OLAK is a graffiti sprayer from Limassol and has been among the first generation of the graffiti community that helped to establish graffiti and urban arts in the streets of Cyprus. He is still active painting in all kind of situations. As one of the old schoolers of the island over the years he has been involved also in many graffiti projects and events such as the jam JUST HIP HOP. Meanwhile he works as a graphic and multimedia designer based in Spain with regular visits in Cyprus for work and other projects.
A trademark of OLAK is clearly the grinning face that you can often discover behind street corners and on urban walls. He often paints the character alone, also in connection with a graffiti with lettering or in a mural version for festivals and other events. Included are mostly small impulses as messages which shall wake up, provoke or make you wonder about issues.
We spoke with OLAK in an interview about his trademark creative characters and messages, his graffiti writings and in general his development as an artist within and without the Cyprus scene. Listen to the podcast or read the written down convesation in the following, peppered with numerous works from OLAK.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW WITH OLAK, FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW LISTEN THE AUDIO FILE
VAGABUNDLER: I am speaking now via online meeting to the graffiti artist OLAK. He is actually from Cyprus, at the moment he lives in Valencia, but frequently he goes back to his beautiful island and paints there. Of course he also paints in Valencia and also at many different other places. Today he will tell us more about his art and his creative doings. Hello OLAK! We met in Cyprus some time ago, but at the moment you are in Valencia again.
OLAK: Yes, I am back now. We met like right before I left to Valencia.
VAGABUNDLER: The job what you are doing, you made your artist hobby to your profession and to your job. So you are working now in Valencia as a graphic designer.
OLAK: Yes, my job is being a graphic designer, that is what brings bread on the table to say. I always feel what led me do graphic design at the end of the day was my come and go with graffiti and the whole scene. I mean it is a complete different thing, but at the same time these things overlap. The one way or the other.
VAGABUNDLER: One part is for earning the money for your living. The other part is much deeper. And this started actually in Cyprus where you are originally from. Tell us a bit about that and how it happened that you started using a spray can.
OLAK: My first interaction with graffiti was actually in Athens . Because at some point in my life I lived there for four years actually. It was during my teenage years, so cool memories were created there. And one of them was graffiti. When I went back to Cyprus I continued doing it. And it all started like a “child” thing, I wanted to put something out on the walls. But it grew to be a much bigger thing for me. It is still the same at the roots and at the same time it grew on so many different levels.
VAGABUNDLER: I really started to like this figure and I think it is a trademark of you. It’s always with different colors and with different shape, but it can be very small, it can be very big. But if somebody is seeing this character, they already know, this is from OLAK. They know you by that.
OLAK: Yes, exactly. You know it is not the same as writing your name. But at the same time when you get to the point that people recognize it in the same way like when they see lettering from OLAK or whoever. That is a good thing. As you said, it became a trademark. For me it is an easier way to put something somewhere. Either if it is a small spot or whatever, or if I have to be faster and such stuff. So I used to do that from an early age and I still do that. I have a lot of other things of course, but the character is a trademark from me.
VAGABUNDLER: I took a lot of photos from your artworks during the travel and I think there are like three styles, or factors to say. The main one is the character. But it can also be that there is the character plus some lettering. Like when you write something like a graffiti to it. So character and graffiti. And it can also happen that there is the character and some small writing, this you use also a lot of times, like with messages. For example like you said before, this “Wake up” or stuff like this to give the people little impulse messages.
OLAK: I mean it did not start with the concept of spreading messages out of the face, but first I always used to write “Wake up” with it. It started as a teenage thing and I wanted to write “Wake up” with my piece. But through the years when something was happening and I painted the specific face, I used to write something relevant. If there were the elections or something like that, I used to write something about it. But not in the way to have it specifically for that. It was like a plus for my piece. But besides that, when I write OLAK, when I do pieces with lettering, even if it is bombing or a production, I usually put the face on the letter “O”.
VAGABUNDLER: Let’s talk a bit about Valencia. When did you move there? You have there your job, but are you doing there graffiti as well? How did that continue with the street painting.
OLAK: I came to Valencia in October 2021. It all started one year before that. When Covid started I really changed my mind about a lot of things and I moved to Athens first. I did a course there about videography. That was more related to my profession and to more stuff regarding to this. But at the same time I was developing the idea of living abroad in general. And I tried to find opportunities and the right platform or place. So this brought me here and yeah, I still work as a freelancer. I also still work with clients back home and I am trying to do network over here. Then I got some projects here in Valencia. But at the same time I try to paint. I did some stuff at the city center and put several faces in the neighborhood and around the city. Here I am more focused on the work, but at the same time, you know, it runs through my blood. And when you want to paint, then you want to paint. Even if you are going to do something small, you are going to do it. I try to be active. For me this is the whole meaning of graffiti with the street vibe and everything around it. It is about to stay active, whatever you do. And you know, this even gives more power and pushes to do other things in other fields, to work even better. If you cover the soul part I am always confident that the rest is following in the same direction.
VAGABUNDLER: I just have to tell the story how we met and I think also this gives a good example if you are only on Cyprus time by time for a few days. To the example with me, we made the connection and immediately you knew what to do. So first I thought we would meet in a bar for a beer or in a café and would talk about graffiti. But you came by car and you said: “Jump in, we go now to a place you will like.” So we went to the studio of ZOGRAFF. There was RATE and when you looked around, all the spray cans and art stuff, it was clear what was going on. We just spoke for some minutes, you checked the website and then RATE asked: “How much time do you have?” – So the whole evening would be free. Then he said: “Ok, we go now on a graffiti tour”. And then we visited several super cool spots where you showed me artworks, we took numerous photographs and they will all be on the new coming Limassol Map. Can you tell a bit more about the places we visited?
OLAK: When you wrote and we talked, for me, I wanted that you have a day with a full tour to graffiti in Limassol. I wanted to show you the places that matter and where you can see the local people who do stuff around. On the highways, in the city center, at the abandoned places. All this stuff. It was like that. I did not want to waste time and that’s why I told you to hop in the car and just let’s do this. With RATE we know since long and to go to the studio of ZOGRAFF was the best step to do. Then it all got on. We went to the old factory of Sodap, which is a really historical place for the city as well….
VAGABUNDLER: You say some more about it, because this place was just an amazing urbex spot. I would never have found it by myself.
OLAK: It is one of the abandoned factories that used to do wine and beverages in Limassol. It is called the Old Sodap Factory. And it is actually now bought from a company which is planning to do something with it during the next years. But the last five years or even more, it is just a graffiti place. Some do smaller practice, some do big pieces. Also some events happened there as well.
VAGABUNDLER: So a company bought it, that means if other people want to visit it, they should do it soon. It will not exist that long.
OLAK: Yes, the whole place is getting really gentrified. And they are building huge towers. You saw the place, it was mostly in ruins. But it will become a new huge thing. Yeah, I mean for the next few years it will be probably still there and you can see a few more graffiti. So that was the first place we went. After this we went to the bridge in Saint John with the waterless river. That is kind of a new spot, it is an underground place below a bridge and it expands really wide. So people can paint at several spots. I remember you taking a lot of photos there.
VAGABUNDLER: These were all places which I would never have found by myself. These are like hall of fames. As well like the parking lot on the hill.
OLAK: I think the most interesting for the listeners to visit, that is the Hall of Fame at Germasogeia. It is really central in the city and easy to go there as well.
VAGABUNDLER: We did not visit that place together, that is not on the list we were talking about, it is a new spot in an old river bed of the Amathos river near Christaki Kranou street. Tell us more about this, because before we met I was visiting that place in the morning. And I took around 700 photos just from that area, the place is just super nice.
OLAK: Yes, it was just when we talked that day, right before you where there. So this place, it is actually a dried river that finished by the sea in Limassol. It is usually used as a parking lot and as a place for city festivals. It is also the same place where we are doing the hip hop festival (JUST HIP HOP) which I was talking about before. And you know, it was publically reclaimed from the graffiti community during the years. Because slowly and slowly the people were painting the walls around and while time passes, after a while you just had the whole walls around covered with graffiti. The people just got their cans and did graffiti without thinking about any profit. It was just graffiti productions, but without any permissions. At the same time it was also not really legal. It is a place that got a character by itself of how things developed during the years. In Limassol it is just the chill spot where you would go, put on some music and make a piece in a good time frame. It is a place where you can see a lot of styles and you can really see the history and development of graffiti from the city when you make a good walk around the place.
VAGABUNDLER: That is really cool and we will keep on following what you do. For the listeners and readers, if you scroll down in the Infothek you will find all contact information to the channels of OLAK. There you can follow his new creations, his projects and what he is doing. Thank you for the interesting interview!
OLAK: Thanks as well. It was cool talking to you. On Cyprus we had as well a cool graffiti tour in the city. That was a good extra to do. And I like the project and that it highlights more the graffiti and urban art in my city and Cyprus. For someone who might not even know where Cyprus is, now you know that graffiti exists also there. And we keep on painting, be sure about that.
>>> LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE <<<
ARTWORKS FROM OLAK ON THE LIMASSOL MAP
INFOTHEK
Artist: OLAK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olakreator
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninja.creator
Behance: https://www.behance.net/theninjacreator
Crew: TLP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlp.crew
Big Cartel: https://tlpcrew.bigcartel.com
Event: JUST HIP HOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justhiphopcy
Photo Credits: OLAK & Vagabundler Archive
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