Ljubljana Street Art Festival is the first street art festival in Slovenia. Since 2019 it has connected the street, art and academic scene and promoted one of the most important contemporary art movements of the 21st century in a unique way. It encourages visitors to actively read the streets, while at the same time supporting young, as yet unestablished generations of street artists and taking care of the bright future of the local street art environment.
The festival warm-up music session on the Gala Hala summer terrace will be led by DJ LABELLO (garage, breakbeat, electro), dvidevat (breaks, electro) and Nulla (electro, breaks, ghetto).
Nejc Zorenč is a young painter who works at the intersection of painting, design and graffiti. The exhibition I <3 LJ is the artist's first solo presentation. His love for graffiti is expressed in his outdoor installation, which invites visitors to actively intervene. The second part of the exhibition presents five images in the windows of the Night Window Display Gallery Pešak. In the resulting series, the artist draws mainly from current city issues, which he encounters during his studies in Ljubljana. The title I <3 LJ might be reminiscent of tourist slogans, but unlike promotional content that highlights only one side of the city, the perfect one, the exhibition does not censor the rest. On the contrary, it highlights them and invites us to reflect on them.
Three groups of children from Vodmat Kindergarten, aged 5 to 6, have been involved in a pedagogical process over several months, gradually learning about street art, especially the communication power of graffiti. In this year's project, the children are exploring the virtual and real world. Based on a message they will uncover together with pedagogical workers and painter and mentor Fedja Šičarov, they will create a visual message for the general public at Metelkova.
The Periphery of Street Art / Street Art on the Periphery conference will examine both the geographical peripheries of street art and subpolitical, activist practices. The contributions will address street art on the periphery in the field of non-heteronormative, queer and feminist street art, the emancipatory nature of the street art medium, the transformation of street art into performative forms of expression, new media and intermedia formats. In addition, the conference will present studies ranging from historical analyses of proto-street art examples and manifestations and the use of street art practices in subaltern political and social movements, to contributions exploring the role of street art in the appropriation and labelling of public space by subpolitical and subcultural groups, as well as the processes of “pumping” street art, and thus the symbolic, aesthetic and commercial transfer of street art from urban peripheries to creative, artistic and urban centres. Mitja Velikonja will present the book “The Chosen Few: Aesthetics and Ideology in Football Fan Graffiti & Street Art”. Antigoon (NL), Cibo (IT), Mathieu Tremblin (FR), Eric Potempa (FR), Epos 257 (CZ) and others will take part in the artists' presentations. There will also be a screening of the documentary Street Heroines, accompanied by a discussion with director Alexandra Henry (US) and photographer Mankica Kranjec (SI).
We will visit the largest gallery in the city – the streets of Ljubljana, where we will look for the best street creations in the Šiška neighbourhood. The graffiti tour will reveal the colourful side of Ljubljana in a unique way and show the city’s history through the medium of street art. Book your spot
Antigoon (Netherlands, 1983) makes machines that apply patterns with markers, spray cans and other materials. The result is inhumanly perfect and geometric. Yet you see the signs of materials that are actually made for humans: dripping paint, pressed crayons and pencilmarks. There is room for imperfection and so the work retains the raw characteristics of graffiti. During the Street Art Festival Antigoon will show different works from his series ‘Mechanical Buffing’ and ‘Ligature’. All works are for sale during opening times. application of symmetrical patterns on a canvas, wall or poster. The creations are inhumanly elegant, hypnotic and geometric. As an artist in residence at the Ljubljana Street Art Festival, Antigoon will continue his ongoing study of combining unconventional materials and technology. This time, the artworks will be made out of burned gunpowder on wood. The exhibition at the DUM Project Space will be accompanied by a pop-up exhibition at the DobraVaga Gallery, where Antigoon’s prints will be available for purchase.
Three groups of children from Vodmat Kindergarten, aged 5 to 6, have been involved in a pedagogical process over several months, gradually learning about street art, especially the communication power of graffiti. In this year's project, the children are exploring the virtual and real world. Based on a message they will uncover together with pedagogical workers and painter and mentor Fedja Šičarov, they will create a visual message for the general public at Metelkova.
The Periphery of Street Art / Street Art on the Periphery conference will examine both the geographical peripheries of street art and subpolitical, activist practices. The contributions will address street art on the periphery in the field of non-heteronormative, queer and feminist street art, the emancipatory nature of the street art medium, the transformation of street art into performative forms of expression, new media and intermedia formats. In addition, the conference will present studies ranging from historical analyses of proto-street art examples and manifestations and the use of street art practices in subaltern political and social movements, to contributions exploring the role of street art in the appropriation and labelling of public space by subpolitical and subcultural groups, as well as the processes of “pumping” street art, and thus the symbolic, aesthetic and commercial transfer of street art from urban peripheries to creative, artistic and urban centres. Mitja Velikonja will present the book “The Chosen Few: Aesthetics and Ideology in Football Fan Graffiti & Street Art”. Antigoon (NL), Cibo (IT), Mathieu Tremblin (FR), Eric Potempa (FR), Epos 257 (CZ) and others will take part in the artists' presentations. There will also be a screening of the documentary Street Heroines, accompanied by a discussion with director Alexandra Henry (US) and photographer Mankica Kranjec (SI).
We will visit the largest gallery in the city – the streets of Ljubljana, where we will look for the best street creations in the Šiška neighbourhood. The graffiti tour will reveal the colourful side of Ljubljana in a unique way and show the city’s history through the medium of street art. Book your spot
The Czech artist Epos 257, whose identity remains unknown, works in and with the urban environment and iconography of a city. In his creativity, he comes up with innovative approaches, focusing mainly on the themes and issues of public space and current social issues. The number in his name is the number of a law dealing with damage to private property, which he has often come into contact with in his creative, socially critical practice. He is a graduate of the Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design and a former member of the Ztohoven interdisciplinary group. He has held five solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and around the world. Epos 257 was selected in an open call for the Artist Work Challenge work residency and will, in addition to the exhibition project at the Alkatraz Gallery, also carry out an external intervention at Metelkova.
With a “site-specific” performative intervention, Danilo Milovanović will intervene on a wall that hides thirty years of continuous creation in its countless layers, which is why it is regarded as the so-called Slovenian "Hall of Fame" within the graffiti subculture. With the intervention, he wants to problematize the attitude of the city authorities towards self-formed cultures and self-organised communities Therefore, his intervention will end with the tearing down of the wall. Danilo Milovanović primarily focuses on art in the public space in the field of theory and practice.
In the workshop, we will learn how to program and use a laser projector that can be used for the purposes of light graffiti or outdoor art interventions. The focus will be on a DIY approach that is based on controlling the laser with audio signals, but we will also learn about different (both hardware and software) approaches. We will draw graffiti with our mentor Tadej Droljc in vector graphics programs and then import them into a specially designed BeamShaper application. We will project the final works onto public surfaces in a guerrilla campaign with a van and lasers. The number of places at the workshop is limited, prior registration is required. Book your spot
We are freshening up the exterior of Kino Šiška! It will be refreshed by artists Marko K. Gavez and knnz (Neža Knez) (both SI), the most prominent representatives of the younger generation of artists in the fields of graffiti and visualisations. Gavez works primarily in the fields of illustration and graphics. His main formal starting point is a detailed drawing, and in his work he mostly combines motifs from the urban environment, industrial spaces and fantasy worlds. In her work, knnz explores nature, technology and the individual and their intertwining. She mostly presents her works in the form of video installations and VJ performances. The interdisciplinary project combines the production of a larger mural (Gavez) with an AR visualisation (knnz). Viewers at the site will be able to interact with the graffiti using a digital interface.
The enigmatic Slovenian producer Drone Emoji, beloved by Radio Študent and Mladina, will stop on the Kino Šiška summer terrace with a stacked selection of samples, quotes, borrowings and remixes. Expect to break the musical and existential monotony with a refreshing measure of absurdity, unorthodox bangers, cheeky beats and unexpected twists. The kind that, despite his rather idle self-promotion, quickly established Drone Emoji among the most respected and popular producers in our country.
Balans have been seeking balance in their post-pop-punk since 2013. Two years ago, drummer Jan Kmet joined the Ljubljana-based audio-visual duo, Kristin Čona and Andrej Pervanje, in the desire to further liven up their performance on stage. In recent years, they have complemented their endearing-weird minimalist art punk with confessional lyrics and sharp whistling, and the banality of their music is also linked by a strong visual component. Balans have thus become one of the most prominent representatives of the local underground in recent years.
In the workshop, we will learn how to program and use a laser projector that can be used for the purposes of light graffiti or outdoor art interventions. The focus will be on a DIY approach that is based on controlling the laser with audio signals, but we will also learn about different (both hardware and software) approaches. We will draw graffiti with our mentor Tadej Droljc in vector graphics programs and then import them into a specially designed BeamShaper application. We will project the final works onto public surfaces in a guerrilla campaign with a van and lasers. The number of places at the workshop is limited, prior registration is required. Book your spot
Veli & Amos (SI and CH) are a multidisciplinary Slovenian-Swiss artistic duo dividing their time between Ljubljana and Zurich. They are known internationally for their distinctive pervasiveness and visual surprises that are founded in a language at the intersection of graffiti, artivism and performance and question the role of the artist, public space and contemporary marketing strategies. They are also the directors of the cult documentary Style Wars 2 (2013), which stars street art stars such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey and Seen. This time, they will create a mural on the 40-metre wall of the macadam parking lot at Metelkova using paint-filled fire extinguishers.
SBO – Smrt boga in otrok is one of the few local acts that has gained recognition by stringing online hits. With a combination of hip-hop and electronic music, they have created a clearly recognizable cultural reworking of trap with a specific local historical experience, and their charm, innocent provocations and spontaneity quickly gained them widespread popularity. Snackboi will take us down the dark roads of a decadent, politically incorrect counterculture from the periphery of our society. The music of dirty 808 bass and drill slides, a gang mentality and autotuning that can be heard from Parisian banlieues to favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Music policy: nuthin’ but dooope trap.
We will turn Metelkova into an area for grinding skate wheels. The benefit event will raise funds for the construction of a mini ramp at Metelkova, and will include a skate session and juicy punk/noise compositions from:
Bobson Dugnutt (IT/DE, HC punk) / Bandcamp, Definite (IT, HC punk) / Youtube / Bandcamp, Catorico (IT, noise rock) / Bandcamp, Glista (LJ, grindcore) / Bandcamp, Gründ (KR, HC/grindcore) / Youtube and others.
The sports and music event will later flip into a DJ evening.
Hall of Fame will again come to life during a day of sprays, rollers and video projections. More than thirty members of the graffiti scene will once again take part in the group black-and-white mural painting, and their creations will then be video-mapped by VJs with audio-reactive visualisations in the evening. The cherry on top of the experience where street and digital art meet live will be the musical accompaniment by DJ Dulash.
Graffitarists: Lunar, Chez, Azram, Boris, Kapetan Kolačkov, Amor, Čke, Trok
VJ Lineup: BubblesFractals, FŠK, Knnz, LiAra T'Soni, Kino Novac, Mark Caserman, Periklea, rastrLAB
At a creative workshop inspired by the visit of the street artist Invader, you will learn how to make a mosaic. Under the guidance of an experienced mentor, you will make your own pixelated mosaic, which will be incorporated onto Metelkova’s walls as a permanent installation. Mentored by Miha Perne. Book your spot >>
Under the guidance of seasoned street artists, you’ll learn all the basics of street art. The workshop encompasses both the basics and the unwritten street rules, encouraging you to develop your own artistic style. Mentored by Fedja Šičarov. Book your spot >>
We will dress up in handicraft clothes and let our imagination run wild. Your favourite motifs will be find their way onto T-shirts and bags. It is preferable to bring the cotton materials you wish to print with the graphics. Mentored by Danijela Zajc. Book your spot >>
Join us in a real life video game, exploring Ljubljana’s pixelated urban creation produced by the world-famous street artist Invader. The tours ends in Prule, in front of ZEBU’s freshly-pained mural. Book your spot >>
Lynn Lehmann and Dennis Gärtner (DE) are ZEBU, a creative duo from Berlin. They are active in the fields of urban art, illustration, painting and screen printing. ZEBU depict human figures in an abstract way, and the message of their artwork is addressed to different social groups and spaces. Their artistic creations range from urban tapestries to facades and posters. With a special sensitivity for urban space, they have presented their works at international exhibitions in St. Petersburg, New York, Seoul, London and Berlin. In Ljubljana, they will leave their mark on the wall of Dance Theatre Ljubljana with the People in Motion mural. The unveiling will be followed by a music session at the Prulček bar.
ZEBU
Since the first commissioned graffiti mural “Sax Pub” from 1985 has faded over the decades, Mathieu Tremblin will perform a wrong restoration inspired by analog photography, thus inverting the entire appearance of the mural. Wrong restoration is a principle of intervention that imitates the work of eager workers or citizens on ancient or contemporary murals that have been erased by time or defaced by vandal acts. The result of this wrong restoration of neo-mural works is an altered or alternative version of the mural. Instead of restoring the mural to its original state, it maintains its intermediate status, neither accurate nor destroyed. It acknowledges a graphical consensus on how to represent the legitimate presence and tension between graffiti and muralism, vandalism and decoration. Mathieu Tremblin (FR) is a visual artist and a PhD in Visual Arts at Strasbourg University. His theory and practice are inspired by anonymous, autonomous and spontaneous expressions in urban space that challenge the order of law, representation and symbolization of the city. He works on site-specific urban interventions using the method of walks, the design of tools and the détournement of objects. Co-produced by Sax Pub.
Mathieu Tremblin
Cibo: When Walls Talk- murals
various locations
The When Walls Talk event will be dedicated to recognizing and understanding hate speech on the streets of Ljubljana. In addition to thematic lectures on graffiti ideologies, Italian street artist Cibo (Pier Paolo Spinazzè) will show how he subverts hate speech on walls in practice. In a co-production with the Pride Parade Association, we will first call for the recording of intolerant graffiti in public spaces on the Dekontraminacija online platform, and Cibo will then suitably adapt the received graffiti.
Pier Paolo Spinazzè aka Cibo is an internationally acclaimed street artist who has been transforming symbols of hatred into culinary forms for more than twenty years. Under the pseudonym Cibo (“food”), the artist artfully graffities fruit, produce and other Italian culinary delicacies over hate speech, transforming one hostile message after another into giant strawberries, pasta with tomatoes or wedges of parmesan.
The Miha Artnak: Identity performative street art
various locations
The Miha Artnak will immortalise his many years of research on the history of local street art, in which he implements the method of a 5-step participatory approach to public space, with a spontaneously well-coordinated performance. In the work Identity, in accordance with the principle of co-creation from Potempaean praxis, he will shift between the identities of researcher, artist and activist.
The Miha Artnak (SI) is the founder and director of the strategic design studio Ljudje. He creates in the interspace of contemporary art, street art, performance and design.
Co-produced by the Office for Interventions and the Brener and Schurz Foundation.
Participants of international conference FORM(AT): Documenting, Collecting and Archiving Street Art in Theory and Practice.
Izbor oseb na umetniški rezidenci, uličnih umetnic_kov, performerk_jev in in drugih uličark_jev na letošnjem #LJSAF.
Call for Papers: Street Art and Sustainability Street Art Conference
Open Call for Artist-in-Residence 2022 Open Call for Artist-in-ResidenceKUD Mreža
Call for Papers: Periphery of Street Art and Street Art
Ljubljana Street Art festival je prvi festival sodobne ulične umetnosti v Sloveniji, zasnovan iz ljubezni do street art-a, grafitov in intervencij v javnem prostoru. Že tretje leto zapored povezuje mednarodno in lokalno - ulično, umetniško, aktivistično in akademsko sceno. Obiskovalke in obiskovalce spodbuja k aktivnemu branju ulic, obenem pa podpira mlade, še neuveljavljene generacije uličnih umetnic in umetnikov ter skrbi za svetlo prihodnost lokalnega street art okolja. Festival si prizadeva na edinstven način promovirati enega izmed najpomembnejših sodobnih umetniških gibanj 21. stoletja - ulično umetnost.
Osrednja tema letošnjega festivala je razmislek, kaj ustvarjalnosti ulične umetnosti dodajajo čas, arhiviranje in dokumentiranje.
