Walk and Talk
We were contacted by Converse about organizing a mobile seminar on urban / street art, which would take place on the streets of Berlin. When we found out that the event would be contained to the RAW complex, located in the neighborhood Friedrichshain, we immediately decided to do it. The place is a living, breathing cultural monument. Back in the times of the GDR it functioned as railway repair center. During the transition period it was mostly abandoned, after that it became a hub for all sorts of independent projects and currently it’s a thriving cultural multiplex hosting several clubs, a skate hall, artist studios and even some galleries. It’s also one of Berlin’s last autonomous zones, where all sorts of illegal and semi-legal activities are still tolerated.

Over the years we came here for informal Sunday painting sessions and eventually even used the off-public spaces for some of our more official projects. We decided to start our presentation with our personal experience as it relates to the RAW. We discussed the differences between urban art and graffiti and why paste ups seem to be more accepted by society than tags. We also talked extensively about the evolution of the scene, which is a topic we discuss almost on a daily basis. I asked my friend Alex, who also comes from a graffiti background, to assist me. Between the two of us there were plenty of colorful stories to tell.

The only problem with the project were the time constraints. We had to entertain a total of 90 people in only 3 hours! Things got a bit tight during the workshop part of the session, as there simply wasn’t enough time to get everyone to participate. For this part we prepared a mural and handed out stencils that allowed the participants to add some accents to the finished piece.