1000 cans of paint. 8 artists. 2 weeks. 1 Village. Wide Open Walls, an art safari launching on the 12th of October 2010. The first event at W.O.W will feature some big names on the street art scene including stencilmeister Eelus, nature freak Xenz, local artist (Hastings) made good Eine (Cameron gave Obama one of his typographic pieces), N.Y subway styled Logan Hicks, artist and photographer Wallkandy a.k.a Ian Cox, Broken Crow, Gambian art collective Bushdwellers, Lucy McLauchlan and Mysterious Al.
Here's the cause:
in 1992 the arts collective the Bushdwellers bought 4 acres of unspoilt Gambian land in order to protect it from deforestation, they now own 1750 acres. After 7 years of work and 20,000 replanted trees being they opened the Makasutu Culture Forest to the world in 1999, and then the Mandina River Lodge in 2002. In 2004 they received a request by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation to present Makasutu as a case study to Governments in different regions of Africa as an example of what could be achieved through their S.T.E.P program – Sustainable Tourism to Eliminate Poverty. This in turn inspired them to establish the Ballabu Conservation Project, an 85 square kilometre area, incorporating 14 villages and 100,000 people that surround Makasutu. Larry Bushdweller travelled between S. London and Africa throughout the whole process, and that's where he began collecting street art, especially as he was an aspiring artist himself.
Each W.O.W event aims to raise funds and awareness of their great work in Africa, if you'd like to know more then visit their blog at www.wideopenwalls.wordpress.com.
