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Stencibility Goes Europe

More art to the streets! The Stencibility Street Art Festival in Tartu is celebrating its 15th year. There will be a street art exhibition, the sticker bus will travel around the city, and many artists from around the world have been invited to leave their mark on Tartu's streets and contribute to Tartu's rich street art scene.

Story

Though street art is often thought of in connection with big cities such as Berlin, New York, or London, the story is about the street art scene of Tartu, a small town. It is about how the town has seen the emergence of a street art culture that aims to make urban space richer, more meaningful, inclusive, and homely. Tartu has long been known for its active street art scene, and the ever-renewing works on the walls have become a natural part of the urban space. The Stencibility in Tartu is one of the oldest street art festivals in Europe (anno 2010) and has been an important meeting place for Estonian and European street artists for 15 years. The traces of these meetings can be found all over the town.

Experience

Tartu’s street art exhibition “Hello Mister Police Officer” has been touring Europe for two years. The exhibition took place in Berlin Neurotitan Gallery and NuArt Aberdeen festival. In 2024 the well-received exhibition will be shown in Estonia for the first time. “Hello Mister Police Officer” will take place in Tallinn’s Krulli Quarter and will feature Edward von Lõngus, KAIRO, Gutface, Stina Leek and other artists familiar from the streets of Tartu.

Stencibility Festival takes place in Tartu from 4-7 July. More than 15 artists have been invited to draw on the streets. The public will be invited on a voyage of discovery into an abandoned house where an exhibition of street artists is hidden. Europe’s biggest sticker exhibition will also be traveling around the city – hop on the city bus, covered with nearly 25 000 stickers from artists around the world! Also, the public can take part in street art tours and art fair.

Impact

Tartu is known as the street art capital of Estonia. We want to show that Tartu is also an important street art city in Europe, worth visiting for the art on its streets alone.