Activities 2024



Ubiquity

2024, June 20, 21 and 22 Lisbon, Fine Arts Faculty


Urban Creativity activities, 2024, edition 11, on the conclusion of the 10th year, suggests ubiquity as general theme.
How, apparently, local simple forms and ideas have long lasting global impact ?

From a Lisbon perspective, as a challenging example, the balance between formality and informality, the flexibility of norms, and common sense lie at the heart of many quality-of-life aspects that the city has to offer. This encompasses everything from the city's structure itself, which has evolved over centuries to meet various needs, to the knowledge that emerges in response to scarcity and managerial challenges. Since the first editions, UC proposes a deep dive into the theory and practice of these Lisbon dimensions. At the same time, as the community of friends and partner researchers grows, we wonder how Lisbon-based knowledge is common to other places, and how this knowledge circulates.

As for the Butterfly Effect, our actions resonate widely and far. A singular affordance or a city-wide tag, premeditated or not, conforms to our collective reality. But more specifically, is there something that occurs in Lisbon (and other places) that we can designate as a useful non-conformity with the norm? Taking this idea to the extreme, do our societal organizations serve as mere masks for the true anarchy of everyday life? In times of localized conflicts with global impact, from the nearly irrelevant comfort to life-threatening confrontations, what is the role of our material actions? In the realms of ideas or self-proposed solutions, what can we learn from our micro-actions? If there is indeed a common global phenomenon that emerges from mark-making as a life-standing condition, how can we interpret these marks for the sake of life? Can we generalize?

What outcomes do mural festivals produce? What do these entertainment-disguised, late-art-world captures of graffiti and street art produce in terms of future thinkers? How are project and drawing-based disciplines incorporating this knowledge?

 





Report

The Urban Creativity 2024 Lisbon conference, in its 11th edition, was a dynamic three-day event that brought together speakers from 18 countries to delve into Urban Creativity, User Experience, Street Art and Graffiti, some times touching the generic theme "ubiquity". With a diverse lineup of 28 professionals and researchers, the conference offered a comprehensive exploration of various aspects of urban culture, creativity, and art.


The outcomes of the conference are reflected on the UC/ AP2 publications being distributed and placed in review for publishing until the end of 2024. The distribution of the papers will be decided during the review process to begin after the end of August.
 





























 

Day 1, 20 of June, Thursday
The
Fine Arts Faculty Main Auditorium opened at with a short welcome session by Pedro Soares Neves organizer and director of the conference executive committee.

The opening keynote was delivered by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D., from the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Baltimore, USA. His presentation, titled "Competing Hypotheses on the Development of Contemporary Graffiti and Street Art in Berlin," set the tone for a day of insightful discussions and debates.

Following the opening keynote, Javier Abarca, an independent researcher affiliated with Urbanario and the Unlock and Tag Conference from Spain, took the stage. His session, "Art & Place: Bridging the Gap Between Furtive and Authorized Public Art," delved into the complex dynamics between illicit street art and sanctioned public artworks, highlighting the nuances and intersections that define this vibrant cultural practice.

The conference then transitioned to a submissions speakers panel, showcasing a diverse range of research and perspectives. Erik Balbuena from Universidade de Vigo, Spain, presented on "Buffing: Unintentional and Independent Urban Painting," examining the unintended artistic expressions that arise from the process of removing graffiti. Ana Gariso from Universidade Nova, Portugal, followed with her talk on "Trains and White Vans – Graffiti Across Cityscapes, Before and After the Internet," exploring the evolution of graffiti culture in response to technological advancements. Sara Pinto-Bastos concluded the panel with her presentation, "Walls with History: A Dialogue Between Street Artists and Communities," which emphasized the collaborative and communicative aspects of street art within various communities.

After an intensive morning of presentations, attendees were given a break for lunch from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. This provided an opportunity for networking and informal discussions among participants.

The afternoon session resumed with a keynote titled "Nuart: A Critical History," delivered remotely by Susan Hansen, a researcher from Middlesex University in London, UK. Hansen's presentation provided a critical historical overview of the Nuart Festival, offering valuable insights into its impact on the street art scene.

Following Hansen's keynote, Ivan Segura Lara, a Ph.D. researcher and teacher from Hubei Province, China, presented his submission, "Ubiquity in Time and Architectural Space." This talk explored the omnipresence of graffiti and street art across different temporal and spatial contexts, highlighting their pervasive influence on urban landscapes.

The authors and studios presentations panel featured notable contributions from two prominent figures in the street art community. Bisco Smith engaged the audience with a talk and Q&A session, sharing his experiences and artistic journey. Pedro Esteves then discussed his work on the "ML7 Lisbon Metro Book," offering insights into the documentation and celebration of graffiti within the Lisbon metro system.

The day's formal proceedings concluded with a social program from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, hosted at Crackids, located at Rua da Cintura do Porto de Lisboa, Armazém A Porta 20, Cais do Sodré. The social program featured the UNLOCK + Blackbook Drawing and Sketching table, providing a creative and collaborative space for attendees to engage in drawing, sketching, and exchanging ideas in a more relaxed and informal setting. This event fostered a sense of community and allowed for further networking among participants, capping off a day rich in discussion, learning, and artistic inspiration.

Day 2, 21 of June, Friday
The Fine Arts Faculty Conference room opened at 9:30 AM. At 10:00 AM, the Urban User Experience panel commenced remotely. Philipp Schnell from the Austrian Academy of Sciences kicked off the session with his presentation titled "Ubiquity, Urbanity, and the Performance of Urban Spaces in Arts-based Urban Research," exploring how urban spaces are utilized and represented through artistic research.

Following Schnell, a team from Victoria University of Wellington comprising Ningfei Xiao, Simon Twose, and Hannah Hopewell, presented "Relational Encounters in Urban Public Spaces: A Feminist Posthuman Autoethnographic Becoming of a Site-Specific Performance." Their talk delved into the intricate relationships and encounters within urban public spaces through a feminist posthuman lens.

The panel concluded with a presentation by Vera Penz, Ana Mumladze-Detering, and the Schwimmverein Donaukanal team, delivered remotely. Their session, titled "Swimming Is Winning - the Case of Urban Bathing Revival in Vienna’s Danube Canal," highlighted the resurgence of urban bathing and its social and cultural implications in Vienna.

At 11:30 AM, the conference moved on to the submissions speakers panel. Christian Gerini, a researcher in philosophy and art history from France, discussed "An Astonishing Synergy Between Cinema and Local Villagers: The 'Cinémanouche' Cinema in France," showcasing a unique collaboration between cinema and rural communities. Laura Prikule from Riga, Latvia, followed with her presentation "Recurrent Concepts and Themes on the City Walls," examining the persistent motifs found in urban graffiti.

The panel continued with Peter Bengtsen from Lund University in Sweden, who presented remotely. His talk, "Once in a Lifetime, Once Again: On an Intervention by John Fekner and Brad Downey in Lund, Sweden," focused on a notable graffiti intervention and its impact on the local community.

A lunch break was scheduled from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, providing attendees with a chance to relax and network.

The afternoon session resumed with a video documentary presentation. Isabel Carrasco, the Program Director for International Education at Marist College in Spain, presented "Filo-Ubiquity. Lorenzo Pezzatini Projects for Public Space 1977-Today," a 60-minute documentary exploring the extensive public space projects by Lorenzo Pezzatini. Following this, Vittorio Parisi, the Director of Studies and Research at Villa Arson Nice - Université Côte d'Azur in France, presented "Muralismo Occulto," a documentary examining hidden muralism practices.

Anton Polsky, presenting remotely, concluded the video documentary session with "Ugly Graffiti, Antistyle, and ‘Shithole’ Post-Socialist Aesthetics," a critical look at the aesthetics of graffiti in post-socialist urban environments.

The keynote address for the afternoon, titled "Graffiti Scratched, Scrawled, Sprayed: Traversing Epochs, Straddling Traditions," was delivered by Ondřej Škrabal from the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Hamburg University, Germany. Škrabal's keynote provided a comprehensive overview of graffiti's evolution across different historical periods and cultural contexts.

The day concluded with a social program starting at 5:00 PM, featuring an Art Battle and Talk by YYCS - Yes You Can Spray at Caracol da Graça. This interactive session allowed participants to engage in live graffiti art and discussions. The event was followed by a dinner in the Graça area at 7:30 PM, offering attendees a chance to further network and reflect on the day's events in a relaxed setting.

Day 3, 22 of June, Saturday
Attendees gathered in the Main Auditorium for the keynote sessions starting at 10:00 AM. The first keynote speaker, Andrea Baldini from the School of Arts at Nanjing University in China, presented remotely on "Graffiti and the Ubiquity of Resistance," exploring the pervasive nature of graffiti as a form of resistance in urban spaces. Following Baldini, Laima Nomeikaite delivered a remote presentation titled "Street Art, Heritage, and the Ephemeral Paradox," which delved into the transient yet significant nature of street art and its impact on cultural heritage.

The conference then transitioned into the submissions speakers panel. João Quintela from CEACT/UAL began with his talk on "Teaching Architecture Through Intervention in Public Spaces: The Case of the ALDO Dog Park in the Quinta do Loureiro Neighbourhood," highlighting an innovative approach to architectural education through hands-on public space interventions. Next, Gonçalo Folgado presented "Rain is Also Planted - In Situ/ Benfica H2O," a discussion on environmental art installations and their integration into urban settings.

Following Folgado, Lelde Suetcue from Cologne, Germany, discussed the works of Thomas Baumgärtel, known as @bananensprayer, in her presentation "His Spray-Banana, His Actions and Intention Behind It." Suetcue explored Baumgärtel's iconic spray-banana and the motivations driving his street art. The panel concluded with a remote presentation by Siri-Helen Egeland, a PhD student from the University of Agder, Norway, and Enrico Bonadio from City, University of London, UK. Their talk, "Unauthorized Use of Street Art and Graffiti in Augmented Reality – Virtual Infringement of Copyright?" examined the legal implications of replicating street art and graffiti in virtual and augmented reality environments.

A lunch break was scheduled from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, allowing participants to relax and network.

In the afternoon, the conference featured a social program starting at 3:00 PM with a bus tour organized by GAU and the Lisbon City Council. The tour departed from the Fine Arts Faculty and included several key locations: Rua Gualdim Pais and Estrada de Chelas in Chelas, the Bairro da Quinta Marquês de Abrantes, which was the site of MURO 2017, Estação de Braço de Prata, and finally returning to Cais do Sodré. This tour provided attendees with a firsthand look at notable street art and urban interventions across Lisbon, offering further insights into the themes discussed during the conference.

Last comments on the 2024 conference edition
From one side the conference and activities presented itself as a resilient process. There's a critical mass of researchers that are waiting every year for the conference to occur. If they cannot be present locally they try to participate remotely. The hybrid mode in the conference works well if well distributed, in overall that was achieved once more in the 2024 edition.

One the other side, the auditorium seams to big for the limited number of people that were in the audience. Locally the average were 15 to 20 persons, with a fluctuation of the same numbers online. All together 40 persons were participating actively.

During the 11 years of Urban Creativity conference and activities the number of participations had several fluctuations. We can now consider that the hybrid mode it's stabilized but at the same time the numbers of local participations are reducing. This aspects are placing several options in consideration for next editions (maybe remote and local alternated editions). Also in terms of contents the program is getting diversified in 3 main trends: the flagship subject placed on graffiti and street art; the urban user experience topic and the architecture project presentations. These 3 trends had benefited from each other, but also they are potentially new independent seminars.




Program


20 of June, Thursday

9h30 - Fine Arts Faculty Conference room opens
10h - Welcome Session: Pedro Soares Neves, UC/ AP2 executive committee

Opening Keynotes:
- Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D.; School of Criminal Justice, University of Baltimore, USA - Competing hypotheses on the development of contemporary graffiti and street art in Berlin

- Javier Abarca, independent researcher/ urbanario/ unlock and tag conference, Spain - Art & Place: Bridging the gap between furtive and authorised public art

Submissions speakers panel:
- Erik Balbuena, Universidade de Vigo, Spain - Buffing. Unintentional and independent urban painting*
- Ana Gariso, Universidade Nova, Portugal - Trains and white vans – graffiti across cityscapes, before and after the internet
- Sara Pinto-Bastos : Walls with History: A Dialogue Between Street Artists and Communities

12h30 – 14h30 – Lunch Break

Keynote:
- Susan Hansen - researcher, Middlesex University, London UK - Nuart: A Critical History (remote)

Submission:
- Ivan Segura Lara, PhD Researcher teacher Hubei Province China - Ubiquity in Time and Architectural Space

Authors/ studios presentations panel:
Bisco Smith 
Pedro Esteves (ML7 Lisbon Metro Book)

Social program
17h – 20h: UNLOCK + Blackbook Drawing and Sketching table @ Crackids - Rua da Cintura do Porto de Lisboa, Armazém A Porta 20, Cais do Sodré

20h30 Dinner - Cais do Sodré area*


21 of June, Friday

9h30 - Fine Arts Faculty Conference room opens
10h - Urban User Experience remote panel
Philipp Schnell, Austrian Academy of Sciences (remote) - Ubiquity, Urbanity, and the Performance of Urban Spaces in Arts-based Urban Research
Ningfei Xiao, Simon Twose, Hannah Hopewell, Victoria University of Wellington (remote- Relational Encounters in Urban Public Spaces: A Feminist Posthuman Autoethnographic Becoming of a Site-Specific Performance.
Vera Penz, Ana Mumladze-Detering, Schwimmverein Donaukanal (remote) - Swimming Is Winning - the Case of Urban Bathing Revival in Vienna’s Danube Canal

11h30 - Submissions speakers panel:
- Christian Gerini, Researcher in philosophy and art history, France - An astonishing synergy between cinema and local villagers: the “Cinémanouche” cinema in France
- Laura Prikule, Riga, Latvia - Recurrent Concepts and Themes on the City Walls

Peter Bengtsen (remote)
- Once in a lifetime, once again: on an intervention by John Fekner and Brad Downey in Lund, Sweden

12h30 – 14h00 – Lunch Break

Video Documentary presentation (±60 min)
- Isabel Carrasco - International Education, Program Director, Marist College, Spain - Filo-Ubiquity. Lorenzo Pezzatini projects for public space 1977-today
- Vittorio Parisi - Director of Studies and Research, Villa Arson Nice - Université Côte d'Azur, France - Muralismo occulto

- Anton Polsky, Ugly Graffiti, Antistyle, and ‘Shithole’ Post-Socialist Aesthetics (remote)

- Ondřej Škrabal, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), Hamburg University, Germany - Graffiti Scratched, Scrawled, Sprayed: Traversing Epochs, Straddling Traditions


Social program:
17h – 19h: Art Battle and Talk by YYCS - Yes You Can Spray @ Caracol da Graça
19h30 Dinner - Graça area *  

 

22 of June, Saturday

9h30 - Fine Arts Faculty Conference room opens
10h - Conference room (Grande Auditório)
Keynotes:
Andrea Baldini – School of Arts, Nanjing University, China (remote) - Graffiti and the Ubiquity of Resistance
Laima Nomeikaite - Street art, heritage and ephemeral paradox (remote)

Submissions speakers panel:
- João Quintela, CEACT/UAL, Teaching architecture through intervention in public spaces: the case of the ALDO dog
park in the Quinta do Loureiro neighbourhood

- Gonçalo Folgado, Rain is also planted - in situ/ Benfica H2O
- Lelde Suetcue, Germany, Thomas Baumgärtel alias @bananensprayer, his spray-banana, his actions and intention behind it

Siri Egeland, Enrico Bonadio (remote- Unauthorized use of street art and graffiti in augmented reality – Virtual Infringement of Copyright?

12h30 – 14h30 – Lunch Break

S
ocial program
15h00 – BUS tour by GAU - Lisbon city council, departure from Fine Arts Faculty
- Chelas (Rua Gualdim Pais e Estrada de Chelas)
- Bairro da Quinta Marquês de Abrantes (MURO 2017)
- Estação de Braço de Prata
- Cais do Sodré (return).

* (to confirm)

Partners

Support: CIEBA/ FBAUL/ FCT


Program partnerships: Unlock; Crackids; GAU/CML; YYCS


Here's the zoom call link that we will use for all remote talks:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8519580212?pwd=VXJzRFpkV2QyTGo4a2NYdHNZSXo0QT09