From July to October 2019 Satka hosted the Satka Street Art Fest, an international street art festival, for the third time. Russian and foreign artists turned the town into a massive art-residency again and gifted its dwellers with many vivid artworks.

The festival started with the events of Satka Dreamville project that took off with a meeting of worldwide famous artist Hendrik Beikirch and kids interested in street and pictorial art. Hendrik gave them a master-class and then together they created some new artworks. The monochrome painting master created portraits of his young friends on 3x4 plywood sheets, and they added the pictures of their dreams below.

– I was touched by how boys and girls who were never into any kind of art before suddenly started painting, – the artist explained. – It’s my first time working with kids in such format where I paint dreams. A usual master-class is spontaneous and fast. But this is a different story, a very heart-warming one.

The results of collaboration between the kids and Hendrik Beikirch was kept as a decoration of the Magnezit Cultural Centre Square for two months after Metallurgist day and to be then moved to the Hangar (a building brought out of industrial use that became a space for exhibitions and cultural events). There are also the works of street art wave artists from Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk as well as pieces created by the city’s young artists, their mentors, and volunteers of Yarkaya Satka (Colourful Satka) project. A Portable Canvases Gallery was created by famous artists of the street wave: Sergey Acramov, Daniil Danet, and Maksim Revansh from Yekaterinburg, as well as Aleksey Batis (Batis) and Timur Abdullayev (Brazil) from Chelyabinsk.

– Everyone sees different things in an abstract work, – says Aleksey Batis. – My piece is inspired by music and the festival idea. I pay a lot of attention to colour spectrum, haven’t used this one in a while. Here, aside from shapes being unique themselves, there is an unusual colour composition, which creates a unique picture altogether.

Timur Abdullayev (Brazil) master-class added up to the shooting match. As a result, a giant barrel turned into tridimensional aquarium and found its place near the Hangar. It was not the end of the marine topic though: Brazil, along with his assistant, upgraded a plain-looking building in the Satka’s Zapadny Microdistrict. The walls of this industrial facility became a home for a couple of cute dolphins, a shark with its mouth wide open, and other sea animals, with a diver in the middle.

Danila Shmelev (Shozy), who had painted the post office the other time, also visited the festival this year. The organizers prepared a special task for him and that was to transform the looks of a passage between South Ural State University branch campus buildings. The Moscow artist skilfully decorated a boring-looking wall with many levitating bicycles. Turned out Danila is an experienced rider who likes cycling. The bicycle idea suites the chosen object well: it’s the type of transportation young people like and it has become a symbol of dynamics, movement, and healthy lifestyle for many of us.

– For the 3D technique I work in the lighting is vital especially when one painting is done on several surfaces. I also made small adjustments for this work. I changed the perspective so that the painting can be seen properly from a certain point, – the master explained.

The best point for observing the new 3D graffiti by Danila Shmelev is the building’s yard, next to workrooms of A. K. Savin Satka Polytechnic College. It gives you the sense that bicycles literally fly through the arc.

The new art objects were created within Satka Street Art Fest thanks to one more master, a French artist Nebay. This author transformed the Bakalskaya bus stop together with his young assistants. The brick “shell” is unrecognizable: now it looks like a burst of colours and positive energy.

The second art object of Nebay was created to be movable. The master of calligraffiti and large murals put his brush (i.e., his spray paint) to one of diesel locomotives of Magnezit Group inbound logistics department’s railway unit. On one side of the locomotive the artist wrote “Better than kryptonite we have Magnezit” graffiti-style, and one the other he added “Paris-Moscow”, “united”.

One more comeback to Satka was made by Netherlander Ronald van der Voet who is known as Zedz among fellow artists. The artist painted two transformer vaults authentically last year. However, a garage that appeared next to them just did not fit into the composition. This season Zedz finished what he started: bright geometric flashes now bloom on the building’s walls. Today, it’s a pleasure to watch these utility facilities, too.

Then the artist moved on to painting the face of Magnezit Group melted periclase production department’s building in corporate colour scheme. This mural became the largest one in Satka (it takes up to 900 sqm) and gave a new perspective to industrial landscape. Zedz also added three robots to industrial and town views: you can see them at Hangar and railway unit territory as well as next to first-aid building. “RWG winter preparations” says the caption of artist’s Instagram post.

It seemed like there was no limit to Zedz inspiration by Satka. The artist likes experimenting with various surfaces and used a locomotive and railway unit’s gates of Magnezit as canvases. Needless to say, true art has no boundaries.

Russian artist Aleksey Luka was the final act of the locomotives art-story this season. Thanks to Aleksey’s skill the plain colours of a locomotive disappeared immediately. Monochrome colours were replaced by contrast flashes and bright colour splashes that created a special mood. Now it is impossible to walk by this locomotive without noticing it.

The street art festival contributed many art objects to the city once again. Each of them has its own tone, style, and energy that are fully and joyfully experienced by Satka dwellers and visitors.

Pictures by Denis Shakirov, Vasiliy Maksimov, Anna Filippova, and Sobranie Fund.

Video by Denis Shakirov.