The exciting line-up of world-class artists for Nuart Aberdeen was revealed today – and includes the return of Hera, who helped create the iconic mural on the now demolished Aberdeen Market building.
She will be joining other big names from the global street art community for this year’s festival, running from 6 to 9 June under the theme of “Living Heritage”.
A total of 11 acclaimed artists will travel to the Granite City from across Europe, the UK, and the Middle East, to transform walls and spaces with a range of exciting, inspiring and thought-provoking pieces that will leave a lasting legacy for Aberdeen city centre.
These will range from the friendly giant and fun figures of Italian artist, Millo, to photorealistic hands bursting from buildings created by Germany’s Case Maclaim.
Organisers of Nuart Aberdeen, staged by Aberdeen Inspired in partnership with Aberdeen City Council and delivered by Reed Projects, say they cannot wait for the return of the hugely-popular and award-winning festival which sees the city transformed into a giant canvas for creativity, while bringing in thousands of visitors.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said he was delighted to welcome so many world class artists in this year’s line-up and is particularly excited about the return of Hera aka Frankfurt-born painter Jasmin Siddiqui. As part of the duo Herakut, with fellow artist Akut, Hera crafted the piece “Because You Are That Light” on Aberdeen Market at the Green. The work became synonymous with Nuart Aberdeen until the building was razed to make way for the new planned new market.
Adrian said: “The Herakut mural was one of the most-loved pieces in the Nuart legacy and was instantly recognisable. To have Hera return to Aberdeen to work on something new and wonderful is a fantastic coup for this year’s festival and I can’t wait to see what she creates. She will be joined by so many other outstanding artists who will be transform our city for the better. I hope this will be the best Nuart Aberdeen to date.”
Adrian said it is now beyond question Nuart Aberdeen is one of the foremost street art festivals in the world – if not the foremost – and has put the Granite City firmly on the global cultural map since its launch in 2017. “Not only that, Nuart Aberdeen pulls thousands of people into the city centre for the festival itself and it keeps visitors coming all year round to discover the new works and enjoy the previous pieces that are still a delight. That increased footfall and the spending it brings is a real and welcome boost for our city centre economy.”
Martyn Reed, curator of Nuart Aberdeen, said this year’s theme of “Living Heritage” was also known as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” (ICH). He said:” Living heritage incorporates the parts of our shared past that live in our present – everyday rituals and practices, cultural expressions, shared memories, celebrations, festivals, stories, songs, and craft skills that help to define who we are. The ephemeral nature of much of the culture we work with and produce in Aberdeen could itself be regarded as intangible cultural heritage, as the loss of first large scale mural from Herakut produced on the old Market back in 2017 would attest. Something many will be happy to hear we’ll be revisiting this year.
“We look forward to contributing to the city’s increasing reputation for this growing culture and hope to be both excavating and producing memories that live significantly longer than some of the works.”
Councillor Martin Greig, culture spokesperson for Aberdeen City Council, said: "Nuart has become an important creative event for the city. This design festival brings together an amazing blend of different artists, making our streets more vibrant and interesting. It's great to have the skills and expertise individual designers who add so much colour and variety to walls and spaces. They are able to turn a familiar area into somewhere intriguing and exciting. The images are inventive and can provoke some deep emotional reactions."
There is, as always, a strong international flavour to Nuart Aberdeen, but the event will also lean heavily into UK talent – and see the return of Aberdeen’s own acclaimed street artist, KMG. She created her first Nuart mural in 2021, with a large-scale work at Union Square on Palmerston Road and also led last year’s popular Chalk Don’t Chalk, the Nuart Aberdeen event for local schoolchildren at Marischal Square.
Nuart Aberdeen 2024 will also include fringe events and exhibitions, workshops, walking tours and an Urban Art Conference which is attracting a host of international media agencies to the city resulting in global media coverage.
The full line-up of artists for this year’s Nuart is:
Addam Yekutieli aka Know Hope (Tel Aviv):
Is an American-born Israeli artist who creates social practice projects, immersive installations and public artworks. He became known for his work in the streets of Tel Aviv under the pseudonym Know Hope. He is one of the first Israeli street artists to gain international recognition.
Bahia Shehab (Cairo):
Bahia Shehab is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, political activist and historian whose work focuses on the interaction and intersection of modern identity and ancient cultural heritage. Her imaginative combination of calligraphy and Islamic art history produced cutting edge, beautiful, impactful street art during the Arab Spring.
Case Maclaim (Germany):
Case Maclaim, aka Andreas von Chrzanowski, has been a photorealism pioneer for over two decades, primarily using the medium of spray paint to embrace the power of movement through the universality of hands. Having travelled to over 20 countries Case has literally left his fingerprints in each.
Cbloxx (Yorkshire Pennines):
Cbloxx (Jay Gilleard) is an English muralist, painter and multidisciplinary artist. They became most well known for co-founding internationally acclaimed street art duo Nomad Clan who notably painted the tallest mural in the UK. Currently based between the wilderness of the Yorkshire Pennines and the dust bowl of Los Angeles, Cbloxx resumed solo practice in 2020
Hera (Germany):
Jasmin Siddiqui is a German born artist better known as Hera. Recognised for her urban contemporary and graffiti art, who uses a variety of different mediums to created her truly emotive artworks. Hera’s works tend to combine traditional techniques and spray painting to portray mythological creatures and darkly comedic and satirical scenes.
KMG (Aberdeen):
Aberdeen’s KMG is a Scottish based artist who has been making work on the street for over a decade. Her recent work explores themes of mythology, community and the history of our local landscapes, using Characters as a means of connecting with the viewer and engaging them in dialogue. With a strong belief in the power of art, KMG also regularly works with community groups, healthcare and educational institutions to help make art as accessible as possible.
Mahn Kloix (France):
Mahn's art always has a message. Words paying homage, words of encouragement — for whistle-blowers, activists, people who are fighting for a better world. For victims of oppression, refugees, and for the environment. These messages are crafted to be shared on the street, where they can be seen by all.
Millo (Italy):
Italian artist Francesco Camillo Giorgino, known as Millo, paints large-scale murals that feature friendly inhabitants exploring their urban setting. He uses simple black and white lines with dashes of color when necessary, and often incorporates elements of architecture into his multi-story paintings
Molly Hankinson (Glasgow):
Molly Hankinson is a visual artist from London now living in Glasgow. Molly creates honest and unapologetic representations of people and communities through an intersectional feminist lens, with unparalleled and celebratory reclamation of space evident in her work. She enjoys portraying people who are completely at ease with themselves in their own surroundings.
Niels Shoe Meulman (Netherlands):
Niels Shoe Meulman is a visual artist, known for his gestural paintings which reveal vivid traces of graffiti and calligraphy. He revolutionised the art of writing when he initiated the Calligraffiti movement, claiming “a word is an image and writing is painting”.
Wasted Rita (Portugal):
Portuguese artist Wasted Rita has been developing a critical and particularly confessional practice that explores her love-hate relationship with life and the surrounding world. Making use of a variety of media- including sculptural objects, installation, painting, drawing, and writing- her unique voice pours forth her mordant observations and poetic invectives on human behaviour and contemporary culture.
The walls which will be part of this year’s Nuart Aberdeen will be announced in the coming weeks.
You can find out more about Nuart Aberdeen here
Additional quotes from Martyn Reed on this year’s theme, plus bios of the artists are below.