Environmental Art is top of mind at Montreal Mural Festival
Since 2013, the city of Montreal, Canada, has hosted the Montreal Mural Festival. The festival is hosted along one of the city’s main streets, Saint Laurent Boulevard, known for its culture and societal and gastronomical delights. Montreal Mural Festival is held annually and is an important global artist community gathering. The festival is organized by a group of local artists and entrepreneurs (MURAL), including Félix B. Desfossés, Pascal Grandmaison, and Stéphane Quintal. The festival’s mission is to “democratize urban art, making the city a must for art lovers around the world.”
The festival takes place annually in June on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, a major artery in Montréal. The festival features a variety of events, including:
- Murals: Over 50 murals are created by local and international artists during the course of the festival.
- Live music: A variety of live music performances take place throughout the festival.
- Street art workshops: A variety of street art workshops are offered to festival-goers.
- Block parties: A variety of block parties are held in the Mile End neighborhood.
The Montreal Mural Festival has become a major cultural event in Montréal, attracting over 1 million visitors each year. The festival has also helped to make Montréal a global destination for street art.
The festival features large murals, musical shows, digital installations and technology-centric exhibitions and draws in thousands of people from Montreal and around the world.
The artists hosted at Montreal Mural Festival use the mural space as an opportunity to bring awareness to different issues. Some issues that have been expressed throughout the years include feminism, racism, the environment, and so many more. This year, the Mural Festival has hosted many artists who are expressing environmental issues through art. Some of these artists include:
- Saype
Saype is an artist from France who uses his artistic skills to draw on grass, earth, sand, and snow around the world. He started using traditional graffiti paint but created something less permanent and less harmful to the planet. He invented 100% biodegradable paint, allowing him to paint on natural surfaces, whereby the image disappears after a few weeks. The paint is composed mainly of chalk and coal.
Saype’s most influential pieces are his Beyond Pieces which display a chain of hands held together. The project started in Paris, France and has since travelled worldwide, now reaching the Montreal Mural Festival. The message of the piece is that together, humanity can overcome various challenges we experience every day.
2. JUNKO
JUNKO is an artist from Montreal, Canada, who displays his sculptures as a form of “habitat” for the artwork. Doing so provides a unique space where the artwork can coexist harmoniously with the environment. Junko creates sculptures with waste materials from the environment where they are presented, allowing the sculptures to reflect that environment. Animals and insects often inspire his work and have been made from old car parts, scrap metal, discarded shoes, etc. A timber frame made from recycled wood holds the installations together.
3. Artur Bordalo
Like the JUNKO, Artur Bordalo, an artist from Portugal, uses what others call garbage in many of his works. Many of his themes reflect the excessive production and consumption of stuff, resulting in the continuous production of garbage and the planet’s destruction. Artur creates sculptures and murals by reusing waste and bringing forward the message of overconsumption. According to his website, 115 tons of reused materials have been used in his pieces since 2012.
These are only a few examples of some artists featured at the Montreal Mural Festival. Still, it shows how many artists use their influence and art to bring forward environmental messages. These festivals and spaces allow artists to speak creatively about issues that are important to them. And because of the accessibility of these murals, these messages can have a significant impact on so many people, and they can influence positive change.
