Artwork is a collaborative piece of work painted by Mark One87 and Sune
ELEMENTS is a bold new street art and graffiti festival taking place in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley on Saturday 3rd-Sunday 4th August. The area has a long history of graffiti heritage, and ELEMENTS plans to celebrate Newcastle’s thriving street art scene with live painting, DJs and workshops, and community and expression at its centre.
“I have been wanting to establish an event which brings everyone together,” says Mark One87, local street artist and organiser of ELEMENTS. “The time is right to really showcase the North East whilst creating a platform for artists from a range of backgrounds.”
While it’s exciting to be bringing new audiences into the area, it was really important to engage those who live there too. “Community is everything,” explains co-organiser Carlo Viglianisi from Building Culture. “It’s not just about the creative communities or the other existing communities that engage with Ouseburn, but also about those that don’t.”
Here, the team offer up some of their awesome festival highlights.
It’s the first year of ELEMENTS so we’re really hoping to set the tone – a bringing together of all the styles and scenes that the North East has to offer in a collective celebration. The main festival site will undoubtedly be the centre of this, showcasing 18 artists in one area painting live murals with good music and good people.
Here you will recognise some of the area’s most prominent and prolific artists – from legends like Mr.Zee and Prefab 77, artists like Raven and Nesbit, to more contemporary street artists like Mul and Cack Handed Kid.
The site is a bit of a highlight here – people will recognise it from the Ouseburn Market and the Wild Roots Community Garden, but it’s also a bit of a hidden gem, just off Stepney Bank. It’s a great spot, Newcastle doesn’t have a street art festival and this site feels like a perfect place to establish.
ELEMENTS isn’t just about the big showcase event though, it’s about all the moving parts coming together and supporting each other. You will get to see some of the results of our work with the surrounding communities. There will be a piece designed and painted with the Shieldfield Youth Programme (developed by The NewBridge Project and Dwellbeing Shieldfield), which empowers young people to become active members of their local community. It will be a lovely example of helping to develop pathways in and out of surrounding areas. We’re doing similar work in Byker – keep your eyes peeled for a painted minibus making the rounds.
Another highlight has to be the art market in collaboration with Nowt Special. We love what they do so it’s great to bring in a range of local sellers – they’ve pulled together a great line-up including Electric Sheep, The Writing Is On The Wall, Van Goth, Grimcraft and loads more.
Our work with Wild Roots Community Garden should be well on the way. The community garden at the back of the site is an incredible project and we’re working with them to add some mural work to the space.
Finally, we do have one guest artist this year. Southampton-based artist and designer Ricky Also is renowned for his large-scale, designed-forward typographic pieces which burst with colour leaning into the history and heritage of a place. He’ll be doing something special referencing Heaton-born author Jack Common, who was a working class voice in literature and admired by the likes of George Orwell.
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