Street art in the fjords

Bergen is well known for its music scene, and countless festivals are normally held across the region. But, Fjord Norway has also become a hub for street art. The time when street art was removed before the paint was dry is long gone, and the Stavanger region, with its annual Nuart Festival and street art in the urban landscape, stands out in particular. There is also an active street art community in Bergen, and you can see many great works by both Norwegian and international artists when you stroll around the city.

Bergen

Many of Norway’s most recognised street artists come from Bergen – e.g. Dolk, AFG and TEG. The city has attracted street artists for many years, and you will find some really impressive works here, particularly in stencil art. Street artists actively contribute to the public debate – including the artist AFK whose works have been hotly debated in the city on numerous occasions.

The City of Bergen has its own grant scheme for graffiti and street art, where the goal is for Bergen to be a ‘a trend-setting centre of graffiti as a form of expression, in both a Norwegian and Nordic context’.

At Gategalleriet, you can see exhibitions and buy works by both well-known and less well-known (street) artists.

Utsira

The little island of Utsira off Haugesund is a street art Mecca and is well-known outside Norway. It all started in 2014 when Utsira Reiseliv invited eight street artists to attend UtsirArt.

Utsira municipality has made a map where the most important works are plotted. It includes the work ‘We’re all in the same boat’, signed by the Spanish street artist Borondo.

Gonzalo Borondo is one of the biggest mural artists in Europe. During his visit to Utsira, he created a large mural at Bjellandsnaustet in Sørevågen, which seeks to show how important solidarity is in a small community.

The Stavanger region

Stavanger hosts the annual Nuart Festival, which attracts the world’s top street artists. The festival was held for the first time in 2001, and Nuart is now considered one of the world’s leading street art festivals. Street art enthusiasts from all over the world can attend exhibitions, events, performances and workshops at the festival.

Stavanger is also where Pøbel, one of the most internationally known street artists in Norway, comes from.

The works of street art in the City of Stavanger are in a relatively concentrated area, which makes it easy to explore on foot. There are also works by Norwegian and international artists in many other places in the Stavanger region. Go on a ‘treasure hunt’ in the streets, or join a guided street art walk to make sure you see the most important works: 

Pøbel

Where: Bryne

Pøbel is a Norwegian street artist based in Stavanger, who is best known for his large stencil paintings on abandoned buildings in Vardø and Lofoten. He has also exhibited his work at the central stations in Oslo and Trondheim, together with Bergen artist Dolk. His most recent stunt entitled Lovers, which hangs in Bryne, is a reference to the global COVID-19 pandemic and has already been referred to in the NY Times. Pøbel’s real name is not publicly known, but his works raise important issues (source: Wikipedia).

Fintan Magee

Where: Folkets Hus, Løkkeveien 22

The artist Fintan Magee has collaborated with Nuart and Attende to create the second work in Nuart’s project ‘Social Inclusion Through Street Art’, which aims to bring about action and change. The artist was born in Lismore, Australia in 1985, and is considered one of the world’s top mural artists. He brings you into a world of unexpected beauty and chaotic balance. His works emphasise the extraordinary and precarious in our daily lives. He says: ‘Childhood memories and personal experiences inform my work but I also like to link personal experience to broader social issues like climate change or class struggle. In some works, I feel like I'm telling stories that I don’t yet fully understand, however, which brings an element of chaos (...)’ (source: nuartfestival.no).

Smug

Where: Kannik skole i Stavanger

This work is also a result of Nuart and Attende’s project ‘Social Inclusion Through Street Art’. The painting features Helge. Helge can’t read but has had a permanent job through Attende for the past 25 years. Attend specialises in finding strengths where others see weaknesses and gave him a job that no one could do better than him – shredding documents containing sensitive information. Overlooking the entrance to Kannik skole in Stavanger, Helge is a symbol of how everyone has an important role to play in society.

Smug, or Sam Bates as he is actually called, is an Australian graffiti artist known for his photorealistic murals. He only uses spray cans and has developed an international reputation as a master of the difficult task of painting highly technical works on large walls the world over. Smug was born in a small Australian town around three hours from Sydney, and he now lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland (source: nuartfestival.no).

Nimi

Where: Store Skippersgate 35, Stavanger

‘Sofia and the Mountain’ by Bergen artist NIMI appeared in Stavanger in connection with Nuart’s ‘Art City’ programme. The artwork shows NIMI’s daughter Sofia and the famous landmark Pulpit Rock: a relevant work in light of the Stavanger region’s wish to promote art and culture. NIMI, who is originally from South Africa, describes the work as a comment on the world his children are growing up in: ‘It shows how proud I am of my children. That they are seen and heard, that they benefit society and the country they are part of and that is part of them.’ NIMI is an architect and street artist who likes to experiment with a range of techniques, media and creative processes in his detailed murals and paintings. This landmark was created with the help of local artist RH74 (source: nuartfestival.no).

Ernest Zacharevic

Where: Nedstrandsgata, Stavanger

Ernest Zacharevic is a classically trained artist from Lithuania, who has built a good reputation in art circles. His works have an emotional impact, and interdisciplinary nature. The artist is based in Penang, Malaysia and he describes himself as ‘an artist who prefers to work on the street’. Zacharevic moves freely between oil painting, installation, sculpture, illustration and stencils, and often combines objects and painted figures to produce interesting and exciting compositions. He focuses mostly on portraits and is inspired by the ambience and environment around the sites he paints. He has a humorous approach and often incorporates holes, pipes and other things he finds in the street into his works (source: nuartfestival.no).

Martin Whatson

Where: Nedstrandgata 36, Stavanger

Martin Whatson is a Norwegian stencil artist based in Norway. After following graffiti and its development, he started his own stencil production in 2004. Martin has a constant urge to search for beauty in what is commonly dismissed as ugly or abandoned. He looks for inspiration in people, urban landscapes, old buildings, graffiti, posters and decaying walls. This interest in decay has helped develop his style, motives and compositions (source: nuartfestival.no).

Snik

Where: Tou Scene

Snik is a street art duo who has worked with a stencil and spray paint for over ten years. Staying true to their form, Snik hand-cut up to nine layers of stencils at a time, working with different mediums, techniques, paints and varnishes. Their ethereal compositions combine realism and fantasy with the theatrical play of light and shadow to depict characters suspended in time. These frozen scenes tell stories of every day and the beauty that is found there, but it is Snik’s attention to detail and their bold aesthetic that has most come to define their signature style. This theatricality is taken to new heights in their latest body of Baroque-inspired artworks, which feature increasingly ornate and extravagant compositions, presented for the first time at Nuart Festival 2018 (source: nuartfestival.no).