Street Art in Venice is a lot more subtile than in other cities. You don’t have huge murals here (at least I didn’t find any). The artworks are often better integrated into the existing environment – hidden treasures that you have to keep a lookout for. Most artworks I found in Dorsoduro and Santa Croce apart from touristic routes.
One of the most beautiful things I saw during my stay in Venice was Burano! A little island close to the main island of Venice – less touristic, more authentic. Just beyond descriptions! Colorful little houses that reminded me of cities in Mexico (just from films as I haven’t seen it personally yet – unfortunately!) but without cheerfully crowded streets. I was generally surprised how quiet Venice and its surrounding island were apart from the touristic routes. Sometimes it even felt like nobody was living there at all. But as my AirBnB Host Anna told me, the northern Italian people are more quiet than their southern neighbours. So it was a bit surreal to walk through the empty little streets surrounded by all these lively colours. Burano and its neighbouring island Mazzorbo were one of the first settlement sides of the Venetian Lagoon. To the present day Burano was a fisherman’s island. They say that the fishermen painted their houses in these bright colours to recognize them from the water and to clearly contrast from …
When I travel, I normally prefer staying in Airbnb apartments but in Venice it was simply too expensive to book a room just for me through airbnb. This is why I decided to stay in a hostel. And I was more than excited as I found the Generator Hostel Venice. A hostel located in an old converted grain house with a peculiar charm. A mixture of ancient furniture, tessellated floor, Persian carpets and modern details.
I met Eduardo on a sunny autumn day in the streets of the lonely Island of Burano. Between the little colourful houses that reminded him of a town in Mexico. He was wandering around alone and seemed to enjoy the solitude. Like a lonesome wolf. I wasn’t surprised to read in his couchsurfing profile days later that one of his favorite books is «El lobo estepario» – the Spanish version of the novel «Steppenwolf» by the German author Hermann Hesse. Yes, Eduardo reminded me of a wolf. But a good one 😉 A peaceful wolf with curious shining eyes. The Generator hostel connection And Eduardo «El lobo» joined our group. «Our group» that was Rozka from Egypt, Jelena from Serbia, Nicolas and Tiphaine from France – a multi-cultural group that had just formed the evening before in the common area of the Generator Hostel – our mutual base in Venice.
As I love to wander around with my camera trying to catch some of the hidden treasures of a city, of its atmosphere I decided to do at least a bit of Sightseeing when I was in London. I walked along the Themse through South Bank, passed the OXO Tower, had a look into Tate Modern where I visited a little exhibition about “Poetry and Dreams” and on my way to “The Shard” I came across this wonderful food market: The market is located under some railway bridges. So when you look up there are metal pillars that form an interesting contrast to the antique market stands. It’s one of the oldest food markets in London and has a very unique atmosphere. OXO Tower As I mentioned I passed the OXO Tower and the inner courtyard struck my attention. There was a little café inside and the opposite brick wall was sprayed with words. One part of the wall was dotted with colorful glow-sticks – a funny thing about that: some days later this building …
Last Saturday I attended a Street Art Tour through East London (Shoreditch) with my London-based friends Elly and Filipe. Our Guide: a small, sporty woman with a French accent, husky voice, dark hair, black eyes and a quite nice tattoo on her neck (two f-holes like you can find them on violin instruments) that just appeared when she was turning her head and when her plait flew aside. She told us a lot about the different artists and street art techniques. Here are some of my favorite ones (I show you not only pictures from this Street Art Tour but also from a tour through Brick Lane and surroundings I did on my own two years ago): El Mac Known for his contemporary photorealistic portraiture. His images often depict people who live in the area where he paints, mainly members of the Chicano and Mexican community with whom he grew up. Ben Murphy Also known as “Tape Artist” creates his artwork with black tape on windows. Invader Artist from Paris who works with tiles in …
