It is now just over a month since the streets of Aberdeen were rewilded by Nuart 2023. The popular street art festival saw 13 acclaimed arts visit the Granite City to create stunning new artwork.
Nuart’s contribution to the city continues with the team offering guided street art walking tours. The tours which run every Sunday at 1pm take in the works which were created for this year’s festival.
The subject matter for the new artworks ranges from vibrant botanical images to ethereal portraiture, and from punk inspired collages to a design inspired by Scottish lace making.
NeSpoon, who started working as an artist in 2009, originally used lace to create patterns on her ceramic works. Her work evolved to recognise the beauty of lace in its own right. She subsequently began to make lace objects and glue them on the streets.
NeSpoon met with Evelyn Currie one of the lace makers from the Bon Accord Bobbins Lace Group and used one of her lace projects as inspiration for the mural design which now graces Whitehouse Street.
Their piece for Nuart 2023 is a further evolution of their style. The intricate design depicts a Scottish thistle, something NeSpoon describes as being a symbol of pride and reminiscent of the resilience of the local people.
The artist shared a reel about the piece on Instagram; this has now been viewed over 1.5million times and has received over 138,000 likes.
Adrain Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: ““Some of the people who will engage with social media posts such as NeSpoon’s reel might be inspired to visit Aberdeen because of what they’ve seen online. This extends Nuart’s impact far beyond Aberdeen and the North-east of Scotland."
Adrian believes Nuart is delivering a lasting legacy. “NeSpoon created an amazing piece of art. What was once a plain wall is now an intricate design which was clearly inspired by Scottish Lace. The level of detail in NeSpoon’s work is breathtaking, we are delighted to have added a piece with such close links to a traditional Scottish industry to the Aberdeen streetscape.
“Since Nuart Aberdeen began in 2018 more than 40 large pieces of art have been created in the city. Not to mention the countless smaller installations that can be found dotted around the streets.”
“We ran guided tours during the festival weekend, and as in previous years these proved extremely popular with hundreds of people taking part. The response to this year’s festival weekend was amazing, and we’re delighted, one month on, to be offering weekly walking tours.
“One of the beauties of Nuart is its enduring legacy and these tours are just one part of it, they are the perfect chance to discover the new pieces of art and to hear about them from our team.”
Official Nuart Aberdeen tour guide, Martin Widerlechner, said: “Our tours aren’t just boring walks with finger pointing and information people can find online – we try to continue connecting the festival with the people who take part in the tours. Our stories from festival production, the artist’s, and artworks’, relationship with the city and so much more add a unique value to the experience.
“That’s what makes our tours unique. All our tour guides have been there for years now and have helped deliver these artworks. We know what went well but also what hurdles we had to jump through to get where we are. We always try to keep the tours informative yet humorous and ‘down to earth.”
Guided Nuart walking tours run every Sunday at 1pm. The tour starts outside Foodstory Café on Thistle Street and will run each Sunday at 1pm. Tickets cost £6 per adult, while children go free. For more information and to book a tour, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nuart-2023-tour-tickets-660991733067?aff=ebdsoporgprofile.
NeSpoon’s mural can be viewed here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtY-pDCIjaV/
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 https://www.aberdeeninspired.com
For more information about Bon Accord Bobbins visit https://www.bonaccordbobbins.co.uk/