Muro, Lisbon’s Urban Art Festival
Urban art comes to town with Muro
Muro is back. Lisbon’s urban art festival ‘O Muro que nos Move’ takes place every two years. And the 2023 edition invites us to take a closer look at this particular art form.
This time Muro will take place between Cais do Sodré and Belém, via Alcântara.
So the festival stretches along the river. It offers an eclectic programme.
The area covered this year is relatively untouched by urban art. But the GAU – Lisbon’s Urban Gallery, which organises the festival, is committed to decentralisation.
The main objectives are to diversify the venues and involve local residents.
Neither an art gallery nor a specialist workshop, MURO is all of these things. Above all, it’s a unique opportunity to take an interest in the multi-faceted art that has put Lisbon at the top of the urban art league.
Muro runs from 20 to 29 October 2023.
The WALL that moves us and keeps us moving
Muro is built around the idea of movement. This explains the title “The Wall that moves us”.
The programme is vast and diverse, with more traditional events such as workshops and debates. And others that are much more dynamic.
The Free Painting Wall or the renovation of the Alcântara subway; the history of graffiti in Portugal and spray paint at the Loja Dedicated (place du Rato); the Thunders Crew Exhibition at the Junta de Freguesia de Misericórdia… Borough Hall
There will also be team competitions (crews), concerts and performances.
Muro will also enable the town council to work on emblematic sites that are often in a state of disrepair. The Pedrouços skateboard track, for example, has benefited.
Restoring urban spaces through wall art
The Alcântara subway is finally set to undergo a major restoration operation under the leadership of Lisbon City Council.
The lifts will be restored, the ramps leading to the station platforms renovated and health and safety conditions improved.
The place is known to be in a particularly serious state of disrepair.
The murals and lighting will transform the passage into a kind of art gallery.
Several artists have been invited to take part: bisco Smith; Spray Lover (WEK); Oker; Obey; SKTR; Marvilab.
A wall that makes us move
Muro Que nos Move is not easy to translate: it’s both the wall that makes us move and the wall that motivates us.
In any case, the idea is for an extraordinary cultural event, with 40 guest artists and artistic interventions over 8,000 m2.
There will also be 2 exhibitions, 23 urban pieces, 4 workshops, 3 concerts/shows and 9 guided tours.
A public competition has also been launched. The rules are available at festivalmuro.pt
At lisbonne-affinités.com we’re big fans of urban art on walls and other flat, painted surfaces.
Past editions have graced the Carnide, Marvila Lumiar and Parc des Nations neighbourhoods.
These past events of urban incursion are the occasion for the publication of illustrated catalogues. Collector!