Nuart Reconnects in Aberdeen 2022

We were fortunate to have been invited to participate in the very first edition of Nuart Aberdeen back in the quaint days of 2017. We had a blast, and in the process fell in love with this city made of granite. The locals and our hosts made certain that we had all we needed to do our job and to enjoy the festival, the city, and of course its people. With a theme of reconnection, the new iteration of the festival last month brought fresh murals to city walls, perhaps revitalizing people’s connection to the built environment in a new way.

Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A franchising, of sorts, of the original Norwegian Nuart festival and its originators, this offshoot festival was so successful that year that city officials here funded another few editions. The events that engage the community feature live painting, a speaker program, walking tours, a pub fight/debate, and children’s art programming. All told it’s a warm example of street art culture mainstreaming itself right into the daily fabric of this prosperous Scottish city often called the “Oil Capital of Europe”

Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Photographer Martha Cooper was invited to participate in Nuart’s newest event and she shares with us and our readers her documentation of the 11 artists’ artworks on the streets of Aberdeen.

“Most of the buildings in Aberdeen are built of granite giving the city a distinctive, very gray, look,” says Ms. Cooper of this city that boasts a long industry of granite work. “Martin Whatson’s mural this year shows a stone mason trimming off “excess” graffiti to make a straight edge along a graffiti-covered wall.” Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge and Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge and Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge paints a portrait of his wife. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Erin Holly. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Erin Holly. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas’ “Queen of Hearts” is a match to the “King of Hearts” mural he painted for Nuart in 2019. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jofre Oliveras. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jofre Oliveras. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha tells us that this “I Will Pay Taxes” mural is painted on a building whose owner didn’t pay his taxes. It was controversial but in the end, the organizers of the festival prevailed to keep the wall up without alterations or censorship.

Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham based his mural on a vintage ad from a magazine. He collects these images for inspiration. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Elisa Capdevila. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Elisa Capdevila. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Pejac. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Pejac. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Rubislaw Quarry is the biggest (or one of the biggest depending on the source)
man-made holes in Europe” says, Ms. Cooper. “Now it is filled with water to make a man-made lake in the center of the city of Aberdeen.” (photo © Martha Cooper)
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