10 Years of BLocal blog. Happy October
Appartengo Festival and more cool stuff, in your every-1st-of-the-month newsletter
Ehi there, how are you?
September marked the 10-year anniversary of this lil’ blog of mine and, although I’ve never celebrated Blocal’s birthday before, this year I feel like giving myself a pat on the back.
First of all, I want to thank you for reading my stories. The only reason why I blog is to share my enthusiasm with you, so thank you for sticking with me, regardless of when you joined this journey, 10 years ago or just last week. (and if you did join up last week, welcome! this issue is going to be slightly different than usual, but stay with me and, if you want to let me know something about you and how did you stumble upon my blog, just reply to this email).
I had to go search for my very first blogpost to find out the exact date, as I was curious to see what I was doing 10 years later on that same day. I happened to be doing exactly what I wished for 10 years ago: to be on the road, taking pictures of street art and exploring some off-the-beaten path destinations (Stigliano and its Appartengo Festival) to write about on the blog.
Needless to say it was a coincidence, as this is the first trip I take since the beginning of the pandemic, not counting moving to Italy after spending three years in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, I was doing what I’ve always wanted to do with this blog and, for the first time, I’m seeing a reason to celebrate, rather than stressing over all the blogging goals I haven’t achieved yet.
And you? What are you celebrating today?
Until next month,
Giulia
New on the Blog!
Basilicata’s finest street art at Appartengo Festival
I spent a week in Stigliano researching the Appartengo Festival, catching the participation and enthusiasm of the residents, documenting Argentinian street artist Milu Correch’s work in progress, and discovering the murals and public art that have been produced since 2017.
New on the Blog!
Borgo Universo, street art under the stars
At its 5th edition this year, the Borgo Universo festival challenged national and international street artists to create artwork that drew inspiration from astronomy, as Aielli is also known for a medieval tower (Tower of the Stars) now turned into an astronomical observatory.
Handpicked by Yours Truly
Stuff I liked this month
(not my usual 10-point list of suggestions, because this month I’ve tried to be offline as much as possible, to actually enjoy both the festival and the 1378 km road trip to get there and back)
It has been a long time since I’ve liked a new film by Woody Allen, but I found last year’s Rifkin's Festival better than expected. Once again, he has made a romantic comedy about a neurotic, frustrated writer, a type of Allen’s characters that I like a lot. Do you have any favorite Allen’s movie?
The Mural of the Month can’t be any other than the mural I’ve seen coming to life, even posing for the sketch! (look, mom, I’m in a mural!!)
Milu Correch, Montalbano Ionico (IT), 2021 Coming soon: my artist feature on Milu Correch. Stay tuned!
The international graffiti festival Step in the Arena just took place in Eindhoven. I've always attended it when I was living in The Netherlands, but this year I didn’t feel like travelling ‘till there. Now I’m keeping an eye on their page as they upload all the photos. Already seeing many friends who painted there, too bad I missed it!
I caught up with the latest seasons of Atypical, a tv show about a teenager on the autism spectrum:
My friend Jaune’s latest installations in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg:
In the category #GoIfYouCan: Brazilian graffiti twins Os Gemeos have their first retrospective show (with over 650 works!) at Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Curitiba (Brazil). This is the mural they painted on the museum building to celebrate this massive exhibition:
Os Gemeos, Curitiba (BR), 2021
Connecting Artists with Art opportunities
Artists Open Calls
*awarded* Embracing Our Differences is seeking submissions for an outdoor art exhibit featuring 50 billboard size images reflecting the artists’ interpretations of the theme “enriching lives through diversity.” Deadline October 6th.
You somehow stumbled upon my blog and subscribed to the newsletter, but you have no idea who I am and how my blogging journey has unfolded so far? Here I share the ups and downs of my first 10 years of blogging :)
From the Archive
In keeping up the celebrations of Blocal 10-year Anniversary, here is my blogging manifesto, with its multiple updates.