Graffiti artists to show talents at Holloway festival
�The world’s biggest graffiti festival is taking place in Islington next month after being postponed due to the London riots.
The International Meeting of Styles, now in its fourth year, will take place outside The Studios in Hornsey Road, Holloway, on October 8.
The free event will feature some of Europe’s finest spray can specialists and give the public a chance to see there is more to graffiti than obscenities painted on walls.
As well as the artists, there will be a bars, competitions, a barbecue, DJs and MCs to keep the crowd entertained in the daytime.
That will be followed by an afterparty in a custom-painted warehouse hosting the talents of UK hip-hop legends Lazy Habits and Phi Life Cypher.
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Organiser Matilda Tickner-Du, producer of outdoor art collective End Of The Line said: “We never thought we would have to cancel the event due to riots, and we probably would have been OK in the end, but we decided to play it safe and follow police advice.
“To have a new date is brilliant. We lost some money from the first event because flights were booked, but now we been able to book some people that couldn’t come originally, so I think it will be bigger and better overall.”
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Talented
She added: “A lot of people associate graffiti with tagging and vandalism, but these artists are really pushing the envelope with landscapes and portraits.
“We don’t want to alienate anybody, we want people to understand that there are talented artists out there.”
Murals and illustrations will be on show, as well as landscapes and comic book style pieces.
The art will stay up for at least a month and the organisers hope the festival will highlight how vacant shop-fronts can be uplifted by street art.
“We would love to get places like empty Woolworths shops to paint inside and outside,” said Matilda. “It would really help to revive the area.”
Islington-based street artist Bambi – hailed by many as the new Bansky – said: “Any event that promotes street art is positive, and this is an excellent thing to come to Islington and will surely improve the area.
“Street artists are always trying to find places to express themselves, but council’s are often quick to wipe their work away.
“An event like this where they are allowed to brighten a dull area is rare and will benefit the community.”
