MURAL Festival 2023 Artists Announced
An aerial view shows a giant landart fresco by French-Swiss artist Saype, painted for the 10th step of his worldwide "Beyond Walls" project in Ganvie, Benin, on Wednesday March 3, 2021. Five frescoes were created using approximately 700 liters of biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water and milk proteins. The "Beyond Walls" project aims at creating the largest symbolic human chain around the world, promoting values such as togetherness, kindness and openness to the world. Here in Benin this step was motivated by the country's tragic slave history. Four frescoes (1000 Sq. m in total) were painted in the floating village of Ganvie, originally a refuge from slave capture raids. In parallel, a fifth fresco was painted by the ocean in the village of Abouta (1000 Sq. m), Ouidah district, the beach that saw millions of slave sent off across the Atlantic. (Valentin Flauraud for Saype - EDITORIAL USE ONLY)
Montreal takes pride in its building-sized murals produced by world-renowned artists from around the globe. 15 artists will be brought in this year to create both murals and major-art installations for the MURAL festival (June 8 – 18). While some artists arrive ahead of the festival to get their work started and some come after, the murals eventually appear. New works replace old ones and some new spots are chosen mostly along St Laurent and in a few downtown spots.
International artists producing murals include Brazil’s OSGEMEOS near the St. Laruent metro station, America’s Lauren YS and Cleon Peterson, Lithuania’s Egle Zvirblyte and Morocco’s Tima. Canadian artists making murals include Projet TYXNA, Kezna Dalz, and Shalak Attack. Smaller installations will be made by Spanish sculptor Isaac Cordal along St. Laurent Boulevard.
In addition, expect works that are more ephemeral, such as French artist Saype who will create a work on the grass of a city park. Bordalo from Portugal will create a sculptural work, and Canada’s JUNKO will also make a metal sculpture. An inflatable work by birdO is at the festival’s music stage. And, beloved Roadsworth will make works up and down the sidewalks of St. Laurent Boulevard.
The musical artists include Ferg, Koffee, Dinos, Luh Tyler, and many more from the genres of hip hop, R&B, and DJs.
The Mural Festival runs from June 8 – 18, 2023. Info HERE.
