Newcastle’s This Is Not Art (TINA) festival is an annual event now in it’s thirteenth year! This year I was asked to be involved in walkARTbout along with several other artists, each designated wall space in the city to do their thing. TINA 2010 is special because it is the first year an actual street art component (well legal, anyway) has been added to the event program. This is somewhat surprising when you learn that the the festivals namesake is derived from the infamous (well, if you are from Newcastle) graffiti which once graced the then derelict Latec House.

Organizers in previous years had struggled to incorporate “street art” into the event with opposition from local townsfolk, business and council. This was mainly due to many misconceptions, fear and probably for the most part ignorance. Come 2010 however, attitudes have shifted and the addition of walkARTbout has been welcomed and the overall response has been a positive one, so much so, it will be a permanent fixture in the TINA program for years to come. Full credit and a special thanks must go to Festival Coordinator Simone Sheridan, walkARTbout Curator Carli Hyland and the rest of the TINA 2010 team.

Below, the infamous “This Is Not Art” piece…..

…..and here are a few snaps and video below from artWALKabout 2010.

Damien Mitchell

Daniel O’Toole aka Ears

yours truly

Trine Deans

Umpel (stencils) & Ben Foster

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjwdcn_WiLg[/youtube]

Video via Erik Strapparo

If you are near Newcastle this long weekend you should get there to check the annual This Is Not Art (TINA) festival. Included this year for the first time is artWALKabout, where a bunch of local artists and out-of-towners, such as myself, have been invited to decorate the streets and lanes of the city…below is my contribution “The World Is Your Monster”.  For information regarding the event and other contributing artists go here and here.

Pic snapped by artWALKabout contributing artist Trevor Dickinson