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In the first section of our street art blog, you’ll find collections featuring the bloggers’ favourite artwork as well as thematic series. You’ll find street art manifestations of the Goethe-Institut’s projects “Shaping the Past” and “Queer As German Folk” as well as coverage of Mexican artists in Berlin.

↓ Shaping the Past
↓ Somos berlíneses!
↓ Queer As Artsy Folk
↓ Streetartivism
↓ Some all-time favorites
 

Shaping the Past

Black Lives Matter Fence in Washington's Foggy Bottom | © Various artists, Photo: Mike Macguire The project Shaping the Past of the Goethe-Institut is about ways of dealing with the past: What are the social effects when monuments and memorials are charged with history? Is it possible to reshape the current culture of remembrance with alternative and innovative approaches? But there are also modern monuments, as this year's Black Lives Matter fence in Washington, D.C. was able to impressively demonstrate: an ephemeral monument of the present. And the Artbits team found two more great examples of a shaped past, presented below.

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¡Somos berlíneses!

Adry del Rocío - "El hogar está dónde está el corazón“ | © Adry del Rocío, Photo: Sehr Bueno The old post office site in the Berlin district of Spandau has - at least temporarily - become a place of the arts. This was made possible by the fact that the site was given over to associations such as "Neuen Urbanen Welten" (New Urban Worlds), whose activities on the site were aimed at reviving Spandau's cultural scene and bringing together creative people of all kinds. The abandoned and derelict premises of the Alte Post were used, among other things, as a shooting location for music videos and as a venue for events, and the old parcel hall on the premises was rebaptized “Urban Art Hall”, a space dedicated to Street Art. Mostly local, but also international artists were to present themselves here legally and in a creative, exchange-oriented environment. And that's what some of Mexico's best street art artists have done, and this series showcases some of the best pieces. In October 2019, New Urban Worlds came to an end, with the creation of offices, condominiums and other commercial spaces. But the story contionues: The Neue Urbane Welten is already looking for new premises!

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Queer As Artsy Folk

© Photo: TheDustyRebel Street art is everywhere and speaks to everyone. It is full or void of color, loud or calm, gaudy or subtle and sometimes more queer than straight. Our new series Queer as Artsy Folk is about queer street art - by queer artists with attitude, mission and goal. Whether Homo Riot confronts the public with their homophobia or Hugo Gyrl sends the militantly encouraging You Go Girl through the continents - queer street art has many exciting facets. A few of them we show here.

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Streetartivism

„White Supremacy is Killing Me“ by Jessica Sabogal | © Jessica Sabogal, Photo: Jody Freeman The ubiquity of street art and the inexhaustible number of public walls, columns, telephone booths, subway trains, the fact that public space is exactly that – public – encourages (forces!) its use as a political medium. Street art as a means of protest, as an expression of dissatisfaction and demands for or against prevailing circumstances is as old as it is itself.
 
Not only since Banksy and other superstars in the political art scene has street art served a higher purpose. Our bloggers have devoted themselves to this phenomenon in this series - as always without the claim of completeness or representativeness. That would be impossible simply because of the large amount of great, relevant, exciting street art – and it wouldn't be fair either. That's why we've made a very personal selection to take a look at this world of political art – artivism in Los Angeles, Mexico, Montreal, New York, and Washington, D.C. – and to take a closer look at the world of political art.

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Some all-time favorites

© Andreas von Chrzanowski, Foto: Lord Jim Sometimes you come across a piece of work that you particularly like, and often you can't even put your finger on why. This is also the case for our bloggers, and that's why we decided to dedicate this page to a few timeless favorites from the #artbits cosmos.

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