EEK! A HUGE 8-STORY MURAL TO BE PAINTED AT ARABIA STREET ART FESTIVAL ON 16 MAY 2015, HELSINKI, FINLAND A mural, meaning a large wall painting, will be painted at Arabia Street Art Festival on the side wall of an 8-story apartment building located in Helsinki’s Arabia neighborhood. Artist Jukka Hakanen w i l l b e working on the mural during the entire festival week, and the excitement will culminate on the festival day as the work is completed in front of thousands of festival guests. Artists and residents have wished for more permanent paintings, and the Arabia mural is the first step in claiming the whole neighborhood for street art. As a result of co-operation between various parties, the work will demonstrate that close co-operation between civil, corporate and municipal actors is possible in Helsinki. NON-COMMERCIAL ART AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE The mural is a non-commercial piece, which is a relatively new phenomenon when it comes to wall paintings in Helsinki. For the city, coloring the streetscape with art can also be seen as an international competitive advantage that will help in standing out and making an impression, as has happened in Berlin, for example. The mural will prove that it is possible to modify the living environment even with larger elements according to the residents’ wishes and that the city can be experienced as a shared space. Street art is a means for bringing joy and color to the urban environment and making the concept of “living room” also apply to public space. THE LARGEST MURAL SO FAR BY ARTIST JUKKA HAKANEN The artist, Jukka Hakanen, is one of the most known mural painters in Finland. During the last three years, Hakanen has painted murals all over Finland: in Turku, Salo, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Hämeenlinna, Lappeenranta and Kärsämäki. He has also gained recognition with international projects in Paris, Copenhagen, Tallinn and Slovenia. The technical designer of the Arabia mural is media producer Antti Salminen from the City of Helsinki Youth Department. The final form of the mural is still a secret, but it will depict the development of the Hämeentie street through time. Hakanen says he has attempted to visualize Arabianranta as well as possible for a person from Turku. The Arabia mural will be the largest so far in Hakanen’s career. DIVIDE AND ENLARGE The painting is created by first dividing the wall into a grid, which is then used to enlarge the sketch. The color scheme of the painting has been chosen according to the current color of the building, and the wall will accommodate the character of its surroundings. The painting is meant to integrate the area into Arabianranta’s other public artworks. The project is carried out by the district’s neighborhood association Artova, which is also the main organizer of the Arabia Street Art Festival, in co-operation with Tikkurila Oyj, Helsinki City Apartments (Heka), Heka-Kumpula and the City of Helsinki Youth Department. Arabia street art festival homepage: http://artova.fi/tapahtumat/arabian-katufestivaali Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/supaflynet/sets/72157650633114014 More inside stuff: http://www.supafly.net https://www.facebook.com/supaflynet https://instagram.com/supaflynet/ http://www.flickr.com/supaflynet http://twitter.com/supaflynet

• published: 22 May 2015
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