City of Gold Festival

Building on the success of the first three editions of the City Of Gold Urban Art Festival, Grayscale Concepts will host South Africa’s only annual graffiti/street art festival for the fourth time in 2014.

The aim of City Of Gold is to assist the growth of the local street art community by establishing Johannesburg as a destination for urban artists from around the world. Interaction with other artists from various backgrounds is very important for an artist, especially one with not much experience, it is instrumental in the learning process as well as providing invaluable inspiration and skills. It is difficult for young South African artists to travel abroad and experience this so the next best thing is to have international artists visit our city. This has two benefits, it provides the local scene with the cultural and
creative exchange it needs, while at the same time adding a beautiful aesthetic to the urban environment.

Over the past three years we have invited 16 world-renowned graffiti and street artists to participate in the project, all of them have left with a love for Johannesburg and have spread the word across the international street art community, putting South Africa on the map as a place to visit.

We have noticed a definite increase in the amount of international urban artists coming to Johannesburg since 2011, there has also been a notable improvement in the quality of the work by local artists.

In addition to this the festival seeks to highlight the positive aspects of this art form as well as involving the general public to create a heightened awareness and appreciation for it. Various events will take place at different locations in the city of Joburg which will showcase the finest in both international and local artists. The individual events and mural projects will attempt to activate and enhance sites in the Johannesburg CBD that are often feared or forgotten by the city's inhabitants.

The individual elements that make up the week long festival include an exhibition, large-scale mural projects, a film-screening and talk, and street art tours.

International Artists:

WANE (New York City), MR DHEO (Porto), SOLO ONE (London)

Local Artists:

FALKO, CURIO, RASTY, MARS, KEVIN LOVE, REKZO, ZESTA, BIAS,

TYKE, VERONIKA, MYZA, FIYA ONE

For more information visit: www.cityofgoldfestival.co.za/

05 October - 11 October