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 neighboring buildings also wanted such murals. The creative area now comprises eight large apartment blocks and more are under discussion. 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.
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.
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 Avijatičarska. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 special figure. It’s like a character, but it’s also some kind of a design plate. 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, SEEK or MAC, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 an Arabic girl, 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 JANIK 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 Norisad, like 7AM, TYSON or FAR. Then we have BILAN, he’s an extraordinary genius from Bosnia. People that listen to Drum and Bass maybe know who he is. BILAN AYTEK. 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 ARANAT 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.
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 MILICINI GENOVICI or ELLI CHARATS. 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.
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.
Of course we will also add this artwork on the article when it’s finished and you have a lot more artworks around the 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 and all 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!
INFOTHEK
Artist: SHPIRA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shpiraltd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shpira
Behance: https://www.behance.net/tcfd
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shpira
Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/Shpira
Bandcamp: https://shpira.bandcamp.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShpiraLTD
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/shpira
Open Air Gallery: AVIJATICARSKA GALERIJA
Address: Rumenacki Put 23, Novi Sad, Serbia – Google Maps
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avijaticarska_galerija_gallery
MORE ARTICLES ABOUT SERBIA
>>> Streetart Map Belgrade <<<
>>> Novi Sad – Kabel Hall of Fame <<<
>>> Novi Sad – Skejt Park <<<
>>> Streetart Kraljevo <<<
>>> Streetart Užice <<<
>>> Streetart Sombor <<<