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One of the most extensive programs of public art Australia had seen — BSAF 2019 transformed walls across Brisbane at a new scale.
As documented in the BSAF archive — the festival program reached wider still
By 2019 the Brisbane Street Art Festival had matured into one of the most ambitious public-art undertakings the country had seen. Held across a fortnight from 4 to 19 May, the fourth annual edition built directly on the momentum of previous years to deliver what the festival described as one of the most extensive programs of public art Australia has ever produced. The numbers tell the story of that growth: 115 artists, close to 50 murals, two exhibitions, four major events and a sprawling workshop program. Crucially, the festival's reach was now genuinely international, drawing practitioners from as far afield as Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina to paint alongside the best of Australia's homegrown talent, and the standard of work climbed accordingly across the two weeks.
Free to the public, the 2019 program turned walls right across the city into a living gallery, activating precincts including Fortitude Valley's Valley Mall, Howard Smith Wharves, West Village and the Wharf Street tunnel. One of the year's defining characteristics was its commitment to gender diversity: 27 prominent female street artists featured among the muralists, a deliberate and widely noted emphasis that set the edition apart. Local heroes such as Gus Eagleton and the collaborative duo Drapl and Treazy produced some of the festival's most striking large-scale figurative work.
A standout of the year was the major activation at Toombul, where ten artworks were created live across the centre. UK artist Wasp Elder completed one of the largest murals of the entire festival, a vast rooftop piece measuring roughly 53 by 10 metres, while 23-year-old Brisbane artist Leans transformed the ten Airtrain railway pylons bordering the site with his signature abstract celebration of colour and form, each pylon taking up to twelve hours to finish. The partnership effectively doubled the festival's footprint compared with 2018.
Beyond the walls, the surrounding program gave audiences countless ways to engage with the culture. The fortnight took in a riverside launch party, scribble slams and live music, aerosol masterclasses, a climate-change themed exhibition, a street-art cycling tour and a full slate of talks and workshops, before culminating in a celebratory rooftop finale party complete with live bands, DJs, performance art and a live art battle.
