NETHERLANDS: Groningen – Vibrant Student City – Multicultural, Young and Colourful

About 230,000 people live in Groningen and about 50,000 of them are enrolled students, that´s more than 20% oft the population. The city is accordingly young, multicultural, colourful and just very much filled with a lot of life. Historically this is because Groningen has had a university since 1614. In 2014, the university celebrated its 400th birthday. Really not so bad!

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IRELAND: The Icon Factory & The Icon Walk – Artist Aga Szot

This wonderful story is really one of the “greatest stories ever strolled”, as it is already written in the headline on the website of the Icon Factory in Dublin. This article will take this beautiful story further out into the world, with a readable artist conversation on the making and there is also an interesting podcast waiting for you to listen to. This is the story of the Icon Factory and the Icon Walk told by team member and visual artist Aga Szot in an interview.

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BELGIUM: Antwerp – Waffles, Rampage and Banksy

Belgium is one of the most underestimated countries in Europe. Yes, it is a very small place in terms of surface area and is therefore not visually significant when you look on the map of Europe. This is quite a pity, because Belgium has a lot to offer and provides surprises in terms of culture, art or evening activities and celebrations. A good mood is definitely pre-programmed. Belgium is more than just an insider tip! We went to the Rampage Festival, ate delicious waffles and have been inspired by the fabulous artworks at the Banksy Exhibition.

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AUSTRIA: The Universe of Everyday Objects – Deformatyons in Urban Space – HNRX

If you find street art murals consisting of comic sausages, bananas or cucumbers, then these food graffitis in pop-up style are most likely made by the fantastic Austrian artist HNRX. In his pieces are often the ordinary things of everyday life which he combines on the motifs in a surreal, funny but also thought-provoking way. However, it is not only limited to fruits, vegetables and food, toothbrushes or dentures are also great on house walls. HNRX is continously developing and reinventing his style. From comic-like poster images to meanwhile detailed and complex abstract murals. Still the preference for everyday objects is a constant theme in his so-called „Deformatyons“.

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DENMARK: Graffiti and Streetart Festival Brande

Located in the heart of Midtjylland, Brande is a small, manageable municipality in Denmark with around 7.300 inhabitants. What are you doing in this sleepy hollow? In an hour, you could walk around this dump. But what does not sound spectacular at first is very deceptive. Brande is an absolute feast for the eyes. Since 2015, street art festivals have been held regularly in the city and the surrounding area, further reinventing the city visually.

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BRITAIN: Visual Designer, Mixed Media Creative and Texture Collagist – Beth Williams

Creativity slumbers within each of us, you just have to pursue these ideas a little and give your imagination a jolt. You should also keep your eyes open to allow inspiration and conception. Art is timeless, just as there are no prescribed rules, a minimum or maximum age, a condition of academic art training or other certificates. The ideas and creativity come from within yourself, the other elements that are certainly helpful are just building blocks that you can use when the time comes. The artist Beth Williams went her own way and creates beautiful pictures and thought-provoking collages with hidden messages.

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IRELAND: Creative colorful freak out fashion – Ashley Byrne & AB Design

Sometimes if you don´t like what’s available, you have to create something new by yourself. This can happen in many different areas of course, in this article it will be about fashion and clothing. The Dublin designer Ashley Byrne always wanted more color, more intense styles, more creativity, but the products you can get in the average stores are just too boring, mostly unified standards, mass production and without specialty. So Ashley started to create her own fantastic cloth and built up the label called AB Design.

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GERMANY: Who is Nashi Young Cho? – Singer, Jazz Musician, Political Activist, Creative Artist

What a question, the Frankfurt jazz singer Nashi Young Cho is well known in the Rhine-Main area, but also far beyond. She stands and sings on all stages, has always hosted radio broadcasts and she has been on TV. We talked and compiled an extensive interview with the artist, which is not directly reflected in music concerts or short newspaper articles. Who is Nashi Young Cho actually? We spoke with her in an interview.

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BRITAIN: Comic Illustrator Johnny Trip – Funny, provocative and sometimes pervert

By chance I came across the funny short comic strips of Johnny Trip, which he posts on Instagram at regular intervals. Mostly one shots, sometimes a few more, often funny, sometimes disturbing, but always holding the mirror up. Johnny Trip paints about the things nobody wants to talk about, puts them into characters and lets them act in the comic. And in this world it’s no problem, it’s just a comic. But Johnny’s comics often have it in them and go way below the belt. He provokes where necessary, mockes incompetent statesmen and horrible dictators, or skillfully packed criticism of religion and politics into his colourful creations. But often it is just the ordinary human quirks that we all know.

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IRELAND: Mighty Murals and Creative Illustrations – KEVIN BOHAN

Kevin Bohan came to art and graffiti via detours, but better later than never. For far too long he was working in unsatisfactory jobs, he didn’t pursue what was inside him, which eventually led to many years of depression. But the way out of the dark corner was finally painting and creative design. Art is his medicine. Over the years Kevin has done countless fantastic murals in Dublin and throughout Ireland, either on his own or in collaboration with other renowned sprayers.

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