Murales Etiopia lets residents decide what will be painted outside their windows.
The Murales Etiopia project is set to produce the largest mural in Rome on an 8-storey blind wall overlooked by hundreds of apartments. The mural will be in a parking on Via Santa Maria Goretti 8 (Quartiere Africano).
The project began with an artist call to bring new names to the table. Too often, street artists are chosen for their number of followers and network of contacts, while this time, many up-and-coming artists could show their talent to a jury of experts. (the Murales Etiopia jury: Valeria Arnaldi, Cinzia Chiari, Lidia Furlan, Alessandra Ioalè, Simone Pallotta, Mirko Pierri, Valentina Piscitelli, Marcello Smarelli and Maurizio Zuccari).
Moreover, the artist call allowed selecting only artists who made the creative effort to interpret the given theme: sustainability. Those who found their “strong point” and keep painting it regardless of the city or country where they work, with no respect for the local community’s specificity, were automatically out.
After the jury of experts has selected the 21 finalists, the local community will now decide!
Although an essential practice IMHO, it’s not so common that those who will look at a mural every day also have a say in selecting the artist and the subject of the artwork that will forever stay in front of their house.
To introduce the local community to the artists’ creative journey and the concept in each proposal, aDNA Collective organized a group show that reunites artist statements, sketches, and renderings.
Residents and all those who visit the exhibition can vote for their favorite artwork (the online vote isn’t allowed to give greater weight to locals’ desire).
Besides being democratic and meritocratic, the group show also gives exposure to all the selected artists. There might be only one finalist, but they all got featured in the exhibition!
The 21 finalists of Murales Etiopia
Andrea Baraldi, Riccardo Buonafede, Cancelletto, Violetta Carpino, Dado, Egeon, La 180, Roberta Fiorito, Luca Gavarini, Gola Hundun, Groove, Hitnes, Howlers Crew, Luis Gomez De Teran, Milu Correch, Molecole, Mr. Fijodor, Orghone, Fabio Petani, Ale Senso, Mauro Sgarbi.
The exhibition is on until February 20th at Etiopia Temporary Art Hub (Viale Etiopia 81)
Watch my Instagram Reel from the press conference of Murales Etiopia urban art project
