Street art festival, September 4 – 11, 2022
Organize a culture event, despite all the required security measures, where over 5000 visitors where able to safely enjoy art in the fresh outside air over the course of a week? With a lot of adjusting and a lot more team spirit, POW! WOW! Rotterdam proved that it could be done.
In the final episode of POW! WOW! Daily, we move from Feijenoord to the Afrikaanderwijk. There, in the Afrikaanderpark, also this year the special part VANS & CANS took place. Several owners made their large vehicles, mainly campers, available for a paint job. The visitors of the park could watch, together with the owners, how the vehicles changed into moving artworks. A realistic tiger, an animated dead rabbit with her friends or a hand-painted bus full of Italian influences? Nothing was too crazy. At the end everyone went home with a smile and a new color on their vehicle.
Also on the closing day of POW! WOW! Rotterdam 2021, there were many bicycle tours and the paint on the merch truck was dry so we moved it to the Afrikaanderplein as well. And fortunately the sun was out, which made all the murals of this edition even more beautiful. In two neighborhoods in the south side of Rotterdam everything revolved around street art, and that makes our hearts beat faster. The closing speech was given by curator Daniël, who kicked off the afterparty that was well received by both the artists and the team. There was delicious food and a can of beer for everybody, but also markers and spray cans (also for everybody).
Thanks to the entire team, all artists an d visitors and the Feijenoord district for its hospitality. We will see each other in 2022. We already can’t wait.
In the seventh episode of POW! WOW!
Daily we visit Vandals On Holidays, who took all week in Hefpark to
transform the giant Skateland truck. His typical and cheerful but
still hardcore style comes out perfectly on that big canvas as well.
He feels it’s important to represent graffiti substantially during
POW! WOW! Rotterdam and everywhere. He states that illegal graffiti
should not necessarily be seen as such: “You don’t break
anything, you don’t hurt anyone and it’s not gangster. You just make
something beautiful.” We can’t do nothing but agree with
him.
In addition, we see previews of the completed murals at
Skateland, and that Ox-Alien has been even busier this week than just
painting his biggest wall ever. And also, cameraman Eddie Contento
stopped by the BMX track at Hefpark, where the dumbriders gave a sick
demo. What a vibe, and then the last day was yet to begin!