The Südspidol has not yet emerged from the ground, and is not about to do so. A pale wooden fence hides the site of its future installation, rue Henri Koch in Esch-sur-Alzette. “As the managers of the non-profit organization I love Graffiti were looking for a surface to gather the works of a wide range of graffiti artists, they contacted us,” explains a member of the communications unit of the Emile Mayrisch Hospital Center (CHEM). “We were very enthusiastic about this project, and we financed the painting of the fence and the painting for the artists.”
For his part, Olivier Sader, coordinator of the non-profit organization I love Graffiti, well known in particular via LE MUR Luxembourg, places this project in the wake of the 7th edition of the graffiti battle, which took place on Saturday at the Rotondes. “There were 24 artists in competition, and the next day we wanted to bring them together, in addition to the members of the jury and the organization’s staff, i.e. forty graffiti artists, for a more fun activity: to create a fresco on the approximately 200-250 meters from the fence of the future Südspidol construction site.
Sunday afternoon, to the crackling and catchy sound of hip-hop music, there were around forty artists at work, coming from diverse backgrounds, from France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, from Finland, but also from Luxembourg, like Charles, alias “Salto”. “I’ve been doing graffiti for 16 years. Here, on this fresco, everyone makes their own blaze, plays with letters and develops their own style, their own lettering. We didn’t choose the colors ourselves, they were distributed by the organizers. As a Luxembourger, I am very proud to take part in it.”
“Each graffiti artist had a space of five to six meters,” confirms Olivier Sader. “The time to organize was quite short. We just thought about a range of colors per person, because at the same time, we didn’t want to restrict the artists. Above all, we just made sure to use the shape of the plectrum, the musical pick, which is a bit of a symbol of the future Südspidol and also the shape that the buildings will have.”
So, in the space of just a few hours, rue Henri Koch took on lots of pretty colors, thanks to this collective work of more than 200 meters, ephemeral, but not that much. “We don’t know when this fence will be removed, it’s still too far away,” CHEM confirms. “Graffiti remains in itself an ephemeral art, and the pleasure is in participating in it and appreciating the present moment,” slips Olivier Sader. The coordinator specifies that “a video of the fresco will be produced, which will put it into posterity. It will be available on the ASBL’s Youtube channel and will be relayed on the various networks by the participating artists, which will take it on a bit of a journey.
Could this now pretty, colorful fence which will brighten up the daily lives of passers-by on Rue Henri Koch for many months give ideas to those in charge of CHEM, even though the construction has not yet started? “It’s very difficult to plan ahead, but why not find such graffiti on the walls of the future building, it’s a great idea,” says the hospital’s communications unit, “especially since at CHEM, we We already practice art therapy for some of our patients, because it is proven that color can bring joy to patients. What if CHEM eventually became the epicenter of street art in Luxembourg?
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