Chalk Urban Art Festival
Taking street art to the, er, street
By Sarah Norris
Darling Harbour will transform from its usual tourist leanings to a hotbed of urban style with street art, graffiti workshops, live music, spoken word and wearable art when the four-day Chalk Urban Art Festival makes its colourful splash.
"There's lots of urban art hidden away in the streets of Sydney so it's time for it to come out in the public domain," says festival creator Andi Mether. "Darling Harbour will be alive with colour."
Now in its fourth year, the festival has grown from just chalk paintings on the ground and a couple of bands to involve some 40 artists and 20 designers.
"A lot of the festival artists cross over into music, poetry, fashion, performance art and other artistic areas. [When] you create such a mix of cultures and attitudes, it's hard for people not to be inspired. It's very cool," says Mether. What isn't so cool, Mether adds, is the general lack of appreciation towards graff artists and the recent changes to the Anti-Graffiti Laws which see on-spot fines of $550 for those caught carrying a spray can and expanded special police powers to search anyone 14 or over who is on or near to public transport.
"I think that graffiti is an unappreciated art form," says Mether. "We've got brilliant graff artists in Sydney and a lot of ugly hoarding on city building sites that can be used to create great works of art. Bill posters should be prosecuted but artists should be celebrated."
A forum titled Graffiti vs Vandalism will be held on Sat 6 Sep from 12pm, with graff artists from Sydney and Melbourne showcasing their talents and talking about their experiences.
The Chalk Urban Art Festival happens Thu 4 Sep-Sun 7 Sep at Darling Harbour.