Argentinian street artist creates art wall in Almaty

Argentinian street artists Marina Zumi has turned the walls of the Abilkhan Kasteev's School of Art and Technical Design into a colorful masterpiece, Tengrinews reports. The first art-wall in Central Asia was named Bright Childhood. 

During two weeks of work, the artists used over 530 liters of Tikkurila paint. The total area of the art wall extends to over 900 square meters. 

Zumi painted Salvador Dali as a little boy blowing on a dandelion. The seeds travel brining bits of magic from the world of childhood. The street art created by Zumi shows that every child is talented, but it is in the hands of adults to help him or her to realize their potential.

"I was very surprised when I was offered to partake in this project. I travel a lot and I have visited around 30 countries. But I was very interested in Kazakhstan. Besides, the organizers suggested a very interesting theme. The focus of the work is children and their talents. Our goal is to draw attention of the public to little citizens of big cities," the artist said.

Local graffiti artists Dima Sdvig, Alisher Dammit and Darion Shabbash along with 40 students of the Art School, journalists and bloggers helped Zumi complete the project.

In addition, Marina Zumi organized master classes for children where she talked about her techniques and shared her experience.

 The organizer of the project is the Tikkurila company from Finland that specializes in paint. In 2012, the company, according to the official website, "introduced Sustainable Beauty social responsibility program to inspire people and communities to improve their living environment, create beautiful and user-friendly environment". Tikkurila aims to help children, young people, adults, and elderly through active participation in social projects with paint and colors to sustainable beauty in various spaces.  

"We were selecting an artist for the project for a long time. Creation of a bright and colorful art was important for us. Marina was a perfect candidate. We like her unique style. She presents human relationship through nature in her art. We also want to create a sightseeing attraction in our city. We do not have many buildings like that, but we hope to have more in the future," Marketing Director of Tikkurila Central Asia Aigerim Turlibekova said.

The company has already started negotiating with the Akimat (municipal authorities) to select the next building for some street art.

By Gyuzel Kamalova