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London is famous for its art galleries and museums – but take to the streets, and you’ll see art is all around.
Over the years, councils have valued street art as a way to embellish what were once more deprived areas. And London-based arts organisation Wood Street Walls has played a huge part in this – engaging younger generations to brighten up the city, one wall (or steps and basketball court) at a time.
In the past five years alone, they’ve helped create hundreds of murals in east London, treating the city as their canvas to highlight key issues, express their views and encourage creativity. Their aim is to brighten up neighbourhoods, while honouring the context of the local area. “We use public art as a way to engage with the community,” founder Mark Clack tells HuffPost UK.
Lone Wolf Sunset: Up High With Helen Bur
Meeting Helen Bur at the Artscape mural festival in Sweden was memorable in itself. I had borrowed her 60-foot boom lift as we anticipated her arrival. The night she flew into town, as I handed over the keys, I asked if she needed a video projector to sketch her mural on the massive 4-story wall that awaited. The way she looked at me with this wisdom her eyes carry I might as well have asked if she painted with noodles instead of brushes. She wasn’t judging the use of projectors, or critical of the question, but she’s clearly a purist, a magician with no need for technical support. Purists don’t use projectors, but they do pack Swiss army knives.
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