FOR maist o ma life, Aiberdeen, was the caul, dull siller city o the ile. It was ower muckle aboot the cash, an nae enough aboot the cultur. Aye, aire’s ayeweys been the bonnie beach prominade, an the aa dane up pairks like Seaton or Hazelheid further oot, but Aiberdeen city centre was jist aye lackin somethin.

Then, oot o the dark, dour times o the ile crisis o 2016, cam a splash o colour! The closest thing tae street airt Ah iver saa locally whiles growen up was the iver chyngin murals pintit ontae the side o an abandoned auld hoose at the Toll o Birness, far the A90 splits intae twa, north o Ellon. Then, in 2017, aa o a sudden, in ma hame city, inspirin street airt seemed tae stairt poppin up aawye, oot o naewye. O coorse it wasnae camin fae naewye, but was actually a result o Aiberdeen takkin a leaf oot o it’s twin city, Stravanger’s beuk, an hostin a street airt festival, for the first time iver.

Noo, the Nuart festival has gane smoothly for twa ‘ear in a row, an the impact has been nithin but impressive. Aa summer fowk hiv been trekkin fae far an wide tae hae a keek at pentins aa ower the waas across the city o Aiberdeen; somethin fit, mebbe ten, or even five ‘ear ago, wad o been almost impossible tae comprehend. The city-wide street arit mebbe provides locals an tourists alike wi some sonsie backgrunds for their Instagram posts, but yon is nae aa. The street airt maisters ahint the warks cam fae aa ower the warld, an that gies the city a wee touch mair multi-nationalism an multi-culturalism – fit arnae things that Aiberdeen is necessarily weel kent for. Nanetheless, the Nuart festival hasnae jist celebrated ither cultures, Conzo & Globel’s ‘Super Scurry’ pentin put Scots leid (an humour) on tae the streets o Aiberdeen tae. London airtist, Carrie Reichardt’s tilewark on St Nicholas Lane honours the “Gallus quines” o Scotland. It seems that some airt tae flaucht the local wi the international is excatly fit Aiberdeen was in need o.

Whiles it’s gye braw that an event sic as this ane is takkin place in a Scots city, the anely dishertenin bit aboot it, is the blatent lack o Scots street airtists, especially compare’t wi Inglis anes. In 2018, a mere twa Scots airtists teuk pairt in the festival, fit, contrastit wi five fae England, isnae ower muckle. The twa Scots fa did bless the city wi their wark also, unsurprisingly, cam fae Glesgae, oor maist urban city. This is mair than likely doon tae there nae yet bein a socially acceptit street airt cultur in cities like Aiberdeen, Inverness, Perth an Embra. But mebbe it’s aboot time that aire was. Wi Gray’s Scuil o Airt on oor doorstep, aire’s nae a lack o talentit airtists in Aiberdeen, an the aforementionit cities surely arnae lackin in ingine either. The need tae promuive Scots street airtists in general is highlichtit in the evident lack o them involved wi Nuart, baith in 2017 an 2018.

If a lack o talent isnae the cause o a lack o street airt cultur across Scotland, then attitudes maun be tae blame. Aside fae oor luve for Charles Rennie Mackintosh, we arnae a nation internationally kent for oor obsession wi airt, especially nae contemporary airt. As a result o ‘The Banksy Effect’, street airt has been steadily growen in popularity doon sooth since the turn o the century, but the same isnae true o this side o the border. That doesnae mean that Scots are in need a similar kyne o icon though, the problem gaungs hyne deeper than that. In order tae be mair accepting o street airt, as a kintra, we need tae re-evaluate oor relationship wi airt aathegither, we maun be the generation o Scots fa faa in luve wi airt. An we dinnae jist hae tae be fans o pintins or murals; oor cities are gye badly in need o ony kyne o creativity we can lowp at them – sculptures an statues an general decoration ither than war memorials would be a stairt.

At the same time, it has tae be considered that street airt jist isnae aabodys cup o tae, an even though it’s gie near impossible tae keep aabody happy aa o the time, aire’s got tae be a balance. Even maist fans o street airt will argue that ye can hae ower muckle o a guid thing. It’s fair enough uisin it as a tull tae brichten up dark dingy alleyways, or borin auld waas, but defacin oor precious granite masterpieces is nae on. The likes o Marschial’s College an Aiberdeen Toon Hoose are airt in themselves. Organisers o the Nuart festival recognise this, an their decision tae ban airtists fae warkin on granite buildins was a cliver ane. Howpfully ither street airtists in Aiberdeen will learn fae it, that nae kenin fit is a suitable canvas is fit gies them a bad name.

An affa lot o thocht, as weel as time, effort an money can gaung intae the creation o a single piece o street airt, acause ance it’s duin, ye would expect it tae bide far it is for at least a lifetime. Back in 2017, fan the pair o German airtists kent as Herakut pintit the stunnin image o a young quine on the brick waa o the Aiberdeen mercat, they probably had it in myne that their finished piece would bide aire for as lang as the hersh Aiberdeen wather allowed. Bi nae suiner than Christmas past aire was plans revealed tae redevelop the mercat, thus daein awa wi Herakut’s wark an replacin it wi bog standard metal cladding. Foo charismatic.

Sae it seems that attempts tae dae awa wi the good wark o the Nuart festival are aaready unnerwye. Wi a war on street airt in Aiberdeen ongaun, it maun mean that although it’s future in Scotland is uncertain, a revolution has begun.