Translation Daisy Wong / Photos Eloi Scarva
In recent times, the old streets around Praca de Ponte e Horta have become affectionately known as ‘Graffiti Village’, and this moniker is all thanks to the groundbreaking efforts of the organisers of the annual !OUTLOUD International Street Art Festival.
This year in its sixth edition, !OUTLOUD was bigger and better than ever, attracting 40 street artists from around the region, including ten invited artists from Japan and South Korea, to brighten up the walls and backstreets of the city with their vibrant art works.
The festival also included a range of other activities for the public to enjoy and participate in, including a guided tour of the street art, arts and craft market, Hip Hop dance competitions, rap battles, a skateboard jam and state-of-the-art Digital Graffiti wall.
“This year we put out an open call to artists and received a fantastic response,” says Cassidy, co-founder and organizer of !OUTLOUD. “Actually, the number of participating artists was more than we expected, around double that of previous events and more than we’ve ever had. More people wanted to join even after the deadline, but we did not have enough wall space to offer them.”
Together with her partner, PIBG, a well-known local street artist, Cassidy and a small but passionate team have been organizing !OUTLOUD since 2017 with the event going from strength to strength each year. But organizing an event like this all in public spaces is not without its challenges.
“Every year we need to talk to different property owners to ask for their permission to paint on their walls, and not everyone agrees to let us. But we are having more collaboration with some of the local shops around here, including the supermarkets, and more people are willing to offer us space, so that’s a very good thing for us,” explains Cassidy.
“And this is an old district with a lot of heritage buildings so we need to be careful about that too and find a balance between the street art and the heritage. We put a lot of consideration into which artist to assign to which wall. It’s like curating an exhibition.”
In the days leading up to the festival, the back streets around Hotel S, one of the main sponsors of the event, were a hive of activity, as the invited artists began working on their creations and transforming various walls by using Benjamin Moore paint around the district. The smell of spray paint hung strong in the air as locals and passersby watched on curiously to see the creations come to life.
The theme for this year’s edition was ‘See this Pop’.
“We really want more people to know this area and to make this area ‘pop’ with these vibrant artworks,” notes Cassidy. “Also, ‘See This Pop’ sounds a bit like ‘City Pop’ which is a popular trend these days. Lots of people are listening to City Pop music, and we wanted to do a City Pop style festival this year. We invited ten very cool artists from Japan and Korea and many of them have a pop style to them. And we had other elements too like Hip Hop dance, DJ music and rap , all to give it a very Pop style. We wanted to make the festival “Pop” for everyone!”
To successfully host a street art festival like this in an old area of town, requires the organizers to not only have a good understanding of street art, but also of the local area in which they are working. Over the years, PIBG and Cassidy have built up a strong relationship of trust with many of the local business owners and residents who are now very supportive of the project.
“We have put a lot of effort into connecting with the local retail shops around the area and we have some special promotions and workshops during the festival. We want to work together, and make it a community thing, not just about the art.”
“Also this year, for the street dance battle, we will donate part of the registration fee plus the donation by Mlive to Associação de Beneficência Tong Sin Tong. Last year many people participated and it was very successful, so we hope we can raise some money for this important organization.”
With a host of talented artists from all around the region leaving their colourful marks on the city, this year’s !OUTLOUD International Street Art Festival was another great success and leaves us already excited to see who will be coming next year. For now the artwork is still all around, so make sure you go and check it out!
“We hope that when people come and participate in the festival they are impressed with what we bring to the city,” says Cassidy. “We want to promote local talents ‘out loud’ through our festival and show their work to everyone, and for people to see that Macau is not just about casinos and hotels. It’s very important to show the energy and diversity of the city to people from all around the world and that’s our goal.”
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