THIS YEAR’S Nuart Aberdeen, the award-winning and internationally renowned street art festival, has been hailed the best yet, with thousands of people turning out over the weekend to see the newest pieces on the city’s streets.
Running from Thursday until today, the 2023 festival saw 13 acclaimed artists visit Aberdeen and create stunning new artwork in the city, ranging from large murals to smaller, more intricate installations.
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The festival has attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the city since it first took place in 2017 and continues to draw crowds into the city centre, providing an ongoing boost to local businesses such as hotels, restaurants and bars.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said Nuart had been another incredible success, with the public keen to see it return next year.
“Nuart Aberdeen is widely regarded as the best street art festival of its kind in the world, and rightly so,” he said. “The works that have been added to the streets of the city for this year’s festival are vibrant, thought-provoking and evocative.
“It has been fantastic to see visitors from near and far coming into Aberdeen to engage with Nuart Aberdeen, and to spend time in the city. We have welcomed thousands of people on the walking tours and to take part in the Chalk Don’t Chalk public art event at Marischal College.
“There has been a buzz on the streets all weekend and on social media, with people of all ages visiting and sharing their photos of their favourite pieces.
“There’s no doubt that the new pieces, all themed around Rewilding, have further added to the city’s street art legacy. There is a huge public appetite for Nuart to return again next year.”
This year’s festival includes several large-scale pieces.
Brazilian artist, Thiago Mazza’s distinctive style has transformed the Frederick Street multi-storey car park into botanical landscape, while NeSpoon has drawn inspiration from the Scottish lacemaking industry to create a beautifully intricate design on the gable end of a building on Whitehouse Street.
Mr Watson said the benefits Nuart Aberdeen brings to the region are many and long lasting.
“Not only does it bring people to the city over the festival weekend, but it acts as an ongoing attraction and will continue to draw visitors to Aberdeen over the coming months, and indeed years,” he said.
“We hope that people will choose to spend time in the city, wandering around, taking in the new art works as well as those from previous years and discovering the many hidden gems that Nuart has added to the city’s streetscape. It’s a great opportunity to spend time in Aberdeen and experience all that the city has to offer.”
Nuart Aberdeen is a not-for-profit event supported by partners Aberdeen Inspired and Aberdeen City Council and delivered by Reed Projects.
Talking about the development of the theme for the event, Martyn Reed, founder and artistic director of the Nuart festivals, said it came from the parallels between street art and the ‘freedom to roam’ in Scotland.
“We decided on rewilding, a topical theme which touches on many of the same issues as access and trespass but provokes different questions and sends us down different paths. Rewilding isn’t without its own issues, of course – it’s not all meadows full of wildflowers and the freedom to roam,” he said.
“But if we take a bird’s eye view of a future city, will the roots from the art on the streets be entwinned around the granite columns of our illustrious art institutions, and will the carefully curated flowers of the institution be flooding out through the double doors and out into the high-street?”
To view a Nuart Aberdeen map visit:
https://www.aberdeeninspired.com/images/ABD23_Digi-Map-updated.pdf
Aberdeen Inspired was established to attract, sustain and boost investment in Aberdeen’s city centre for the benefit of its levy payers and all those who live, work, shop and visit there.
In addition to levy payments, which go to support city centre improvements and initiatives, the BID brings in additional funding which that for every £1 of levy collected, at least £2 is invested in the city centre.
The BID footprint covers Union Street and the surrounding streets, including Broad Street, Market Street, Bridge Street, Huntly Street and Holburn Junction.
For more information on Aberdeen Inspired, visit www.aberdeeninspired.com
