NUART x ATTENDE : SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH STREET ART, PT. 2

Internationally renowned mural artist Fintan Magee joined forces with Nuart and Attende for the second iteration of our Social Inclusion Through Street Art project, which aims to inspire action and change.

On Thursday 6 September at 1130, Attende's Ren By Gjengen (Clean City Gang) welcomed the unveiling of a new street art mural in their honour at Folkets Hus (Løkkeveien 22, 4008 Stavanger) as part of Attende and Nuart´s collaboration to raise awareness about marginalised groups through art.

Attende specializes in finding strengths where others see weaknesses, promoting the message that everyone has an important role to play in our society.

Attende´s Ren By Gjengen can be seen daily from Monday to Friday collecting garbage from the city streets - over two tons annually. The team consists of Karsten, Yvonne, Ingebrigt, Sofie, Jan Jakob, Rune, Pål, Kim and Jonas.

"In Attende, we have several groups of people who can have different challenges in working life", explains Hilde Skeivik Joa, General Manager. "With us, they participate in working life on an equal footing with ordinary workers. Too many are a forgotten resource - our aim is to contribute to increased knowledge about this group's contribution to working life."

Martyn Reed of Nuart Festival: "After the enormous success of our first collaboration with Attende AS and Kannik Skole, it's such an honour and privilege to be able to continue this joint social inclusion through street art project. Without positive social inclusion projects we risk losing social cohesion. We're absolutely dedicated to be using art in the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society, and the democratic nature of street art and it's popularity make it an ideal form to tackle these issues in an inclusive manner. So many people, partners and supporters have come together to participate in this project, which is testament to the respect and love people genuinely have for the "Ren By Gjengen"."

Thanks to Attende, Folkets Hus, Fasett, Lyse and Skagen Fondene for making this project possible.

About Attende AS

Between 2000 and 5000 people with disabilities in Norway are currently waiting to get a job at a well-organized workplace similar to those offered by companies like Attende.

Attende employs approximately 330 people who would otherwise exist without a meaningful work life. Many of these individuals work in varied roles from machining and sub-production to packing and assembly, copy and graphic design. Attende is a subsidiary of the Municipality of Stavanger, the Municipality of Sandnes and Rogaland County Municipality.

About the artist

Born in 1985 in Lismore, Australia, Fintan Magee is considered one of the world’s leading leading social practice mural artists. Transporting the viewer into a world of unexpected beauty and chaotic balance, his paintings highlight the extraordinary and precarious nature of our everyday existence.

Magee’s large-scale murals combine imagery and styles taken from a wide range of influences, explained best by the artist himself: “Childhood memories and personal experiences inform my work but I also like to link personal experience to broader social issues like climate change or class struggle. In some works I feel like I’m telling stories that I don’t yet fully understand however, which brings an element of chaos or the subliminal.”

www.fintanmagee.com

For more information, please contact James Finucane (E: james@nuartfestival.no; M: 93667046)

Photography by Brian Tallman.

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