Nuart Aberdeen returned to the granite city for it’s 8th edition in 2024. With the theme of ‘Living Heritage’ another all star roster of artists created murals and street interventions in the city.
The art on the streets was supported by the Nuart Plus Symposium. A two day event combining the art with a series of academic talks, activities and discussions. Walking tours also featured heavily. Led by ourselves here at Inspiring City these were an opportunity to bring the street art to life.
Living Heritage
Martyn Reed the festival director described ‘Living Heritage’ as “the parts of our shared past that live in the present”. The kind of everyday rituals and practices, festivals, stories and celebrations that live in the memory. They are the things that help to define who we are.
Ephemeral
In many ways, ‘Living Heritage’ could very much be considered to be what the world of Street Art and Graffiti is all about. Murals and wall paintings seldom last long before they are painted over. Buildings that once stood that contained artworks are demolished and developed. An example in Aberdeen is in the Old Market area. A space where the catalyst for new life was given through working with street artists. Now gone, the art remains in the collective memory.
Mural Map of Aberdeen
NUART 2024 ARTISTS
For the 2024 edition 11 different artists created new artworks throughout the city of Aberdeen. They ranged from murals to installation. Some pieces by their nature ephemeral and collaborative whilst others might find themselves in place for quite some time.
Addam Yekutieli aka Know Hope (Israel/Palestine) @thisislimbo
Woolmanhill Hospital
Addam Yekutieli has created an installation created out of hand painted banners. On the front of the old Woolmanhill hospital, they cover the former entrance. The building is a grand granite building. Now sadly empty it is surrounded by scrubland and untended gardens. Addam’s work creates a striking juxtaposition. His banners filled with words and phrases creating a stark contrast on the building itself.
Aberdonian Voices
The words used are all from Aberdonian residents. Responding to an open call prior to the festival. He had asked people to send him stories with the themes of ‘Hope’ and ‘Disallusionment’. Believing himself that we are always somewhere on the spectrum between each. Taking those submissions he then extracted words and phrases. Removing them out of their initial context before applying them in stark black paint to individual banners.
Different Context
His work here is about the interaction with text and the environment that it is in. The removal of those phrases from their original context meant that a new one could be created. Seeing those Aberdonian voices on the front of the old Woolmanhill Hospital site does just that. Each viewer taking a different meaning in a way that is personal to them. The words not having changed but the context and presentation of them very much has.
Bahia Shehab (Egypt) @bahiashehab
Loch Street
An artist and a scholar at the American University in Cairo. Bahia Shehab has a particular focus on the visual culture of the Arab world. Frequently she will travel internationally to lecture on Arab culture and Islamic cultural heritage. Her street art being a mixture of painted murals and more guerilla intuitive interventions.
Watermelon
For Nuart Aberdeen 2024 her piece uses the brick shapes of a wall on Loch Street to create her work in a pixelated way. A red band fills the top part of the wall whilst underneath a green background acts as the host for white letters written in a pixalated form of Arabic script. The design imagines that the wall is a watermelon which has been sliced through. Revealing the words “Bear Witness That I Am Free and Alive”.
Mahmoud Darwish
It is a phrase from the Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish. Regarded as Palestine’s national poet, Bahia’s work will often incorporate elements of his poetry and writing into her work. The phrase and the design are asking the viewer to reflect on the conflict in Palestine. The Watermelon as a symbol being a powerful one in that region. It references a time when the Palestinian flag was banned. The watermelon, because of it’s similar colours, became co-opted as a symbol of resistance and of a free Palestinian state.
Bearing Witness
Adding the words from Mahmoud Darwish, Bahia is inviting viewers to not only consider the conflict but also the human stories at the centre of it. Darwish’s word about bearing witness invite us to do just that. To consider that at this moment some of the most terrible human tragedies are taking place. There are people asking us to bear witness that they are indeed free and alive.
Case Maclaim (Germany) @case_maclaim
Ship Row
Case is a German artist known for his photo realistic style and in particular his depiction of hands. He is one of the founding members of the Ma’Claim crew which is a crew formed in the 90’s and focused on the development of realism based street art. His piece for Nuart Aberdeen 2024 features a portrait of fellow artist Addam Yekutieli.
Portrait of Addam
Like most of his works the hands are prominent. One hand on the chin supports Addam in a thinking pose. Whilst the other holds plans for what will eventually become Addam’s own artwork on the Woolmanhill Hospital. The image was captured prior to the installation at a point when the artist was still contemplating the work. A moment in time immortalised in the contemplation of an art installation. One that in Yekutieli’s case won’t ever be permanent.
Local Local
“It’s a local, local piece” says Case. The concept of him holding his own idea which itself contains the words of the people of Aberdeen. It’s an artwork that in Yekutieli’s case won’t ever be permanent. His work on the front of the old hospital is a banner installation and something that will eventually be taken down. It means that this ultimately ephemeral work will get to live on in a different guise.
CBloxx (UK) @cbloxx_nomad
Loch Street
Cbloxx also known as Jay Gilleard is an artist from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. They are one half of the acclaimed street art duo, ‘Nomad Clan’. Known for their detailed and large scale murals which are filled with local resonance and layered with themes of identity and history. Cbloxx’s current solo journey incorporates these with their studio practice. In particular for Aberdeen their current work with stone and sculpture
Sculpture
It is this sculptural work that has helped to inform the ideas behind the piece in Aberdeen. A huge face seemingly staring out of a rock face. A highlands scene sits above whilst a waterfall trickles down in and through the rock. It is a piece that is inspired by the earth and the land. It remembers the people that were here before and it speaks of their displacement.
Pictish Influences
In particular it is the story of the Picts and the Pictish kingdom. Their traces are still with us. Often carved on standing stones they have left their art. An artwork that is part of a legacy of sculpted stones across Scotland. Embarking on their own journey with the medium it was a connection that Cbloxx made easily. A remembrance of the artists of the past that also worked with stone.
Past and Present
Identity is a core element of the final work. It’s a piece which invites us to think of the past and of the peoples that were here before. Of the Picts it asks us to consider their displacement and by association to consider the displacement of peoples even now. At the top of the mural a white flag flies. It is a signal of peace. A message to connect the present with the past.
Hera (Germany/Pakistan) @hera_herakut
Union Point
Jasmin Siddiqui is the artist also known as HERA from Herakut. Her second visit to Aberdeen. A first seven years previously in 2017. That piece became iconic for a while. Demolished in 2022 it was a piece that was never meant to last. Painted onto the old market, it was a disparaged and maligned building. It sat in the centre of an area known as the Green and for a while it was transformed. Her painting with artistic partner Akut dominated the area and transformed perception of the old building.
Hera Returns
Returning for Nuart Aberdeen 2024 as a solo artist. The wall she returned to on Union Point is a huge office building. It stands across from the entrance to the ferry terminal. Built with giant slabs of concrete slotted into place it is an uncompromising location. Easily the largest mural currently attempted by Nuart it sat exposed to the winds and the weather of Scotlands North Eastern coast.
Keeper of Magic
It shows a young red headed girl standing and holding a unicorn. The lift shaft of the building has transformed into a tree. The base also draws on the trees around it and blends them in. She stands nurturing the creature whilst looking out across the city. Written on the piece it says ‘I am the Keeper of Magic… but happy to share’.
Scotland
This is a work about Scotland. About the magic of the land and the gifts that we all have within us. The Unicorn is the national animal, a magical creature that HERA was delighted to discover. It’s about protecting the land and holding that Unicorn close. Sharing it’s gifts with the world and the gifts of those around. For HERA it’s the gift of art. A legacy to remember who we are whilst considering how to share with others.
KMG (Scotland) @kmgyeah
Aberdeen Airport
An Edinburgh based Aberdonian artist. KMG is known for her large scale character based work. Colourful with sharp simple lines, her work explores ideas of mythology and folk history. Using these themes to create visual connections to the past.
Entrance to the city
KMG as a local has also been involved with Nuart for years. First as a volunteer and a couple of times now as a festival artist. For Nuart Aberdeen 2024 she was perhaps the perfect choice to paint at the entrance to it. Creating three murals in total, they span either side of the Aberdeen Airport car park. The first of them greeting visitors as soon as they arrive with two others around the other side.
Pagan Cultures
Choosing to portray characters from Celtic, Pictish and Pagan cultures. These were all figures in Scotland who were prominent before the advent of Christianity. This was often the case as more traditionally pagan cultures began to be converted. Traditional hero’s or gods would begin to be subsumed or even demonised so as not to disrupt the core belief system. In creating these characters at the airport, KMG is attempting to reclaim the stories. To get people thinking about who they are and indeed what they represent.
Celtic Heroes
Shown around the airport car park are Brigid just outside the front entrance, known as the goddess of Spring. Scathach, a legendary Scottish female warrior who it was said trained other Celtic gods in the art of combat. Then finally Cernunnos a celtic god of nature, flora and fauna. One other piece was due to be completed, that of Bheara the Queen of Scotland and Winter. That final one however couldn’t be attempted due to an inconveniently parked Tesla throughout the duration of the festival.
Mahn Kloix (France) @mahnkloix
Wapping Street
An artist known for his street portraits. Often using a single line style they contrast with the background they are on. Noted for his ‘Small is Big‘ project. That took influence from young demonstrators. Paying tribute to them by painting their images large on the street. This in turn led to the highlighting of their cause. Raising the importance of allowing young voices to be heard.
Reaching
In Aberdeen for Nuart 2024 Mahn Kloix has painted an image on the side of a car park. A young girl is sitting on the shoulder of a male figure. Her arm is outstretched. Reaching for something that at this moment in time is not apparent. It’s absence raises possibilities.
Goals
The image of the girl and the man asks the viewer to consider what the backstory could be. A metaphor of reaching up and attaining your goals. The idea of stretching and being supported in order to reach your dreams. The fact too that the mural depicts the girl on the shoulder of the man. There is a parallel story here about the importance of fathers and male role models in helping young people to attain their potential.
Lifting Up
For Mahn Kloix there is another narrative running underneath. It is the fact that in many parts of the world, young women are not able to reach their potential. Held down by cultural and societal norms that stifle development and limit opportunity. In these societies, the artist is calling for the men of those communities to step up. Knowing that in those areas, the men can play an important role in breaking the cycle and helping girls and young women to reach their potential.
Millo (Italy) @_millo_
West North Street
Italian artist Millo is known for his large scale black and white city scapes. Often dotted with bits of colour they are notable for the inclusion of large gigantic babies or young children. Often sitting within the city, they appear to be exploring. Curious about the space that they find themselves in.
Curiosity
It’s a figure that in many ways represents Millo himself. The artists own curiosity is explored in the painting. Over the years these figures have adapted from a bald headed boy to a wider range of characters. Each exploring and even sometimes interacting with each other.
Revealing Photographs
His work in Aberdeen for Nuart 2024 shows a female character sat amidst the usual city scape. She is concentrating on the task of pinning old photographs onto a line. It’s as if she has discovered an un-processed roll of 35mm film. Having developed the images she is now hanging them out to dry so that the images can be revealed.
Shared History
These are images of Aberdeen’s shared past. Collective stories that are not part of the tourist trail but collective shared histories of people living in the city. “It helps to give more knowledge as to the identity of the city” he told Aberdeen Inspired. “When you open a photographic box, it’s like you are showing your memories”. Memories of the little stories that without the images might just eventually be lost.
Molly Hankinson (UK) @mollyhankinson.studio
Marischal College
Molly Hankinson is an artist from London now living in Glasgow. Moving to the city to study, she is a a graduate of fine art from the Glasgow School of Art. Afterwards gaining a residency at the SWG3 studios where she is now permanently based. Her art practice takes a modern feminist and queer perspective particularly on the depiction of women in street art and muralism.
Chalk Don’t Chalk
For Nuart Aberdeen 2024, Molly led the Chalk Don’t Chalk workshops. Using the grand courtyard of Marischal College as a canvas, over 1000 children joined her to create pubic art in one of Aberdeen’s most famous buildings. Over the festival and the week prior, kids would be inspired to make their own marks as part of the festival.
Mark Making
An advantage of using chalk is that it of course washes away. It allows kids to either start afresh or to add to work already begun. The act of mark making in such a setting also helps to change perceptions of the buildings within their own city. Once perhaps seen as imposing, now to those kids, the grand Marischal College might be seen in a softer more playful light.
Niels Shoe Meulman (Netherlands) @nielsshoemeulman
A93 (side of)
Niels Shoe Meulman is an artist known for his paintings which reveal vivid traces of graffiti and calligraphy. A graffiti pioneer back in the 1980’s he grew up in Amsterdam and was one of the first wave of artists to bring New York style graffiti to the city.
Calligraffiti
Today Shoe is known for his blend of graffiti and calligraphy. An art form he terms as ‘Calligraffiti’. Using calligraphic letter forms he paints them in traditional graffiti settings. Blurring the lines between the two. Both forms using the basis of the written word, but both having entirely different perceptions. Historically Calligraphy being seen as an art form in it’s own right whilst letter based graffiti, no matter how skilfully produced, has historically been seen in a more negative context.
Real Graffiti Writers…
His wall in Aberdeen for Nuart 2024 is a big one, standing 30 metres tall by 7 metres wide. Painted in calligraffiti, it is of course a letter piece and one that belies his graffiti roots. Saying ‘Real Graffiti Writers do this Illegally Hanging from a Rope in the Dark’. It references the idea of abseiling graffiti one of the most high octane and dangerous means of getting your name up.
Dr. Rat
The final piece is also a tribute to Dr. Rat aka Ivar Vičs. An Amsterdam graffiti writer who was active in Amsterdam in the late 70’s and very early 80’s. Bombing the city with drawings and a with a style of gothic ‘letters’. He is often referred to as the ‘godfather’ of Amsterdam graffiti, passing away in 1981.
Wasted Rita (Portugal) @wastedrita
Various Locations
A self styled “natural born agent provocateur”. Wasted Rita is a Portuguese artist whose work offers observations and insights. Referencing thoughts related to contemporary life, popular culture and human behaviour. Her work “explores her love – hate relationship with life and the surrounding world”.
Street Furniture
For Nuart Aberdeen 2024 Rita has created a series of installations based upon existing street furniture such as signage. In doing so the messages she gives are hidden in plain sight. Blended away with the rest of all the noise that comes with all the other street messaging. So much noise that often they are so integrated into public life we rarely pay them any heed.
Plain Sight
Her messages are meant to be stumbled upon. There in plain view yet these signs will often be walked past many times before they are noticed at all. Once they are, the viewer is invited to pause and wonder. Where did that come from? What does it mean? Maybe they might stay long enough to reflect on what the artist is trying to say. Or perhaps they might not pay them any heed at all.
Nuart Aberdeen 2024 took place on June 6th-9th 2024. You can follow the event by heading to the festival website. You can also follow via instagram with the handles. @nuartaberdeen and @aberdeeninspired
For more Inspiring City articles you might like, take a look at…
- Where to find street art in Aberdeen
- Miss Printed and her collage on the streets of Aberdeen
- Helen Bur paints giant mural in Aberdeen
- Nuart returns to Aberdeen with line up for 2024
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Brilliant write-up!
Thank you Sami 🤗