The City Council of Lisbon, through the Urban Art Gallery, is spearheading a new edition focusing on the neighborhoods surrounding the Águas Livres Aqueduct—Bairro da Bela Flor and Bairro da Liberdade—and key structures in the capital’s water cycle history: the Water Museum at Calçada dos Barbadinhos and the Water Factory.
The program was unveiled today at the Water Factory and includes interventions by national and international artists, both residents and non-residents of Lisbon. It also features exhibitions, discussions, entertainment, cinema, workshops, guided tours, and a special “Mini MURO,” slated for World Children’s Day on June 1.
This edition’s lineup of invited artists includes Bigod, Cab, Eko, Fled, Greb, Hesp, Hibashira, Monk, Mosaik, Nevercrew (Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni), Obey SKTR, Patrícia Mariano, Ricardo Romero, Smile, Tosco, Typru, and others.
The 6th edition of the festival kicks off on May 23 with the opening of the ‘Marginalis’ exhibition by João Murta. The exhibition invites visitors to be “placed on the ‘margin,'” a reflection on the passive observation of sea waves and the indifference towards political, social, and environmental issues faced daily, as described in the exhibition text.
The exhibition will be on display at the Water Factory, where on the same day, ‘Bomb it,’ a 2007 documentary on graffiti and urban art by John Reiss, will be screened.
The Water Factory also hosts ‘From our coast’ by Teresa Calado, showcasing illustrations of the diverse fish along Portugal’s coastline, and ‘There’s art in the sewer,’ an exhibition of sewer lids given a new look by Gilberto Gaspar.
MURO also includes the exhibition ‘On top of the carpet, my room,’ displayed at Coruchéus – A Theater in Every Neighborhood since April 12.
The Liberdade Atlético Clube will feature an exhibition of skateboards painted by the 45 participants of the international female graffiti festival Juntas Hacemos Más, held in April in Lisbon.
Guided tours of the various exhibitions will be available throughout the festival.
The festival’s full program, which concludes on May 31, is available online at www.festivalmuro.pt
The first MURO festival took place in 2016 in the Carnide parish (at Bairro Padre Cruz). It was followed by events in Marvila in 2017, Lumiar (surrounding the Cruz Vermelha and Alta de Lisboa neighborhoods) in 2019, and Parque das Nações in 2021.
The 5th MURO edition occurred in October 2023, spanning the Cais do Sodré, Alcântara, and Belém areas.
Over the five editions, the festival has featured artists such as Brazilian Kobra, British D*Face, and Portuguese artists Kruella D’Enfer, Robert Panda, Bordalo II, Odeith, Hazul, Godmess, André da Loba, Tamara Alves, Nomen, Mário Belém, and the collectives RUA and Thunders Crew.
