Murals, skating, dance showcased in Fabrikaffiti Urban Art Fest in Tbilisi

Madrid-based urban artist Gviiie is one of about two dozen creatives in the festival line-up. Photo via Fabrikaffiti.

Agenda.ge, 11 Oct 2019 - 18:14, Tbilisi,Georgia

Urban surfaces will be painted, skateboarders will criss-cross in their gear and dancers will show off their skills as participants and visitors of this year's Fabrikaffiti Urban Art Festival descend on its locations this weekend.

Celebrating creativity and expression in urban context, the event will gather local and visiting artists, skaters, b-boy dancers and those set to lead workshops, while the first Georgian hi-fi audio system for dub roots reggae bass will also be uncovered to mark the celebration.

Hosted on premises of Fabrika, Tbilisi's popular location for creative events, talks and hospitality, the festival will involve two closed events on Friday before opening to the public on Saturday.

New York-based artist T-KID will invite aspiring graffiti creatives to hear about materials and tools involved in the art form and work on their own artwork under his guidance.

Emerging in the 1970s under the name King 13, the artist - born Julius Cavero - later reinvented himselves as T-KID as he moved away from involvement in New York's street gang scene to urban art.

He is now recognised for his "unique lettering, illustration style, and extremely prolific train-bombing" (Fabrikaffiti).

In the other closed event, Georgia's first-ever contest in twerking will be held, bringing to stage performers training themselves in moves of the modern dance.

The festival will then throw its doors open for the public on Saturday, hosting a digital sketching workshop led by the Creative Education Studio, a recently launched Tbilisi-based school that has found wide-ranging popularity and produced graduates in fields from music to visual art.

Dancers will take to the floor at Fabrika to compete in their skills at b-boy dancing technique on Sunday. Photo via Fabrikaffiti.

Skaters will enjoy their opportunity to display their ability for hours in an open skating event on the same day, while T-KID will be back on the programme to talk about the historical and cultural background for mural art and urban context.

Sharing his stories about the "70-80-s gangs, graffiti and hip-hop scene in New York", the American creative will then attend a screening of The Nasty Terrible T-KID 170: Julius Cavero, a documentary about him and the art form he pursues.

More activities and events, showcasing everyone from dancers to sketch artists, will follow through the weekend, with about two dozen creatives involved in the festival.