A Stiff Neck Guaranteed! #nackenstarregarantiert

Many mural festivals brace the bricks and concrete of walls all over the world. Some are unique, others are even more unique! In 2017, Montana Cans was proud to support the Berlin collaborative team of “Die Dixons”. Die Dixons made public art history with their unique project, THE HAUS. Through a fruitful long term partnership with DIE DIXONS, Montana Cans recognised a long time ago the efforts of this prolific and dynamic trio. Just as the people of their home town Berlin who have welcomed the many amazing artworks that resulted from their engagement and hard work.

DIE DIXONS consists of artists Bolle, Kimo und Jörni. THE HAUS which was conceptualised and curated by them, took over a full building with the help of 165 other artists in the creation of installations in many artistic disciplines prior to the buildings destruction. The site which was a former bank was a “no camera’s allowed” environment, leaving only memories and experiences to hold on to (or let go of), for those that visited and participated in the project.

But behind closed doors a new dream was being had by DIE DIXONS. With a little creative watering and some of Berlin’s first rays of pre-summer sunlight, the seed of THE BERLIN MURAL FESTIVAL (BMF) had grown, and its inaugural opening happened on May 19th, 2018. At colossal speed, the city of Berlin saw an impressive array of color burst into its streetscape in the form of over 30 painted house facades.

The list of participating artists and crews were mega and included:

ABS CREW, AKTE ONE, ANNE BENGARD, ARSEK & ERASE, BEN WAGIN, BANDITS, BAS2, CASE MACLAIM, CREN, DANIELA UHLIG, DIE DIXONS, DR. MOLROK, EL BOCHO, ELLE, FABIFA, FELIX & MATTHIAS GEPHART, GHS, GOMEZ, HERAKUT, ICKE ART, INNER FIELDS, INSANE 51, ISAKOV, JAMES BULLOUGH, KERA, KLEBEBANDE, KOBE EINS, MILLO, MONSTA 179, MR. STAN_NATS, MR. WOODLAND, MTO, MÜCKE, NATALIA RAK, NOTES OF BERLIN, NUNO VIEGAS, ONE TRUTH, ONUR & WES21, OSTAP, QUINTESSENZ, RAWS, SEMOR, SIZE TWO, SKENAR73, SNIK, SNYDER, SONE VANDULES, STEREOHEAT, SUPER BAD BOYS, TANK, TAPE OVER, TAPE THAT, TASSO, TELMO MIEL, TOBO, UWE ARNOLD, WELTBAUM CREW and YAT.

THE WELTBAUM

A particularly unique aspect to the BMF was the homage to BEN WAGIN. For those not aware, Wagin is the godfather of mural art in Berlin. In 1975 Wagin he created the first mural in Berlin titled the WELTBAUM (World Tree). Since then, the politically aware mural could be seen from the S-Bahn station “Tiergarten”. Sending a very early message to the public of Berlin and all it’s visitors of the importance of environmental conservation and the significance of trees to our planets health. To honour the WELTBAUM mural that will soon no longer exist thanks to a new construction, a crew of artists calling themselves WELTBAUM CREW set out (in conjunction with Wagin), to re-locate the mural and give it a new home at its Lehrter Staße 30, location.

The WELTBAUM CREW consisted of Icke_art, Kera, Kobe Eins, Michael Dyne Mieth, Quintessenz, Ria Wank, Size Two, Tank, Yat and Die Dixons. To add to the impact of this monumental homage, the new WELTBAUM mural was the opening mural to start the BMF action for 2018. With this being the first year of the BMF, the future seems extremely colorful and bright. Supported by varying parties, the attraction of art to the Berlin streetscape is yet another reason to visit this amazing city. And to celebrate its artists. Take some time to delve into the hard work, great minds and the content of many emptied Montana GOLD and BLACK cans here.