Reykjavik’s street art

To find color in Reykjavik, it’s simple—just look at the houses. But to find more of a creative edge, we’re taking you to the street art in its streets. Inspired by music, Icelandic folklore, or purely drawn from the artists’ imagination, murals can be found just about everywhere along the way, much to the delight of strollers. And the Icelandic capital has understood this well. So much so that it regularly commission new frescoes to bring style to its walls and buildings.

Here’s a perfect concrete example with the impressive artistic creation within your reach. It’s the result of the Wall Poetry campaign, born in 2015 from a collaboration between the Airwaves Festival, a music festival, and the Urban Nation art center in Berlin. During this exciting project, 10 urban artists and 10 musicians worked together to bring murals to life in the area occupied by the music event. So when one had finished writing their song, the other used their talent to create a visual version of it. This means that each piece is by definition unique.

Here, street artist Caratoes was inspired by the song “Ode to Mother” by the Icelandic group Ylja to create this canvas of arabesques. It’s a personal masterpiece among so many others. So here’s some advice—keep your eyes open!