4th October 2013

Attending the Insitu conference 'Invisible Walls' in Marseille reminds me of the significance of that town in the history of street art in Scotland. In the 80s, I would travel to the Aurillac Festival in France to see and often book what was regarded as the most exciting and innovative outdoor work being produced in Europe at that time. I subsequently presented much of it at Scotland's first Street Arts festival 'Streetbiz', in Glasgow 1988 - 1990. The work we championed was driven by artists drawn to the challenge of making art outside the confines of traditional venues and seeking to develop new vocabularies and find new audiences. The fact that it was often anarchic and exuberant did not disguise an intent that was often serious and revelatory.