Wild Walls Festival celebrates Ipswich’s street art and community, and brings region's biggest mural
- Exciting four-week public street art programme in Ipswich, began on Saturday 7 September.
- Includes four large murals by ATMA, Woskerski, Nathan Murdoch and KB Design.
- Plus smaller street art pieces, a new street art trail, free urban art workshops with graffiti artists, an art market, a virtual reality graffiti art exhibition, screenings of iconic films, and a closing party.
- The first urban art festival in Ipswich – a town with a vibrant street art scene.
The Wild Walls Festival, an exciting four-week public street art programme in Ipswich, launched on Saturday 7 September. The mainly free programme will bring an early autumn creative buzz to the town with plenty of family-friendly things to do. The festival also includes what is believed to be the biggest mural in the East of England (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk) to Ipswich Waterfront, and is currently being painted by international artist ATMA and local volunteers.
The festival has already seen three other large murals and a number of smaller street art pieces completed by brilliant artists. Plus a new street art trail, free urban art workshops with graffiti artists, an art market, a virtual reality graffiti art exhibition, free screenings of three iconic films at King Street Cinema, and a ticketed closing party at The Baths, Ipswich, on Friday 5 October.
A first of its kind for the town, Wild Walls Festival is the collaborative brainchild of Art Eat Events CIC and The Subversiv Collective, who had a vision to create a street art festival with a difference. With experience in delivering community arts projects and a passion for street art, they are being supported by Arts Council of England, Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central, as well as SPILL, The Hold/ Suffolk Archives and University of Suffolk.
Throughout the summer, local young people co-designed the four large scale murals in workshops led by the professional artists. The ATMA’s being a 576 square metres on the University of Suffolk’s James Hehir Building on Ipswich Waterfront.
ATMA’s huge mural, entitled ‘From Ipswich with Love’ will emerge over the next week or so. French artist, ATMA, who is usually based in London, said:
“The mural, called ‘From Ipswich with Love’, is like a love letter from Ipswich to the world. I had the incredible opportunity to do workshops with Ipswich residents – the mural design on the James Hehir Building was born from these workshops. The mural showcases the beautiful spirit of Ipswich: creative, loving, open, forward thinking.
“Also, considering Ipswich as one of the most ancient towns in the UK, and at the opening to the sea, the mural will include details and references that I hope people will enjoy discovering. The focus of my work is to create an uplifting narrative anchored in its location, which resonates with its local community. And I hope the mural will become a timeless universal message of kindness, positivity and vibrancy.”
Nathan Murdoch’s new mural adorns a wall of The Hold in Ipswich – the home of Suffolk Archives. From Peterborough, Murdoch explained:
“This mural was co-created at community workshops over the summer, and in partnership with Suffolk Archives, based at The Hold. The design has been influenced by the Archives’ important work, which includes safeguarding and storing historical records, and supporting the public in their research and education.
“The mural shows a hand which is holding a portal – this suggests the ability to time travel. There is also a book with origami butterflies, made with folded archive records, flying out of the pages. This speaks to historical stories flying out of the portal into the present day, and how information is accessible to the public in Suffolk and beyond. The round portal is a seafaring reference, with The Hold being based close to the Waterfront and Ipswich being a maritime town.”
Artist, Woskerski, recently completed a striking large ladybird mural on a wall of law firm, Ashtons Legal, and is visible from Portman Road, outside Ipswich Town Football Club’s ground.
Also London-based, Woskerski, commented:
“The goal of the mural and the surreal style of my work is not only to make people smile, but also to make them stop and try to interpret the art in their own way. A cute ladybird makes people smile, and when you look closer, you realise some of its spots are missing.
“Instead, you have members of the community making their own mark on the ladybird’s shell, which can also be seen as them making a difference. This is empowering. It also portrays the joy that people feel when doing something artistic. I hope the people of Ipswich enjoy and have fun with the mural.”
Another large-scale mural has been painted by KB Design – also Londoners. They explained:
“We collaborated with young people from Ipswich to develop the ideas and theme of this mural. Through a set of four workshops, we asked participants to create their own murals through the use of photomontage techniques, we then used these outcomes to create a conceptual design. The design creates a very abstract visualisation of Ipswich, through the use of random elements linking loosely to the town, all of which were mentioned at some point during the workshops. ‘A Place to be Yourself’ brings the elements together and encourages the viewer to embrace individuality.”
Iona Hodgson, Wild Walls project manager and co-director of Art Eat Events CIC, says: “We invited nationally renowned artists ATMA, Nathan Murdoch, Woskerski as well as KB Design to develop the mural designs with local young people. This approach offered participants a chance to take part in an inspiring journey; meeting established artists, and co-designing and painting new murals in Ipswich. We are very excited to offer locals and visitors the opportunity to see this work and celebrate the town’s street art culture during the Wild Walls Festival. Come along with family and friends, have fun, discover cool new artwork, and get creative!”
Further information about Wild Walls Festival events and participating artist information are available here: www.wildwallsfestival.com.
Follow on @wildwallsfestival on Instagram
To find out about the films and book free tickets, go to the Kings Street Cinema website: www.kingstreetcinema.co.uk
Wild Walls is working with local community partners including: Chip, Future Female Society, Ipswich Borough Council, Ipswich Community Media, Ipswich Suffolk Council for Racial Equality, Karibu, King Street Cinema, Murrayside Community Centre CIC, Sounds East CIC, Suffolk Libraries, Suffolk New College, Suffolk Refugee Support, The Hive and YMCA.