All posts tagged: Hopes & Wishes for 2017

TOR STÅLE MOEN : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

TOR STÅLE MOEN : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

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As we near the new year we’ve asked a special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2016 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s an assortment of treats for you to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for the new year to come. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

Tor Ståle Moen is a Norwegian executive turned passionately engaged Street Art fan and photographer whom we first met in Stavanger during the Nuart Festival a few years ago. Donating his vacation time to volunteer with the artists at Nuart, the atmosphere is charged with Tor’s enthusiasm and knowledge about Street Art, artists, and the history of the people and Norway. Today Mr. Moen shares with us one of his photos from this year of art on a very quiet Norwegian island.


Artists: Ella & Pitr from Saint Etienne, France
Location: Utsira Island on the west coast of Norway
Date: August 27, 2016.
Photograph by Tor Ståle Moen

The beautiful island Utsira was the first public financed port in Norway. Since it was finished in 1870, it has provided safe shelter for lobstermen and merchant ships in the harshest part of the North Sea.

Today there are only 200 residents left on the tiny island – a vibrant mix of people of all ages and different corners of the world who share the love of nature and the windy life on an island far at sea.

Even though the community is tiny and isolated, their living tradition of welcoming strangers in distress sets an example to us all. In a time when world leaders calls for protective walls against foreign trade, religion and people escaping war and poverty – the people of Utsira reflects the opposite. They are known for their philanthropic engagement and heartfelt empathy.

Also when it comes to art, they have open-mindedly welcomed a number of street artists to work on their tiny island. The inhabitants are very proud of the art and memories the artists have left behind. The artists visiting have been struck for life by the beauty of the place and the warm, safe and welcoming atmosphere they experienced here.

This person, painted by the french artists Ella & Pitr on a roof top on Utsira, has obviously found his own peaceful and safe haven – and together with him I  wish all BSA friends a relaxing festive season and a tolerant and peaceful 2017

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Emil Walker : Hopes & Wishes for 2017

Emil Walker : Hopes & Wishes for 2017

brooklyn-street-art-wishes-and-hopes-for-2017-ani-2brooklyn-street-art-holiday-garland10-2016

As we near the new year we’ve asked a special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2016 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s an assortment of treats for you to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for the new year to come. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

London filmmaker Emil Walker just crossed the US twice from Brooklyn to LA to Miami and many points in between with two buddies – artist Louis Masai and his co-filmer Tee. They were capturing and documenting Masai’s “Art of Beeing” tour to raise awareness of endangered species and the era of extinction we are in right now. Emil shares with us one of his favorite shots of 2016 of his friend Tee – and tells us why it resonates for him.


Tee
Brooklyn, New York USA
Date: October 2016
Photograph by Emil Walker

This year has been insanely epic! I’ve met so many people, developed skills and experienced some amazing new places. I took this photo a little over a month ago in Brooklyn, NYC, at the beginning of a project I’m currently working on in North America.

The subject is Tee, one of my oldest friends, a fellow filmmaker and also one my biggest inspirations. His attitude towards taking his own pathway and staying clear of trends or what is ‘cool’ is something that so many people sadly lack but is such a vital component to creating that original work we all strive to make.

I’m looking forward to the new year, continuing to figure out what the hell I’m doing on this planet and hopefully spending some more time out of rainy London!

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Ethel Seno : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

Ethel Seno : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

brooklyn-street-art-wishes-and-hopes-for-2017-ani-1brooklyn-street-art-holiday-garland8-2016

As we near the new year we’ve asked a special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2016 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s an assortment of treats for you to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for the new year to come. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

Author, editor, curator, and cultivated corraler of unruly Street Artists for exhibitions like “Art in the Streets”, Wynwood Walls, Coney Art Walls, and this falls’ “Magic City” in Dresden, which she co-curated with Carlo McCormick, Ethel Seno is the sage point person for many Street Art, graffiti, and contemporary art heads. Endlessly curious and steeped in the geo-political influences and activist roots of Street Art, Seno shares with us this powerful image that shook her conscience this year.


Ieshia Evans in a Black Lives Matter protest
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Date: July, 2016.
Photograph by Max Becherer / AP

I love this photo by Max Becherer, which went viral this summer, because it is an inspiring example of peaceful resistance against state violence. The photo is of a nurse named Ieshia Evans in a Black Lives Matter protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in July 2016 after the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling.

Unfortunately the November presidential election marks 2016 like a historical turning point, and makes it more urgent to act on what we believe in; to stand up against any unprovoked aggression, bullying, or terror being inflicted on innocent people, and against the destruction of our social and natural environments.

I am planning to go to the Women’s March on Washington on January 21st because so much is at stake. As a good friend said, we must never normalize rhetoric rooted in fear, hate, greed, and ignorance. My wish for the new year is that we are braver and more empowered to move forward together.

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Photograph by Max Becherer / AP

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