Photo Credit: https://oslostreetartfestival.no/
In many cities around the world, graffiti is seen as a problem that needs to be cleaned up. However, in Norway’s capital, the Oslo Street Art Festival aims to view it in a more positive light.
“The festival’s primary goal is to provide a bridge between street art and graffiti subcultures and the wider public, as well as to demonstrate the positive effect that street art and graffiti can have in building pride in the places we live.”
Since March of this year, there have been multiple events as part of the festival, ranging from street art tours for seniors to Q&A sessions with graffiti artists or even graffiti workshops for youth throughout the month of May.
This year was a particularly exciting year for the festival as Oslo was the host city for one of the Meeting of Styles events. The Meeting of Styles is an international network for street art and graffiti. Over 40 international and national artists met over three days to complete murals, connect with fellow artists, and share their cultures.
In addition to hosting the Meeting of Styles, the festival will also be celebrating Sprayboksen 100 år, also known as the 100-year anniversary of the invention of the spray can. What’s even more fitting is that the Spray Can was invented in Oslo! A Norwegian chemical engineer, Erik Rotheim, created the first patented aerosol technology and thus, his invention became the catalyst for the street art and graffiti movement. The Oslo Street Art Festival will celebrate this with an exhibition called “The Spray Can 100 Years – From Utility to Art” at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
Because of the positivity surrounding the graffiti scene in Oslo, the streets of Oslo have turned into vibrant art scenes. One can even spend a day visiting urban art locations by using this interactive map. Culture and creativity awaits!