photo credits: Clarke Joss | @clarkejossphotography More

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      KMG PositivitADS in London, UK

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      Scottish artist KMG has been spreading some much needed positivity in these strange times with two new pieces in London. Via a friend, KMG was approached by Brotherhood Media, who are owners of billboards for music marketing all around London. Brotherhood Media had the excellent idea of using their billboards for something more than just […] More