Street art has come a long way from merely being graffiti, tags and the like. Most cities now boast some form of street art, many having beautiful wall murals. This exciting form of artistic expression has become increasingly popular. Furthermore, as a tourist attraction the open-air galleries, large public displays and annual street art festivals are bringing in the tourists!
Many cities around the world are now encouraging street art, and most are supporting and promoting it. There are countless festivals around the globe held primarily to spread a message, such as PangeaSeed “Artist for Oceans Festival”, or to simply beautify a city such as the “Wonderwalls Festival” which is held in Australia.
Whether this visual art contains an important message or whether it is just for fun, no one can doubt the popularity of this creative art movement!
**I have ordered the cities/street art going clockwise around the world…. starting at my favourite street art in Napier, New Zealand! Which coincidentally happens to be the closest to the International Date Line and the perfect place to start.
1. Napier, New Zealand – Spectacular street art with a message!
By Kelly of TThe Captain & The Cook – sail, travel, explore!
Napier has become a hub of stunning street art after many world-renowned artists descended upon the seaside city as part of the “Artist for Oceans Festival.” Known as ‘Sea Walls,’ these murals were painted on previously blank walls, transforming them into stunning, thought-provoking displays that beautify Napier and send an important message.
The festival organisers, PangeaSeed Foundation, an international nonprofit organisation, have a good agenda. In partnership with the Napier City Council, the PangeaSeed Foundation hopes to raise awareness with their festival – Sea Walls: Murals for the Oceans – about the plight of the world’s oceans. This stunning art includes many huge murals that are just awe-inspiring!
The Captain & The Cook social media links…
2. Tasmania, Australia – Sheffield Street Art!
By Barry of Tools of Travel – learn how to travel longer!
Located in Tasmania’s North West, Sheffield is a welcoming rural town that has grown into one of the state’s most well-known arts communities. With over 60 large murals on display its almost feels likes you have accidentally stumbled into an outdoor art gallery.
The murals of Sheffield describe the area’s history, featuring well-known characters such as Cradle Mountain pioneer Gustav Weindorfer and the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Sheffield is the perfect destination for any Tasmania Road Trip and only a 30-minutes drive from the Spirit of Tasmania in Devonport.
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3. Melbourne, Australia – alfresco galleries for everyone to enjoy!
By Amy of Family Globetrotters – travel tips & holiday inspiration for the whole family!
Melbourne, Australia has some of the greatest, city approved, public street art in the world. Synonymous with Melbourne, laneway culture is merged with diverse and vibrant street art, to create one of the coolest alfresco galleries for everyone to enjoy. There are numerous mural hot spots in the city such as Hosier Lane, Croft Alley and AC/DC Lane, that provide for some of the most Instagrammable pictures we see online.
The art is ever-changing, so artists are commissioned to renew and refresh the walls continually. Upon visiting Melbourne, you can either follow a self-guided tour or even jump on an actually paid tour if you’re interested to know more about the inspiration and artistic story behind some of the more famous murals.
Family Globetrotters social media links…
4. Port Adelaide, Australia – Wonderwalls Street Art Festival
By Kelly of The Captain & The Cook – sail, travel, explore!
Port Adelaide has been transformed into a giant outdoor gallery as a result of the 2015 and 2017 Wonderwalls Street Art Festivals. They have succeeded in beautifying the Port and giving this historical town a refreshing new look without detracting from its heritage foundations.
The Wonderwalls Festivals brought together the best mural artists from around the world, and Australia, to transform the Port into an open-air gallery of large-scale murals, with the idea for it to expand and grow like an exterior exhibition overtime. It truly is remarkable street art!
The Captain & The Cook social media links…
5. Seoul, South Korea – Zaemiro Cartoon Street
By Travel Lexx – exploring the world one active adventure at a time.
Zaemiro, Seoul’s “Cartoon Street” is a love letter to all things animation. Located in the heart of downtown, near the popular Myeongdong shopping area, Zaemiro transports visitors to another dimension. Cartoon and comic characters come alive in wonderful graffiti, murals and life-size sculptures.
Storefronts and cafes are decorated in elaborated art pieces, and almost everywhere you look is a bright and colourful scene. Don’t forget to check out the free Seoul Animation Center with interesting exhibits from the history of cartoons, films and video games.
Travel Lexx social media links…
6. Kaohsiung, Taiwan – Pier 2 Art Centre
By David, a blogger always travelling elsewhere at Travelsewhere.
In the south of Taiwan, the metropolis of Kaohsiung has plenty of interesting areas for tourists to explore. One of the more unlikely places is Yancheng District on Kaohsiung Harbour since it’s mostly just docks and the old city rail-yards. What’s drawing visitors into Yancheng is the lively Pier 2 Art Centre.
It’s here that you’ll find some of the coolest and most creative street art in Taiwan. While there isn’t a singular theme, there does seem to be a lot of inspiration from pop culture icons like the Transformers and Pacific Rim. Most pieces will be found in the several blocks of the Art Centre as well as along the fresh new tram line.
Travelsewhere social media links…
7. Penang, Malaysia – exciting street art!
By Angie and Simon of Feet Do Travel – scuba diving, wildlife loving, storytelling couple!
Visitors to Malaysia are often drawn to Penang for one thing … it’s Street Art. The infamous murals are all over the city and are so popular, hotels and homestays provide maps listing art locations to help you with your search. We hired bikes from our homestay and, armed with our map, we had a lovely couple of days exploring the city searching for street art. It’s such a fun, and unique way, of navigating the back streets; we even discovered areas we wouldn’t have usually explored.
Before we visited Penang, I didn’t truly understand what made it so special. But it didn’t take long before we were hooked, and were excitedly looking for the next mural. Some are more famous than others, they are easy to spot as you will see queues of people lining up for their own Instagram photo opportunity.
Feet Do Travel social media links…
8. Minsk, Belarus – Annual Vulica Brazil Street Art Festival
By Kate of What Kate and Kris did – further tales from Rat on the Road.
Minsk is not the first place you think of when you think about street art. Once part of the USSR, it still has close ties to Russia so when you imagine it, you picture something severe and Soviet looking. However, every year there’s a street art festival in Minsk. While you might not associate the city with funky art, artists in the city, in partnership with Brazilian artists, have created a long street of urban art.
Oktjabrskaja Street apparently gets at least one new piece of art unveiled each year. There are whole buildings covered in vibrant murals of Belarussian animals – the bison and stork being two of the symbols of the country. There’s a mural of Frida Calo and Vincent Van Gogh, of birds and surreal pictures. This area is only a short walk from the centre of Minsk, so well worth checking out.
What Kate and Kris Did social media links…
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands – NDSM Wharf
By Romy of Brunette at Sunset – Epic adventures on a student budget.
One of Amsterdam’s most famous street-art hotspots is the NDSM wharf. On this industrial looking shipment pier, you can find a 24-meter-high artwork of Anne Frank by the world-famous Eduardo Kobra. This alone merits a visit, but there’s plenty more street art around to admire. There are even plans to open the biggest street art museum in the world here in the summer of 2018. You can get to the NDSM by taking the free ferry at the back of the central station.
Brunette at Sunset social media links…
10. Ostend, Belgian – Crystal Ship Festival
By David of Man V’s Globe – So what are you waiting for? Hit the road!
A seaside town along the Belgian coast isn’t the first place I would think of when ruminating on the street art capitals of Europe. However, Ostend is currently experiencing an artistic boom. This is mostly thanks to the city’s annual ‘Crystal Ship Festival’, which see internationally renowned artists descend on the ‘City by the Sea’ to use its streets as a canvas, painting dozens of huge murals and hundreds of smaller interventions.
In the past, the festival has seen such luminaries as ROA, Phlegm, Pixel Pancho and Telmo & Miel leave their mark on the city, adding their work to the growing collection of over 40 murals and hundreds of smaller pieces. According to the festival’s founder, Bjørn Van Poucke, they are “actually building the most important collection of street art and public art in Europe. All the artworks are made to stay in the city permanently.” Says Bjørn “And all of this happens in Belgium… In the small city called Ostend, where only about 70,000 people live. That’s pretty incredible.”
Man V’s Globe social media links…
11. Buenos Aires, Argentina – celebrating history, culture & free speech!
By Simon of Wild About Travel – travel tales by a solo travel addict!
With its European flair, Buenos Aires is a city like no other in Latin America. Argentina’s capital has many attractions, and one of them is its vibrant street art scene, especially in San Telmo, Palermo, and La Boca districts.
Murals in Buenos Aires are not only creative and colourful, but they are also an exciting way to find out more about Argentina’s history and culture. From wall paintings celebrating football champion (and country’s idol), Maradona to those carrying a strong political and social message, Street Art in Buenos Aires is fascinating.
Wild About Travel social media links…
12. Bogotá, Colombia – a large scale, open-air street art gallery.
By Suzanne Phillips – always plotting bite size adventures to get Out of the Office
In 2011, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by police when he was caught creating street art. The police officers attempted to justify their actions by falsely claiming that the boy was involved in a bus robbery. The incident started a city-wide protest, and as a result, street art is no longer seen as a crime in Bogotá. Today, especially in the Candelaria and Centro areas, street art is everywhere.
Like the rest of the world, street artists in Bogotá use walls and bridges along major highways and the walls of old warehouses to display their art. But in Bogotá there is another option too, businesses often cooperate with street artists to offer their own homes and businesses as blank canvases. The owner pays for the materials, the artist gets a ‘canvas’ on which they can create their art, knowing that it will be welcome and not be painted over or removed. This legitimacy together with the lax attitude towards street art means that some of the art is large scale and some of it has been around for years.
Out of the Office social media links…
13. Medellin, Colombia – Comuna 13, a neighbourhood transformed by art!
By Kat of Memoirs of a Globetrotter – inspiring people to travel
Comuna 13 used to be the most dangerous neighbourhood in Medellin. However, in recent years the area has completely transformed, partially thanks to street art. Medellin’s government provides funding so that artists can paint murals in Comuna 13. This program helps young people stay away from drugs and violence. The street art tells the story of the city’s past as well as the residents’ hope for a brighter future.
Memoirs of a Globetrotter social media links…
14. Toronto, Canada – StreetARToronto (StART) Program!
By Stephanie of 1AdventureTraveler – Expat Travel Adventure!
Explore Toronto’s creative class of visual art, “Street Art.” Located in the back alleys, under bridges, garage doors, electrical boxes, along the seawall and many more places. Street Art, there is part of a program call StART, that mentor’s young talent, showcases local artists to make the streets of Toronto beautiful and safe. The art is forever changing, what you see today may be different tomorrow.
1Adventuretraveler social media links…
15. Isla Mujeres, Mexico – tiny island, amazing art!
By Shaun of This Life in Trips – living life, one trip at a time!
Isla Mujeres is a beautiful escape from the overly touristy streets of Cancun. This tiny island is only a short ferry ride away and offers a laid-back lifestyle featuring plenty of great restaurants and some of my favourite beaches in all of Mexico. On top of that, the car-free streets (only golf carts and bicycles on this island!) are lined with some fantastic street art amazing street art making the stay that much more colourful.
This Life in Trips social media links…
16. Los Angeles, USA – an eclectic melting pot of art!
By Rebecca of BabyBoomster – women over 50 / travel / food / wellness / entertainment / lifestyle
Los Angeles is well-known for its culturally diverse communities from the working-class Chicano neighbourhood of Boyle Heights, the vibrant Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, and ethnic pockets of the San Fernando Valley. Street and mural art is everywhere. It’s a direct reflection of LA’s melting pot and gives us a sense of the immense creativity and richness of the people who inhabit it.
Artists ensconced in renovated downtown lofts, 1920s Hollywood bungalows, and tiny beach cottages ply their art in big ways splashing their creations onto huge high rises and industrial buildings. You may also peer into a back alley and see a stunning art display tucked away between walls or decorating storage containers in a closed in yard.
But it’s not only established or up-and-coming artists who exhibit their talents in the streets of Los Angeles. Gang members and protestors leave their marks as well, spraying colourful graffiti on fences next to railroad tracks, freeway overpasses, and concrete riverways. It all adds to the mix of what makes LA a unique and innovative centre of imagination and vision.
Baby Boomster social media links…
More Information
Many cities will have street art maps at their visitor information centre….. well I know that Napier and Port Adelaide do, and you can get a map of the art in Penang also.
- All photos are by the author of each piece unless otherwise stated when hovering over the photo.
Want more posts on street art? Check these out!
Another 16 Cities with Amazing Street Art!
Photo Series: Sheffield, the Town of Murals in Tasmania By Travelsewhere
Penang’s Must-See Street Art! by The Captain & The Cook
Brisbane Street Art by The Captain & The Cook
Sydney’s Sensational Street Art by The Captain & The Cook
Darwin’s Stellar Street Art by The Captain & The Cook
Townsville’s Vibrant Street Art Scene! by The Captain & The Cook
Hong Kong’s Captivating Street Art by The Captain & The Cook
Accommodation
We book our accommodation with booking.com. One aspect we like is the fact that most of the time you can pay on arrival and not beforehand.
iVisa
iVisa makes getting a visa super easy. You can even get passport and visa photos done!
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