Remember that Che Guevara t-shirt you wanted during your college years? Or even that YOLO slogan that you wanted everyone to know you lived by (uh, at one point in time)? Well now you can make, personalise and take home one of your very own.
Started by Dolly Demoratti, owner of Berlin’s silk-screen printing company Mother Drucker, this biannual event keeps the age-old tradition of printing very much alive as European artists gather to give live demonstrations and offer an insight into their printing prowess. And this year, visitors aren’t just in the spectator seat. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty by inking out a wood block and experimenting with different materials. Print professionals will guide you through the different mediums of etching, linocuts, letterpresses and silkscreens.
The festival hopes to strike a chord with Berliners involved with start-ups and freelance work by inspiring that ‘get-up-and-go’ attitude you get when you make something with your own hands.
“For all these people who are taking risks to start their own thing here in Berlin, going the extra mile to use print too – well, it’s representative of a collective passion,” says Demoratti.
The colourful walls of Urban Spree are the perfect location for this creative splurge. Spread over their 400m gallery space will be the work of art giants Oscar Rink, Morgan Betz, Joe Webb, Richard Duardo and Bonnie and Clyde as well as rarely exhibited print works by the infamous graffiti ninja, Banksy.
DRUCK FESTIVAL, Aug 15-16, 12-20 | Urban Spree, Revaler Str. 99, Friedrichshain, U-Bhf Warschauer Str.