You can find a lot of art, both curated and spontaneous, in the streets of the old city center of Ljublijana. (And a lot of tourists taking care of their blisters…)

There are sculptures,

sudden vistas appearing on street corners,

church doors incongruously modern on their baroque hosts,

surprise alleys,

windows and corners

and facades.

Across the river, however, you encounter an explosion of graffiti, sculpture and objects defying description when you enter the terrain of the Autonomous Metelkova Cultural Center Mesto -an umbrella term for one of the liveliest cultural, artistic, social and intellectual urban areas imaginable on par with other alternative and underground cultures in Europe.

In 1990 a group of more than 200 partner organisations facilitated by the Movement for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence and the ŠKUC Association, formed the Network for Metelkova trying to propose a new use for the former Fourth of July Military Barracks, which had housed troops since 1882 by whoever was currently occupying or running the country. Negotiations with the government showed no results, so that in 1993 the Network occupied the former military barracks in order to prevent its illegal destruction and redevelopment. The squatters have remained to this day, and since 1995 the space of 7 buildings has been a self-organised autonomous zone. Although it has not yet succeeded in achieving a proper legal status, the area was partly registered as national cultural heritage in 2005.

Despite the legal limbo, the many music venues and cultural organizations on location are these days supported by state and municipal funders as well as by diverse local and international sponsors, foreign Embassies, and cultural institutes. The Center is  organized non-hierarchically, with its Forum making decisions using consensus and direct democratic principles. The participating members are too numerous to list here, spanning galleries, music clubs, NGOs, queer festivals, peace initiatives, a hostel and  Infoshop, a social space for research and development in the theory and practice of anarchistic and related movements.  http://www.metelkovamesto.org

It holds up to 1300 concerts annually and young Europeans flock to the festivals organized around underground music.

Equally, if not more importantly, the center offers a home and workshops to both the LGBTQ and disabled communities. Both constituencies face a far more hostile environment in the Balkans than we are used to, evidenced also in that after the addition of some feminist and LGTBQ organizations, the center has faced increasing attacks from the neo nazi right. Metelkova’s biggest challenge, though, is to hold off the forces that ogle this urban location for private housing development. So far they have been successful in persuading the city that as a magnet for cultural events and concerts they enhance the tourist value of Ljublijana overall, which fills public coffers, but the situation is tenuous.

Below is an article from 2015 that comprehensive tells the history.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/24/metelkova-ljubljana-abandoned-barracks-europe-squat

As a photographer you could spend a week there, just documenting details. I was only able to visit briefly, but certainly caught enough to give you an idea of the profusion.

Vienna was recently ranked, for the umpteenth time, the most livable city in the world. One of the ranking factors concerns the quality of the urban environment, actively pursued by a city government that understand the advantages of cutting-edge urban planning. Vienna’s administration has made conscious political decisions to open the public sphere to urban artists, granting rights to paint public property and offering permits for large building walls to national and international artists. The city welcomes intercultural exchange and public discussion of urban art and as a result the city benefits from graffiti that is art rather than pure tagging.

It is no coincidence, then, that the largest European street art festival takes place in Vienna, organized for 5 years now by a group of artists under the name of Calle Libre.  They attract major talent

https://www.callelibre.at/artists/

and the festival has grown to include sponsors and cooperation from the most important museums and political and cultural organizations in town, among them the Museum of Modern Art (MUMOK), Museum Quartier, and Frameout Film Festival.

https://www.callelibre.at/partners/

In Calle Libre’s own words, “Our goal is that of showing a different side of street art, aside from the “writings” or “bombings” often identified as vandalism by the wider public. Through our festival we can inform a wider audience on the nature, proportion and potential of street art as a form of art.”  I believe their approach is effective in removing the stigma still attached to so much of urban art.

The programming this year included, next to the live paintings across a week at various sites, workshops, concerts, film and dance performances. A panel discussion about the role of urban art as gentrifier or enhancer saw high powered speakers from the academic world, art critics, curators from the Albertina Museum and political figures. I missed that one.

I was, however, at the spot where a guided tour was scheduled to take us around to reveal not so obvious new works in various districts. Alas, no guide appeared. Admittedly, they had warned it would be canceled if it was too hot, and hot it was.

Luckily, I had explored on my own, and marveled at the work in progress devoted to artists who died 100 years ago and saw major celebration across Vienna’s museums this summer: Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Photographs of the unfinished works are mine, the finished ones gleaned on the net.

Brazilian artist KOBRA riffed on an old photo of Klimt and his cat;

Portuguese artist Kruella d’Enfer (remind me of that name when I am next looking for a pseudonym) paid homage to both Klimt and Schiele,

as did Zesar Bahamonte from Spain.

This last one is located in the second district’s orthodox Jewish neighborhood. One wonders about the reaction to the lack of clothes….

Here is a link to a piece that gives you a bit of background about the festival.

https://www.tedxvienna.at/blog/calle-libre-urban-aesthetics-in-vienna/

The city becomes, of course, more and more colorful with these large surfaces adorned by major graffiti artists; the art draws a particular section of tourists as well, helping the economy. I was most taken by the spontaneous output though, outside of these organized extravaganzas. You can discover real creativity and fantasy and wit on a daily basis by so many unknown sprayers who come and go, not having to fear retribution.

Here are some of my favorite examples, in no particular order.

You find them at play grounds, along the Donau canal, in the alleys of the city or hidden courtyards.  Creativity surrounds you.

As do reminders that you’ll never get the inside jokes.