Over the past few years, street art in Rotterdam has been enjoying a boom like never before. In 2018, POW! WOW! Rotterdam became the first European city to host the art and music festival. Rotterdam is a vibrant, proudly multi-cultural, and no-nonsense city that has always been uniquely equipped for an art form that doesn’t wait for its audience or beg for acceptance. The videographers at Rauwkost Collective successfully highlight this in the short film about POW! WOW! Rotterdam. POW WOW ROTTERDAM 2018

Portraying the medium, the festival, and the city through the eyes of participating artists Nuno Viegas, Dilk and Telmo Miel, three unique visions and approaches that are beautifully brought to life. The film also offers a look at the work of all the artists at the festival, and is spearheaded by M., an anonymous poet from Rotterdam, who is known for printing his short bursts of poetry, framing them, and gluing them on the walls around the city’s streets. He captures the essence of the city’s eternally shifting culture in his opening poem: “and even though much change has been effected / the street corners will always keep their sharp edges”.

Making Of

Images by Martine Kiers