About Stencibility festival
Stencibility is an international street art festival taking place in Tartu, Estonia. We believe in free independent street art and support its existence. We like to experiment with the format of the festival to give life to the most interesting and bizarre street art projects, explain the true nature of street art to the wider public, and support the active scene of street artists.
Estonia's second largest city, the historical university town of Tartu, is a strong contender for street art capital of the Baltics. This is largely thanks to Stencibility, a street art festival held here since 2010. Artwork pops up all over the city in unexpected places and sizes - from Soviet blocks to ubiquitous electrical boxes and garages in old residential areas.
Stencibility has made a conscious choice not to focus on large scale murals, but to work with street art as a whole focussing on smaller scale works (including stencils and stickers), promoting independent street art with maximum artistic freedom. This means that local and international artists (selected via open call) arrive at the festival without a fixed plan or readymade sketch pre-approved on all levels. Instead, they experiment with the format of a “spraycation” - allowing artists to choose from pre-arranged locations, but produce the actual content on the spot. With less curating comes more spontaneity and flexibility.
Because of the smaller scale, artists have a better chance at becoming familiar with the local context, as well as spending time and forging new connections with their fellow artists. For this “blank page” strategy to work, there has to be a lot of trust involved - both between organisers and artists, and on the part of the municipality and wall owners as well.
Throughout the years there have been many street artists from all over the world taking part in this festival, like SEPE, MTO, Kashink, Animalitoland etc.
In 2024 we are celebrating our 15th birthday!
Estonia's second largest city, the historical university town of Tartu, is a strong contender for street art capital of the Baltics. This is largely thanks to Stencibility, a street art festival held here since 2010. Artwork pops up all over the city in unexpected places and sizes - from Soviet blocks to ubiquitous electrical boxes and garages in old residential areas.
Stencibility has made a conscious choice not to focus on large scale murals, but to work with street art as a whole focussing on smaller scale works (including stencils and stickers), promoting independent street art with maximum artistic freedom. This means that local and international artists (selected via open call) arrive at the festival without a fixed plan or readymade sketch pre-approved on all levels. Instead, they experiment with the format of a “spraycation” - allowing artists to choose from pre-arranged locations, but produce the actual content on the spot. With less curating comes more spontaneity and flexibility.
Because of the smaller scale, artists have a better chance at becoming familiar with the local context, as well as spending time and forging new connections with their fellow artists. For this “blank page” strategy to work, there has to be a lot of trust involved - both between organisers and artists, and on the part of the municipality and wall owners as well.
Throughout the years there have been many street artists from all over the world taking part in this festival, like SEPE, MTO, Kashink, Animalitoland etc.
In 2024 we are celebrating our 15th birthday!
OUR manifestO
- Public space belongs to everyone
- It is everyone's duty to take care of it
- The purpose of street art is to enrich, not ruin, public space
- All additions are welcome: if you don't like it - improve it
- Act according to your common sense, not by law
EVENTS IN 2024
Stencibility festiva/TARTU
STREET ART EXHIBITON/TALLINN
SLÄP! STICKERBUS /TARTU
