8th International Street Art Festival of Patras | ArtWalk 8

ArtWalk 8 has been completed, leaving its unique mark of modern art on Patras and on the whole country.

The 8th International Street Art Festival of Patras – ArtWalk 8 was completed with remarkable success this, year as well. The team of Art in Progress managed to offer color and optimism to a weary public area, both conceptually and esthetically. A total of 64 large-scale murals have been created in Patras during all the Festivals. The urban fabric of Patras has changed radically in the last 8 years, turning the city into an open museum of Modern Art with free access for all citizens of our city and for anyone interested in exploring the works with the help of our map and the material we have posted on the site such as the artists’ interviews.

Our everyday lives are changing rapidly. Artistic expression and public areas are being afflicted more than ever in modern times, but not in Patras. Here, against the difficult circumstances, modern art carried out its task in the best way possible. The artists and their works transported us to new, creative worlds, sending messages of historic memorial, extroverted solidarity and the hope of being able to keep our heads held high.

Art in Progress and its community of citizens succeeded in hosting, for the 8th year on a row, some of the finest , world renowned street artists from Greece and from all over the world. The countries represented this year at the International Festival are: Serbia, Greece (2 artists), Chile, Belgium, Germany, Chile, Belgium and Spain.

This year, for the 1st time, the artists came to Patras at the same time, divided into 2 groups for a period of ten days each. This gave the artists the opportunity to be in Patras simultaneously and to meet the other artists of the International Festival and to exchange ideas and opinions about the progress of their work. Many times they were at each other’s wall to see first-hand the different styles and working methods of the other artists, just as many artists explored the murals of previous Festivals along with the other sights of Patras. They were further helped in this by the fact that this year there were free electric scooters and conventional bicycles provided by the company “Scoot Fun & Rides” for all the artists and their assistants, as well as for all the Festival’s volunteers.

Furthermore, Art in Progress this year, for the first time, activated the public space of the city with parallel activities. The Festival artists, the volunteers and citizens of our city had the opportunity to meet at the ArtWalk canteen in Olga Square, with street food from all over the world, while at the same place, artistic groups such as the street theatre group X-SALTIBAGOS and the aerial acrobatic group “Krikos” participated with street dance, street performance, street circus and DJ sets.

The street artists who left their mark on this year’s festival, by creating 7 unparalleled murals on selected walls in the urban fabric of Patras were: Wuper Kec, Ilias Vasilos, Francisco Maturana, Iota, SOTEUR & The Flying Dolphins, APHENOAH and Victor García Repo.

This year’s murals, which were created in the framework of ArtWalk 8, as well as the overall organization of the event, drew the interest and were presented by the national and international press, as well as social media networks.

The works completed by the artists: