Stencibility Once Again Creates New Urban Art for Tartu’s Streets
Text Timo Raussi Photos Visit Estonia / Ruth Pindus, Stencibility
Tartu will once again become an international hub of street art when the Stencibility Festival takes place in the university city, often referred to as the Athens of the Emajõgi River, from 11–14 June. Founded in 2010, the event has grown into one of Europe’s longest-running regular gatherings for street art enthusiasts. Over the years, it has contributed more than 150 small and large-scale urban artworks to Tartu’s streetscape.
Stencibility stands out from many other street art festivals by recognising not only creators of large mural paintings but also artists who make interventions or express opinions in public spaces through stencils, stickers, posters and other media. The organisers aim to present the full spectrum of street art while preserving artists’ creative freedom.
The festival will feature artists from Estonia as well as several European countries, including Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Latvia and Lithuania. Working both individually and collaboratively, they will create at least twenty new artworks for Tartu, adding to the city’s already rich visual environment, which draws inspiration from a variety of cultures.
For visitors, the event offers an opportunity to explore Tartu from an unusual perspective. The festival programme includes several guided walking and cycling tours introducing both new works and pieces created in previous years. Tours are available in both Estonian and English, and will continue throughout the summer after the festival has ended. Schedules, tickets and registration information can be found here.
One of the audience favourites is expected to be the street art jam taking place on Saturday afternoon, 13 June, near the Market Bridge pedestrian and cycling bridge that connects the corner of Tartu’s bus station and market area with Annelinn. During the event, artists will create a collaborative artwork live in a designated public space. Dull grey surfaces will be transformed into colourful new works before spectators’ eyes.
The programme also includes workshops where participants can try street art techniques themselves, as well as the final public tours of the street art exhibition created several years ago inside the former yeast factory building on Pikk Street, which is scheduled for demolition. These tours will take place on the evening of Friday, 12 June.
Even if you are not visiting Tartu during the festival, you can still explore the city’s street art independently. The Stencibility website features a Google Maps-based street art map showing the locations of more than 180 artworks, along with bilingual information pages about each piece.
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