SERBIA: Novi Sad - Graffiti Artist SHPIRA - 3D Murals - Founder of AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA

The great artist SHPIRA from the Serbian city of Novi Sad loves to create graffiti, street art and characters in a three-dimensional style. Countless works adorn the streets of his home town, but his latest and most exciting project is the AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA. It is not a hall of fame, but rather an urban art gallery where local and international artists can add murals by arrangement. It started with one building in the neighborhood, but after the great results, the residents of the buildings around also wanted such murals. The creative area now comprises eight large apartment blocks and more are under discussion.

Above: Event at **Bulevar Books**, 2024 – Below: **Rooftop Jam**, togehter with **DANIEL PENGRAPHER**, 2023

SHPIRA is also a musician and produces cool sounds, he gives workshops with children and interested people and shows presentations at the art school. We spoke to the versatile artist in an interview during a visit in Novi Sad. If you want to listen, below is the podcast to click on. If you want to read, the interview is written down in the following parts. Inbetween are great photos of the awesome artworks made by SHPIRA. Look, read, listen and enjoy!

Listen to <a href="https://hearthis.at/radio-x-interviews/shpira/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SHPIRA – Urban Artist & Musician – 3D Graffiti – AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA – Novi Sad – [ SERBIA ]</a> by<a href="https://hearthis.at/radio-x-interviews/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radio X Interviews</a> on <a href="https://hearthis.at/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hearthis.at</a>

Hello listeners, here we have another great interview from Serbia. Today we are in Novi Sad and i’m talking to the legendary SHPIRA. He is a super great who does a lot of graffiti and murals not only in Novi Sad, but also in other cities around the country. But Novi Sad is his hometown, where he also organizes a creative art space. The AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA is an open air museum around his neighborhood with mural artworks from many different artists. There are works by locals but also some from Nigeria or New Zealand and this gallery is growing step by step. SPHIRA will tell us about his own art and about this art project.

Hi, nice to meet you and thank you for having me!

Above: **AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA**, Novi Sad, 2023 – Below Left: **EPOC**, **EPS** Yard Piece – Below Right: „Descriptive Geometry“, **LINQ**, Novi Sad, 2020

We were walking around the area and saw already many murals, but there are certainly a lot more artworks. Let’s first talk about you and then we can explain the the listeners about this great art place. When did you start doing art and when did you went on the walls?

Actually I was doing art my whole life, like playing music since I was nine years old. And I still do. I liked painting and drawing for all my life, but then at some point in 1998 it started with urban art. That’s the exact year when the whole Serbian graffiti scene came to life. And we saw some younger guys from our neighborhood doing a few graffiti pieces. A friend of mine who also paints and draws, and me, we saw that and we were like, oh yeah! We have to do this also! So we bought some spray cans and started off. Then we began to hang out with these a bit younger guys. Also because most of us painting in Novi Sad were from the same neighborhood here called Avijaticarska. Back then it was a normal thing that we meet people from the other parts of the city because there were only few of them, who did graffiti. I don’t know, maybe seven or eight at the first moment. So we all started painting together and that was a nice thing. My crew is not that active anymore now, but that’s like with most of the people when you get older. But the nice thing about Novi Sad is that at each point of time, when somebody stopped painting, somebody else started painting new. And we all know each other from the city or from the art school or from wherever, and we are all friends. It’s now more than 20 years ago since we started, but we basically all paint together.

Above: „Falcon Anatomy“, typography, 2018 – Below: „A thousand eyes“, **LINQ**, acrylic canvas, 2018

That’s great. Novi Sad is in general a chilled city, so the scene is also chilled like you said before, because it’s also a bit smaller. Everybody knows each other since you were very young, most of you are from the same neighborhoods and it is very family like. You also said that in the projects you also involve the people from the neighborhoods.

Yes, the people around here love it. For example with the artwork from DENDYDEN, he’s from Russia, now he’s in Berlin. I met him on some jam here and I told him that I maybe have a wall for him, because at that time I asked for the first wall at the open air gallery. And he came and painted, also I painted mine, so we painted together for a few days. And then the people from the other building were like: Hey, can you paint our building too? Let it not be grey! So I was like: Yeah, of course! If they all agree on it, then it’s cool. After that we started getting another building, and then again another building, also I asked for some buildings myself and now even the headmasters of the buildings asked me. So it’s really growing step by step. But in general, Novi Sad is a chill vibe and especially this part of the city is kind of the border, the end of the city, so it’s a chilled place too.

Above: **Rooftop Jam**, Novi Sad, 2023 – Below: Event Flyer Designs

You sent me a lot of links and information to places. So this morning I was at the football fields and there’s also a skate park with some graffiti. But at the soccer field, there’s a wall which goes around the field. This is actually one Hall of Fame of the city. But I think here it’s important to say that this is not a hall. It’s not like an open free space. It’s something you organize and you invite the artists. So if people are interested and they’re doing good artworks, they can contact you.

Sure, they can contact me on Instagram and Facebook or contact the gallery. We have both Facebook and Instagram. And the thing about Kabel, that’s the Hall of Fame, where you were today, the football field, it started in 2000, so it’s almost a tradition. And basically, it’s the only Hall of Fame that we have. There is another one, but nobody paints there because it’s a little bit out of the city. We have to figure out how to expand it and I have to figure out some additional Hall of Fame to get it legal. We have some other places and it’s not that hard to get legal spots here. So we need to organize it similar like that Hall of Fame at the soccer field. Means that it is open for everybody. But this project here, this AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA, it’s like a neighborhood community and the artworks are curated.

Above: Streetart Workshop, primary school Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj, Zrenjanin, 2021 – Below Left: Tribute to **DOM B-612**, Novi Sad, 2022 – Below Right: „Svima svega!“, „Everything for everyone!“ – Handpainted streetart poster, Novi Sad, 2022

So how did that start with the first building?

Well, the thing is that we do graffiti since 1998 and during the years we painted all of these buildings, but back then we were doing bombings and tagging. But then we also started doing pieces and good graffiti. My first 3d pieces were here. But during the last year, well it’s about a year, I stood at these two walls and there’s the whole gallery space and I had some ideas. The lady from one of the buildings, she used to be a kindergarten teacher and she made some walls with crayons painting. So those artworks were even pre dating the gallery for a few years and then there is a spaces inside of the hallway of the building with around 20 artworks. Now I have agreements with some people from the city and they have reserved spots. They have some plans for the buildings around.

Above: „Anti-portrait without the eyeglasses or nicotine“, hand painted streetart poster, Novi Sad, 2019 – Below Left: „22“, hand painted streetart poster, Novi Sad, 2019 – Below Right: „Mustafa“, together with **NADJA**, Novi Sad, some years before 2018

So it’s kind of growing exponentially all over the town although my free time for the last year went especially on this project around here. So you started with one building and made some really proper artworks with some artist friends and then other people saw it and thought, wow that looks cool! I also want that.

Yes, and then some asked me: Can you do this as well on our building? Some asked, then there was one building, two buildings, three buildings and it kept on going. They ask me, hey, can you do it also on ours. So it’s cool and really nice. Now we have filled seven buildings and number eight is in negotiations. They have to figure it out if they want to. And there is also another building, somebody recently asked me to also do artworks there. So it’s really growing. Altogether I don’t know how many possible buildings are there, but at some point we’re going to paint them all. Step by step and slowly, but it’s going to be huge. Still it needs a lot of work and it will take its time. So it’s a long term project maybe for years and years, but it will look awesome.

„Fresh anamorphic mural I did in my neigbourhood, supported by Street Art Residencies. One of the days on the wall a kid stepped up to me, and insisted that I take 50 dinars, to have for the paint for the next wall. Thanx to **DRAGAN MATIC**, **EZOR** and **ENOK** for keeping me company, and helping me to finish it faster, and to all of the neighbours for being so supportive. Big up as always goes to **BEOWALLZ**„

Let’s talk a bit about your art, your style and the artworks you do. So you said you spray 3D graffiti?

Yes, but I also do completely different stuff. Sometimes I also do characters. I have a „KUGA“ character. It’s like a character, but it’s also some kind of a design: „PLAGUE“. So I do different styles for years. But now basically in the last few years, I figured out that I really want to do 3D because that’s my thing and I can do it properly. So I’m kind of mixing different media for those pieces. Actually for this one here, the sketch was a small sculpture made of paper and cardboard. But years ago I used to do a whole lot of bombing, but I do it less, because I’m now older and I don’t want to get in trouble that much. Still from time to time I do bombing. Also sometimes I do 2D pieces. Still I’m mostly interested in this whole three dimension thing and stuff like that and I was following this techniques since we started doing graffiti. Actually German writers like LOOMIT, DAIM, SEAK or NECK, they were a big inspiration for me. Now it grew into my individual style. One of the things about the cans and equipment when we started painting in 1998, we didn’t have anything like we have today. We had this tape frame paints that you can buy even now in all of the paint stores but it’s awful. It was like it’s watery and stinking. It has a bad valve and bad pressure. Also we didn’t have caps. So we just tried to make better outlines. It was a highlight when we got caps from time to time. And for example, when graffiti magazines came to someone in Belgrade, you could buy just one magazine. You couldn’t buy three of them because everybody needed to buy something. Then we made several copies of the magazines. And then the internet started with websites like ART CRIMES and those pages. We still had bad internet around here, but we could download the photos and then shared them.

Above: „Sign Edit“, Novi Sad, 2018 – Below Left: Tribute to **LOST ART LIQUIDS**, Novi Sad, 2018 – Below Right: **EPOK** & **ALEKSANDAR BUNCIC**, **AUO CREW**, **Suburbia Club**, Novi Sad, 2017

The internet came but still in the beginning there were just a few websites about graffiti. So you tried to share everything and help each other out.

Yes, that’s also the thing in Serbia. Here in the scene it’s all connected and also in the region. Also one of the things was that we were like tech savvy from early on and into computers. We actually have a few websites for our crew VOJVODINA BOMBERS CREW and we had around ten websites into the early 2000s in Serbia. Then it wasn’t anymore just like sending photos to ART CRIMES, we also had it over here. But those were more funny websites in the beginnings. It was technically fucked up, but it was working and it was something to show. We also had one or two forums where people could connect. Also recently I realized that some friends from Bosnia also knew those websites. They were like: Oh, you made that website? We know! Because they wanted to see what’s in the region and there were not so my choices. So they said they already know all our works from these websites.

Above: Skull for **Know Yourself**, 2018 – Below: **LINQ** sculpture made of cardboard and plasticine, in different arrangements, later painted in photoshop, 2021

Sure, there didn’t exist anything else and it was in the beginning with the first pages and first possibilities to see graffiti online, also the first ways how to connect via internet. Some artists told me those forums were quite important for the fans and as well for the writers to connect, also in Belgrade and other cities. With this they could also organize some first festivals and first graffiti jams. Of course you have your friends and your crew and you spray with them, but if you wanted to make something bigger, then you needed the internet to communicate.

Yeah, till then we just communicated on the fixed phone in our house. But I remember also the first period when we connected and made this VOJVODINA BOMBERS CREW. Vojvodina is a part of Serbia, the upper part where we are. And we made this crew with the people and our friends here, but we also connected with Belgrade and with some guys from Niš. And we were painting like crazy. Back then we were painting the most at that time. For example, every month there was a weekend when we all said: Okay, we’re going to Belgrade and bomb trains there. Let’s all go there. Or somebody had a birthday, so let’s all go there and bomb everything and also paint legal spots. Also we invited friends to come to Novi Sad. We said, come visit us and we do some bombing and let’s make some pieces. That was a really fun time. We were young, like around 20 years old.

Now you you’re a bit older and a bit more responsible, you have more options and more connections. Also you know how to speak with people around and how to talk with the municipality or the owner of buildings. And that’s why you can make space for art and for other artists. Before you also said this gallery project is also connected with the art academy and with a professor?

Yes, it’s an art school. And sometimes I do workshops or I go to the art school and do presentations about streetart. One time we did stencils with the students and stuff like that. So basically also a lot of the street artists come from the art school and from the academy. I would say more than half of those that are painting in Novi Said. And now there is the idea to have one wall for the art school. And the teachers that are my friends can pick a few of the students. Then they make a sketch and they will make one wall. After that it will be traditionally their wall for the art school. And another wall will be for the art academy for the painting classes. And they will also have their wall. So it’s probably going to be traditional and it will be interesting. Every year you have these walls changing and you have young artists here.

„Deer Driver“, last piece I did in 2024, Filipa FIlipovica, Detelinara, Novi Sad

I also think for the young students it’s a nice honor of their abilities, because not all of the art school can paint on this special wall. Some of the best ones will be there and the artwork will be there for maybe a year For them it also will be some motivation to be practice and get on that wall.

Yes, sure, to make something cool. And also some visiting artists when they leave Novi Sad, they leave some paints and meanwhile I have loads of paints. So I can also support with colors. Also one of the things in the gallery is about not to have just street artists, but also to invite many different kind of artists. For example MARKO MILOVIĆ, who is a painter in the Serbian National Theatre. In general he is a painter, but he also sometimes does murals. But I want to invite the good artists from Novi Sad, that paint generally canvases, but don’t paint that much of murals. Because it’s interesting when you mix the different styles and it’s not supposed to be just modern streetart and graffiti.

Below: **Muzej Savremene Umetnosti Vojvodine**, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, 2025

There are a lot of street artists or graffiti artists who try after some years, also to do their art on a canvas or on a wood board or whatever. That is also possible the other way around. Like artists who always only painted on canvas, those you let try to do their art on the wall.

Sure, and also with graffiti it’s a long time since it entered the galleries. It’s all mixing up. If you see a painting of some modern artist, it can be somebody who does actually streetart. So you can recognize it because their streetart looks like that. But sure, it should be the other way around as well.

Above: **SHPIRA** at Work – Below: „Bite“, Oil on Canvas, Novi Sad, 2021

Tell us a few words about the other artworks around the open air gallery. We had you your 3D graffiti with character. What else do we have here?

We have a female artist named AEROGRIB, she came here to live in Novi Sad quite recently. We met her and she saw the gallery, she also paints. So I asked her if she wants to do an artwork on the wall, so she painted two pieces. Then we have DENDYDEN from Russia, we have DZENIK from Belarus, we have DANIEL PENGRAPHER from Nigeria. He was studying here on the academy of arts. He also made kind of a painting which could be on a canvas. He studied sculpture here in Novi Sad. So these actually are the characters that he paints. Those are his small figurines that he sells. Then we have a few people from Novi Sad, like 7AM, TYSON or MFR. Then we have BILLAIN, he’s an extraordinary genius from Bosnia. People that listen to Drum and Bass maybe know who he is. BILLAIN AETHEK. He’s from Sarajevo. And we have TRAVIS from Zagreb in Croatia. He makes proper lettering and he’s from YCP, which is one of the oldest crews in Croatia. Also TYSON makes wildstyle lettering. And then we have the teacher lady doing the pieces which I mentioned. We also have MARKO MILOVIĆ, who is the painter of the scenography in the National Theatre. Then we also have TKV who does stencils, she has a few pieces here. The most recent ones are from BROMANCE from New Zealand and we did some kids workshops. Also there is ARAMAT from Novi Sad, she paints scarves. She doesn’t paint murals that much, but it was really interesting. She’s my friend and I asked her to come over and paint. So there are already a lot included, maybe I forgot somebody else.

**LINQ** series, mixed media on cardboard, Novi Sad, 2020

At the moment we’re sitting in front of one of the artworks which the kids made. And I’m sure for them it’s not only beautiful and cool to have a lot of colorful artworks and characters on their buildings, which are normally just gray and kind of ugly. Especially with the few artworks they made, they come out of the door, they see it and they know, wow, I made this, this is my artwork. They also can tell others, look, I made this mural.

Definitely, imagine that. The kids around are between 7 and 10 years old, or I think the youngest one was around 5 years old. She painted with her dad and was super happy. I cannot imagine myself when I was at kindergarten painting a mural. And they tell all their other friends at school, yeah, I painted a mural. It’s unbelievable. That’s the whole point of integration with all of the people around. Doing things with them, they’re like the greatest neighbors. Hopefully it’s going to last for years and years and years. And also I have to mention there are a several people helping me with this. They’re living here in the neighborhood and there are for example MILICA MLADJENOVIC and IGOR LACARAC. Also there are some people that are helping me in other ways like there’s a guy that does photos and videos. So we plan to make a jam for Novi Sad with graffiti artists and muralists but this year my timing is cramped up, so we will probably make it in spring.

Above & Below Left: Together with **ALEKSANDAR BUNCIC** – For **SONJA** – Below Right: Together with **LEMON VBS**

A question about where you can buy spray cans. In Belgrade there is BEOWALLZ, which is a fantastic graffiti store. What’s it like in Novi Sad? Do you have a spray can store? Are there shops locally or in the region where you can buy graffiti equipment? Or do you have to go to Belgrade or order it online?

We usually buy cans in Beowallz shop in Belgrade, either go there, or order them by post service. The guy that owns the store has the best prices, and he is always very supportive of the scene, and a very nice guy. In Novi Sad you can buy some cans in paint shops – there is no dedicated shop here, but the ones that have the okay prices are lower quality, and the better ones are very expensive. So Beowallz is the choice for most of the Serbian scene.

I have another question about some of your works; it’s kind of a series. You play with many styles and try out a lot of things. I found one technique very interesting, where you take letters or lettering and fill various objects with them, often body parts such as a skull, a heart, or a brain. Most of them are in black and white and very typographical, almost like a print or a collage with pieces from a newspaper. What’s that all about? Tell us more about the idea and concept behind it.

„Typographical Anatomy“ is a series of works that I had luck to do as a job for Knowyourself Inc. some years ago. Basically it’s a precise anatomy of bones and organs that came out as a part of some books they do, as well as prints on various stuff. Years ago I made an exibition here in Novi Sad in Izba Art Club, but since I have done some more stuff for that project, maybe I will make another one at some point. Its a nice way to show the anatomy to kids, art students and medical students. I wanna paint some of that stuff on the walls, that will be interesting too.

We’ve talked extensively about the art on the wall, but you’re very versatile and also a musician. Tell us a little more about your music and the band TRANCE BALKAN DESORGANISATION. All your channels are also linked in the Infothek at the end of the article, there interested readers can get to your music. But what kind of music do you make? And why this kind music? How did you get into it, and how did it develop?

I go into music as a kid, I was 9 when i made my first band. Some kind of kiddy metal/punk thing. Since then, music is something that wraps me completely, I can’t live without it. I do a whole lot of styles of music, from ambient to grindcore and rock/punk, through electronica/IDM and hiphop, or remixes for other musicians. It depends on what i’m interested in at that certain point of my life. Also, i love to MC on drumandbass with my guys from Baseline crew, and i jam with people a lot – you can feel people’s souls the fastest way by jamming with them, and it always has a certain level of excitment. From time to time i do music for children’s theatre and for movies, that’s also very interesting, since you have to think in a different way when you do that stuff. I think i carved out my own sound no matter what style i do, and i mix a lot of styles all of the time. Currently i’m into some kind of blues/rock/electronica with my project Deadrail.

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One more question about your music and especially the videos. There are many videos on your YouTube channel, including remixes. Do you produce the videos yourself? Or is it a collaboration with other artists? Because it looks like you’re connected with a lot of other musicians, but also with artists who work on the visuals. Tell us a little more about that.

Mostly I do my own videos, because i have no funds for someone else to do it. But from time to time some friends make videos for my music. I collaborate with Milos Pusic mostly, he’s a director from my city, and a friend since primary school. He does videos for some of the stuff I do, I do music for some of his projects. It’s just the current times, you need to have videos for your music…its mostly some low budget stuff I do for myself, but i’d prefer not to do them if I didin’t have to.

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Can you tell us a little bit about the band Trance Balkan Organisation and the project Deadrail. Both are super interesting and the sounds are great! It seems that whatever you do, you like to experiment. To think out of the box and to just try new mixtures. And the results are really awesome! Tell us more about these projects.

Trance Balkan Desorganisation was a band with some of the well known punk / post punk older musicians from Novi Sad bands (Boye & Obojeni Program). Since I was young I collaborated with those bands on some of their releases, doing the electronic parts of music and some remixes, so at one point we met again and made this band that was like a collision of two generations. On one side you have Bebec and Cina from those bands, on the other you had Dj Dee and me from our experimental/abstract hiphop band Hain Teny, so it was a mix of those two things… it was really exciting to do it live.

Deadrail is something that I do now, that’s like some kind of blues/rock/electronica – with some featurings from my friends from over here and from Croatia. Basically like TBD it has mostly distorted bass guitar, thestring guitar is usually mostly in traces and samples. So basically I figure out some beats, bass lines, vocals and send it to my friends to record some more instruments, mostly its guys from Croatia Bebe na vole / Adam Semijalac and Harp explosion, or I record someone in my city and we collaborate that way. It’s more of a project than a band. A new video is coming out really soon.I also started making some noise boxes, they are like some abstract ambient instruments recently, I have a few orders now too. I had one of those boxes on our recent exibition in The Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, it was connected to some effects and headphones, you could play it live over there.

You are very busy, that’s also why we are jumping around with the topics in this interview and we try to be fast, because are not only very active with this gallery, but also with a lot of other projects. And soon a friend will come and pick you up for another painting job. What do you paint there? You said some kind of sports?

Yes, I’m painting a tennis court that has two tennis courts and some bigger walls. I am doing several murals and it’s all going to be cartoons with Looney Tunes, Simpsons and other characters. And they’re all in tennis outfits. There’s a part with the Simpsons where they play tennis and the Roadrunner is hit by tennis balls and scenes like that. It’s going to be crazy and it will be a huge painted space in the middle of nowhere where people come to play tennis. I painted one part yesterday on a 40-meter-wide wall. This will not only take days to finish, that project will take weeks.

Above: with **ALEKSANDAR BUNCIC**, Kostolac, 2021 – Below Left: **KUGA**, **THE PLAGUE**, Novi Sad, 2022 – Below Right: with **ALEKSANDAR BUNCIC** for Tate Novosađani, **Tosterbar**, Novi Sad, 2022

Of course we will also add all the mentioned artworks and especially on the additional page for the AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA. Also you have a lot more artworks around the whole city. If people are interested they can go on your own Instagram channel or on the channel of the gallery, there they can find all the news about the projects, the events and announcements will be posted there. Also interested artists can contact you if they want to participate and paint in the gallery. This gallery will grow and hopefully next year there will be a jam in Novi Sad. Was great talking to you SHPIRA, thank you very much for the interview.

Thank you for having me. And yes, if you readers or listeners come to Novi Sad, enjoy the artworks in our city and come to the AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA, we have heaps of murals from small to big. And if you are an artist and want to paint here, just contact me. Let it grow bigger and bigger!

There is also this big exhibition that happened in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina with five of us who mostly do streetart. Below is a great video by Bojan Durisic about the event, the artists and our artworks.