MONTANA-CANS LOOKBOOK 2017

When we are asked to contribute to graffiti festivals, we usually
don’t need a whole lot of convincing. But when that festival
takes place in the hometown of Montana-Cans, Heidelberg,
Germany, we are on fire! The Metropolink festival has now
been held twice, and each time with an incredible outcome. As
UNESCO, Creative City Heidelberg has been a hiphop and graffiti
hub ever since it started flowing over to Germany from the USA
via movies and pop culture. Even today, there continues to be
a variety of events around urban art in different venues in the
city. Organizer Pascal Baumgärtner’s focus is to create new
and beautiful places that bring people of different age groups
and of all walks of life together. And even in the first year of the
Metropolink festival, he took great strides to achieve his goal:
Many live mural paintings were featured all over the city,
24 mobile cubes were used as exhibition rooms, there were
workshops for kids, a symposium about art in public spaces
was held, 6 different exhibitions opened their doors for the first
time and 30 junction boxes were redesigned. For round two, the
Metropolink team attempted to involve all of Heidelberg’s city
districts. The festival created an artistic synthesis from July 8
to July 22, 2016, including an extensive array of attractions. In
the city district of Kirchheim, a public gallery was created by
international artists such as Stohead, Pau and SweetUno. The
ever-grey concrete walls of the industrialized apartment block
in Emmertsgrund got a makeover by none other than Hendrik
Beikirch. The roster includes even more internationally
renowned artists, such as Herakut, SMASH137, Limow and
many more.
A Festival
that Brings
People
Together
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