This weekend I attended the Nuart Aberdeen 2018 festival. Nuart is a street art festival originating in Stavanger and brings together internationally renowned artists to transform city spaces. For the next few years, the festival will take place in Aberdeen and has already brought a fabulous splash of colour to the granite city.
I was delighted this year to see that the 2018 festival had embraced the supernatural in it’s street art, and I found myself wondering around Aberdeen on the hunt for supernatural critters. It also reminded me how prevalent the supernatural is in our contemporary lives, and reaffirmed the importance of being a researcher in this area. Here is why…
The supernatural is fun…
One of my favourite moments as we walked around Nuart was the ‘Chalk Don’t Chalk Monster Workshop’ (by artist Bortusk Leer). As we climbed the steps to the Rooftop Gardens we emerged into a world of googly-eyed, spindly-armed, multiple coloured monsters – and you couldn’t help but smile!
Families were taking part in the workshop with kids drawing their own versions of monsters with chalk on the ground. They were equally as weird and wonderful as the ones created by the artist, and you couldn’t help but imagine what your own monster would look like. Monsters here were a fun and exciting was to engage kids (and grown ups!) with art, and to encourage imagination and creativity.
The supernatural tells a story…
As we walked around the city it was clear that the supernatural was used in some of the artwork to communicate a message or tell a story. Perhaps most prominently was a piece by artist Bordalo II who designs large-scale public sculptures of animals out of materials that contribute towards their extinction or environmental degradation. For Nuart in Aberdeen the sculpture was a Unicorn.
I was talking to my husband over lunch after we had toured the city and we were discussing this particular piece of art. We read in the brochure about the political message behind the materials used and both initially commented on the existence of Unicorns in the first place. However, it was not until later as I thought more about it that I realised that this was probably the point. If we continue to destroy the environment by using and disposing of these materials these animals will become just as mythical as the Unicorn itself.
Art and the supernatural, therefore, has the potential to communicate interesting and important messages.
The supernatural is part of our past and present…
I was impressed to see that one of the artworks told the history of the witch trials in Aberdeen. The artwork had a fabulous title “We are the granddaughters, all of the witches you were never able to burn” (by artist Carrie Reichard). As well as telling the history of witchcraft accusations and burnings in the city, which resulted in the death of 30 people in Aberdeen and up to 3800 across Scotland (mainly older women), it did something more.
Next to the history of witch trials in Aberdeen was a mosaic of famous and inspirational women from the city. There was a clear message, and the supernatural featured in this story of empowerment and change from the past to the present.
Art and the supernatural worked together at the Nuart festival to inspire, enchant and talk to people. And perhaps that is why we continue to embrace the supernatural in our contemporary lives, because it allows us to see, experience and interpret the world in more extraordinary and meaningful ways.
And my favourite piece from the festival…
Paranormal & Society 