I met CeePil last summer in Bristol, where he was painting the back of the legendary Tap and Barrel Pub for Upfest 2018 alongside Smok and ShitOne. When I knew I was going to travel to Ghent, I asked him to meet for an interview and he invited me over to DOK, an amazing factory-turned-cultural-center where we sat for a cup of coffee…
When I asked locals what’s giving Ghent its edge, they all replied that Ghent is a rebellious city. I’ve spoken with artists, students and middle-aged people from different backgrounds and interests and, although each one understood this trait slightly differently -stubbornness, vanguard, insurgency, critical thought, independence, unconventionality-, they all agreed in portraying Ghent as a city that can’t be -and won’t be- anyhow controlled.
Unlike many other cities, Ghent’s street art legacy developed from the bottom-up, rooted in the passion of local artists and their connections to international artists whom they invited to paint.
“Hello my lover” said the bus driver with a bright smile.
I smiled back, to the drivers of Bristol, who had never failed to cheer me up with their sense of humour. I left Bristol two years ago and I hadn’t come back ever since. It was about time for me to spend a weekend in Bristol.
I haven’t been to Prague for 20 years, and yet I immediately felt at home. It must have been for the language, so similar to Slovene that I can understand a good 50% of what people say.
The warmth of this unexpected homey feeling compensated for the fact that I hadn’t spotted much street art in Prague.
It’s just great to bring new people into the mix. New people bring new energy to the group and share new stories that will inspire both old and new participants.
The loudest, hard-to-ignore new participants of IBUG Festival 2018 were the self-proclaimed Latin Mafia gang.