Graffiti- & Street Art Festival Styria 2014

After the Graffiti Styria 2013, which was a first test and first cooperation with Norbert Lipp and Future Icons e.V., we were motivated alongside with our Hungarian friends from the Körmendi Kulturalis Központ. We prepared this application together, saw each other already many times before the actual first International Graffiti- & Street Art Festival Styria, and we got positive response on our application somewhere in summer 2014.

The project, inspired by the Festival in 2013, I have to, once more point out the genius of Norbert Lipp finding funds for was a very different dimension. Mentors came from many parts of Europe, all very experienced in their field.

The Erasmus+ youth encounter, which included officially 15 youngsters from three nations would become a wonderful week. We did not only talk about many European themes, but we got a very deep insight in what it means to be a professional Street- or Graffiti artist. A festival, that everyone will remember, also due to the city of Fürstenfeld and their abandoned tobacco-factory, we all loved immediately.

Besides our friend Zsuzsanna Paloczi, Norbert Lipp and Urška Čerče, who took care about the respective groups, Rado Carlo Poggi was the factotum during the entire festival. Mentoring especially in all theoretical questions, he was the main reference regarding the most issues of this encounter, content- or organization-related. We were incredible lucky to have with us Lym Moreno (Venezuela), Daan Botleg (Netherlands), SUMO (Luxemburg) and Gerald Baumgartner (Austria) who did an incredibly sensitive job.

The general interest of the public was astonishing, the city of Fürstenfeld, especially their cultural officer Hermann Großschedl was almost constantly nearby and the major did organize an official welcome to all participants. At this point many thanks to Franz Majcen, former president of the Styran parliament, who very much contributed so this project could be held in Fürstenfeld in the first place.

The days were creative, the nights in parts loud and intense, the various works done during the week did get a presentation in form of an exhibition, we also did prepare and curate entirely within the ERASMUS+ group.

An unforgettable opening, with guests from all participating countries with their respective majors and cultural officers were impressed of the quantity of output, but especially about the quality of it. We did plan to move the exhibition in the different participating cities, but as funds were low, additional funds not available and the efforts quite intense, we could go that way, we did though cooperate further, much further and at many occasions.

David Lipp and one of his many music projects did take care for the live music at the close-up gala, everybody was happy and tired at the same time. – A combination we would learn to appreciate during the upcoming years of intense European youth work.

This project, pointed out, became awarded one of the three most successive ERASMUS+ youth encounters of 2014. Bravo!