Street art and graffiti in Oslo - when walls in the city become art - urban art

The phenomenon has emerged over the past decade. Boring gables and facades have been transformed into colorful paintings. Internationally renowned urban artists and local artists have joined forces to beautify the city. Some are commissioned works, while others have arisen spontaneously, more or less legally. Some are allowed to remain, while others are removed, either because they are unwanted, or because walls need to be maintained and painted. This makes the cityscape dynamic. This article shows some of the street art and provides a description of where you can find it.

For decades, graffiti was perceived as vandalism. It often consisted of a few scribbles or signatures with little or no artistic value. To overcome this, a project was launched in Oslo with the goal of removing new graffiti within 24 hours. It was effective. Within a short time, most of this type of graffiti was gone.

Over the past 10-15 years, however, an understanding has emerged that graffiti can be both art and an important form of expression that our democracy should protect. With this understanding, interest in street art has also increased. Today, the municipality of Oslo wants to equate street art with other art forms and has encouraged homeowners to make wall surfaces and walls available that are suitable for this. In the last decade in particular, renowned street artists have been commissioned to create works of art, and in some places young people have been allowed to develop their expressions on selected surfaces. The result has been a more beautiful and more interesting and exciting cityscape.

Oslo has many buildings that are suitable for street art. One of the reasons is that a housing slump in 1899 led to many spaces between apartment buildings with gable walls without windows, remaining undeveloped because there was no longer a market for new buildings. Street art in Oslo can therefore be found in many places in the city, but there are especially many of them in Tøyen and Grünerløkka. In an area around Brenneriveien and Ingensgate between Akerselva and Møllergata, you can also find a lot of graffiti in many varieties - both with and without political statements.

In an area between Brenneriveien and Ingensgate, several buildings are decorated with graffiti.

Elsewhere in the city, you will find facades and gables that renowned street artists have been commissioned to decorate.

Some shops have also made their facades available for street art. This may prove to be good marketing.

Since the street art in the city is constantly changing, it would be pointless to create an address list for the artworks. However, the Oslo Municipality has created an interactive map that shows where most of the artworks are, and which you can follow when walking around the city in search of them (https://www.visitoslo.com/no/artikler/urban-kunst-i-oslo). A good idea is to start at Tøyen Metro station. From there, it is a short walk to many of the artworks in both Tøyen and Grünerløkka.

More excursions: www.turideer.com

Excursion of the week: Street art and graffiti in Oslo - hiking in search of beautiful or interesting walls and murals.

#Norway #English #Oslo #Steetart #Grafitti