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#17Walls

Visiting Aarhus and up for an art walk?

Here is a uMap showing the murals from the 17 Walls project – plus many other mural locations in the city (that are mapped in OpenStreetMap). A great way to explore Denmark’s second-largest city through public art.

👉 https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/da/map/17-walls-murals-in-aarhus-denmark_1228511

📍 Data from #OpenStreetMap
#OSM #aarhus #streetArt #umap #17Walls

‘Deja Vu' by Spanish artist Cristian Blanxer. On Møllegade.

#9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure. Industri, innovation og infrastruktur.

"The security cameras and the smartwatch on the girl’s wrist are references to industry and innovation. It makes us reflect on how almost all of us are geolocated and monitored, and can spark a debate on how much control there is in society and on how much freedom we have left."

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#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

I cannot better this description from the artist's page on the 17 Walls project website so am pasting it in here: "Via a double exposure effect, Cristian Blanxer’s mural mixes a silhouette of a girl with a photography that he took of a street in Barcelona, in the lockdown during the COVID 19 pandemic. Beneath the ancient buildings we can see a few people walking and sitting in the street Carrer de la Mercè and in front of the square Plaça de la Mercè. The main figure poses in a calm and relaxed position, hiding her face in her arms. Her arms overlap the ancient stones of the historic buildings, and creates a triangle together with the arch of the building, and the perspective of the street under the arch creates a window effect or ”trompe l'oeil”.The security cameras and the smartwatch on the girl’s wrist are two references to industry and innovation. It makes us reflect on how almost all of us are geolocated and monitored, and can spark a debate on how much control there is in society and on how much freedom we have left."

‘Learning’ by Italian artist Millo. On Borggade.

#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth. Anstændige jobs og økonomisk vækst.

The artist’s motivation: "Labour rights and decent jobs that don’t harm the environment."

This is my favourite of the 17 murals painted around the city to promote the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. It literally stops everyone in their tracks because it is so stunning. You are compelled to stop, look up, look closer.

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#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

The mural Learning by artist Millo on the gable wall of a six-storey old brick building on Borggade in mid-city Aarhus. The sky above is cloudy. It is a magnificent painting, both in style and technically. As if seen from above, views of city buildings and skyscrapers in black and white, like line drawings, with a plane flying through them. Perched in the middle, a child writing in a notebook, colours and flowers and bees and a honeycomb emerging from them. In the notebook, the child is painting bees and a honeycomb and writing things like ‘mutual care’ and ‘common goals’. The child and the flora and fauna are in lovely warm yellows and oranges and pinks

‘The White Circle’ by Spanish artist David De La Mano. On Mejlgade.

#7 Sustainable energy. Bæredygtig energi.

Not my fav Sustainable Development Goals mural. I sigh an unladylike sigh at the tired use of Bond-girly nude prancing women to represent "the cycle of life, connection to Earth & collaboration on ecological challenges." It'd be nice for once to see this problem symbolised by a circle of prancing businessmen, with or without their suits on.

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

Mejlgade, city centre, Aarhus. An old side road with old picturesque houses and small businesses and cafés on either side. People and bikes have priority, we can see no cars, just a few pedestrians and cyclists. Ahead of us, two real women walking together, one pushing a pram. Above them, on a four-storey building to the right, the gable wall has been painted light blue. On it, eight white silhouettes of mythical-style women float head to feet in a wide circle. The artist says he chose women to represent the cycle of life and deep connection to earth. Above the mural, the real sky is light blue with wispy clouds, that echo the mural.

So far, I’ve posted 5 of the city’s 17 murals that promote the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Here comes the sixth.

I was about to apologetically add #MuteMeNow here, but if you’ve met me in the Fediverse for more than 17 seconds then you knew this thread wasn’t finished, didn’t you, and you’ve already muted it, haven’t you.

‘Faucet of life’ by Argentinian artist Ronmuralist. On Europaplads.

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation. Rent vand og sanitet.

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

On the huge gable wall of the 9-storey rectangular concrete Hotel Atlantic in the centre of Aarhus, a mural with a black background and a hyper-realistic painting of a young fairytale-like girl with flowers in her red hair. She is carrying a heart-shaped gold balloon with, I think, planet earth inside it. She is immersed in lake-like water that is filling up from a typical household tap. There is a hint of rainbow colours just where her body submerges – a sign of hope, perhaps? She is staring at us with, I think, a slightly worried expression. Around her, the world carrying on in a climate crisis: cars on the road, trees, traffic lights, the edge of the nearby library building.

‘Untitled’ by German artist Hera. On Skolebakken.

#5 Gender equality. Ligestilling mellem køn.

“I took HC Andersen’s Little Match Girl but allowed her to use her wares & her time in a different way: practicing her engineering skills; constructing a self-supporting bridge. In my version, she's not alone but in the company of other outcasts, the Ugly Duckling and Thumbelina, who boost their self-esteem by turning those matchsticks into crowns & wings.”

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

On the high upper part of a gable wall between other historic old buildings, framed by tram cables and a turret, a mural in muted, elegant blue and brown tones. Not all visible, because too inaccessible to photograph fully, it depicts a wide-eyed young woman in trousers sitting on a floor, head turned to look expressionlessly at us. Behind her, a duckling perched on a stack of books. In front of her, Thumbelina, wearing a thimble, head also turned to look at us. Between them, piles of matchboxes and a ladder bridge that they are making out of the matchsticks. The duckling is wearing a crown of matchsticks. Thumbelina is wearing matchstick wings. Around the trio, the words: ‘Just imagine if they let us in … we really could be anything.’

'The flight of the swallow' by Peruvian artist Jade Rivera. On Møllestien.

#4 Quality Education. Kvalitetsuddannelse.

“The mural celebrates the hope and limitless potential of the child's mind. By illuminating their inner universe, thousands of little stars fill their minds with magical ideas. It highlights how important it is to provide an education connected to curiosity and our cultural identity.”

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

Seen from a distance from a neighbouring street, looking through trees and across a fence and triangular rooftops: A gable wall on a picturesque old six-storey brown-brick apartment block with a red tiled roof and many white-framed windows. The mural painted on it is a lovely, realistic painting of a young girl with long black hair in pigtails. She is hugging herself, looking skywards with her eyes closed, as if imagining or wishing for something. A swallow is flying up from her face, an old-fashioned gold key dangling from it on a string. The girl is wearing a red-pink tee-shirt with a black keyhole in the middle. Through it, as if looking into her heart, we can see a galaxy of stars.

17 murals promoting the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals have been painted on 17 city walls. I posted photos of two of them. If you think this thread is finished, then you have another toot coming.

'Vitality' by Russian artist Marat Morik. On Vestergade.

#3 Good Health & Well-being. Sundhed & Trivsel.

"The mural is a poignant reminder that health is not just the absence of illness but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.”

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

Left, the corner of a financial bank. Right, trees, a church square, a pedestrian, parked cars and bikes. Right in front of us, below bright blue sky: a striking mural on a four-storey gable wall. Painted in earthy tones (plum, rose-pink, dusty blue, browns). It is full of stylised and surreal elements, some reminiscent of Dalí or Picasso. A cactus. A blue avocado with a huge eyeball balanced on it. Fruit. Insects. Central: a woman at a café table with coffee and food on it. She is wearing a hat whose brim is a plate of fruit that has a tre growing out of it. Appropriately for a city where this happens often, a seagull is stealing food from her plate. The artist said: ‘the seagull stealing food symbolizes the need to remain calm and composed amidst life's unexpected challenges. This scene serves as a reminder to stay vigilant about our physical health, including the importance of a healthy diet.’

‘Untitled’ by Spanish-Haitian artist Axel Void. On Nørre Allé.

#2 End hunger. Stop sult.

The second of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, championed on 17 gable walls in Aarhus. The city aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

‘A sustainable future can only happen if we're all pulling in the same direction. Great challenges need creative and imaginative solutions. Art has the ability to inspire creative thinking and engagement on all levels.’

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

Looking up at the top of a four-storey white stone gable wall with a triangular roof edge. The scene is framed by brown and red brick-work on buildings to our left. At the very top of the white wall, rectangular, almost like a photo mounted on it, a dark moody realistic black-and-white drawing of two figures harvesting in an overgrown field. The younger figure, a child, is looking up and straight at us, expressionless, as if we’re watching them and taking their photo and they can’t stop us.

‘Shared seas’ by Portuguese artist Mariana Santos. On Fredensgade.

#1 No poverty. Afskaf fattigdom.

The first of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, championed on 17 gable walls in Aarhus. The city is one of 25 in the EU working to be a ‘carbon-neutral smart city’ by 2030.

I wonder if someone in the council made a point by picking this site. On the ground floor, that's a driving school and a travel agent that specialises in long-haul holidays.

#17Walls #StreetArt
#Aarhus #ClimateDiary

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