This week, top artists from across Europe are in Tartu creating new works on the city’s streets as the Stencibility festival celebrates its fifteenth anniversary. The festival also includes a new street art exhibition at an abandoned yeast factory.
ERR spoke to Sepe, who is one of 20 artists taking part in this year’s Stencibility festival. Sepe works as a graphic designer, painter and illustrator in Warsaw, and can be considered a veteran of the Stencibility festival, having already visited Tartu on several times to create street art.
One of Sepe’s earlier works can be found while walking in the city’s Supilinn district for instance.
“There are no limits or boundaries, you just go with the flow. For example, I was able to break some of the tiles in this room. The inspiration came from the place where we are, the yeast factory,” said Sepe.
After being constructed in 1883, the building where the “Hide and Seek” exhibition is held was originally used as a yeast factory, before later incarnations as a medical facility and alternative cultural center.
“We’ve never had an exhibition site with such a rich history before. In that sense, there was a lot of inspiration here. The artists were really influenced by it,” said Kadri Lind, co-curator of the Stencibility festival.
Between 2008 and 2010, the building was affectionately nicknamed “Pärmika” when it housed the Tartu Culture Factory (Tartu Kultuuritehas). Latvian artist Zahars Ze, whose works are painted on ceramic tiles, said he was inspired by this period in the venue’s history.
“I also tried to recall this period in my life. I was reminded of this trend, this boom of partying in abandoned places. It was a really beautiful time. I’ve tried to show these parties and nightlife in my work,” Ze said.
The “Hide and Seek” exhibition is the main event of this year’s Stencibility festival. However, there will of course also be dozens of new artworks appearing on the streets of Tartu too.
The 2024 Stencibility street art festival runs until Sunday July 7, culminating in a final tour on the Släp! Sticker bus to see all the newly-created works in the city.
During the festiva, over 20 street artists from all across Europe are in Tartu to create new works including Sepe, Jay Pop, Klub2020 and Kobayashi from Poland, Zahars Ze, ROMBO, Ziepe and Tron Karton from Latvia, Trafik, Akvilė Magicdusté and Martynas Auž from Lithuania, NSN997 from Italy as well as Spanish-Venezuelan artist Borneo.
The “Hide and Seek” exhibition at the former yeast factory will stay open until August 4.
More information is available here.
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