Street artists invade Grasse to "create a sort of open-air museum" during the 2nd Urban Poetry Festival

You may have seen him, spray paint in hand, decorating walls near the Martelly parking lot. Nice-based street artist César Malfi was one of the first to beautify the neighborhood's facades for the launch of the ^second Urban Poetry Festival.

"One of the new features this year is that two days before the official start of the festival, we painted a participatory fresco in collaboration with Harpèges, which allowed several residents of the neighborhood to participate in the work. There were people from all age groups and socio-professional categories," says one of the most prominent names on this Côte d'Azur scene.

Alongside him, a dozen other artists from all over France will take turns over the course of five days, painting around fifteen works. Among them is Michael Beerens, who will create the main painting of this edition on the theme of the ocean. Nerone, Aero, Debza, and Bungle Ced will also be present. Local artists have not been forgotten, such as Olalarte from Grasse and calligrapher Stéphane Trillaud.

"People will see the drawings in the street"

The first edition of the festival took place last year indoors, in the disused Rolland garage. For security reasons, the public was not able to witness the progress of the paintings, and could only view them between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., the venue's opening hours.

"This year, we will continue to decorate the Rolland garage, but many facades and walls will also be decorated. The idea was to create a sort of open-air museum. The advantage is that people will see the drawings as soon as they pass by in the street, unlike last year's," explains graffiti artist and artistic director Nasty, whose real name is Alexandre Hildebrand. A project that aims "to bring additional visitors to the heart of the city through this contemplation of works but also to challenge people, to make an impression," recalls the mayor, Jérôme Viaud.

"Ephemeral works"

While no theme has been imposed this year, each artist interprets the city and represents it in their own way. César Malfi's portrait of Aphrodite, for example, echoes the roses, the symbol of Grasse, to which the goddess is often associated. But beware, these works cannot be admired indefinitely. "These are ephemeral works, in the sense that it is not the paintings that will be removed, but rather that they are made in places that will be destroyed or redeveloped soon," explains Pascal Langlais, curator of the exhibition.

Starting in October 2025, some of the drawings will be removed as work begins to renovate the disused garage into a 200-space car park. The rest of the artwork will also disappear later, when the 89-room hotel above the Monoprix is ​​built.