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Teleport Art Event is back!

If you ever wonder about the bright colorful pavement in front of Teleport Hotel in Amsterdam, then it would be interesting for you to know that our 20 rooms with street art pieces on the walls have the same origin. Teleport Art Event! Our last edition of this creative alternative event was so successful and left the hotel with such amazing art pieces that we’ve decided to do it all over again. But this time it will be even bigger, more colorful and vibrant: 30 hotel rooms (aka white walls ready for new art forms), 11 street artists (aka the most talented creators of Amsterdam) and awesome vibe accompanied by free mojitos and bites, fresh tunes by live DJ and more.

Mark your calendar for some artsy fun at Teleport Hotel on 26-27 February, when spray paint smell will result in unique pieces and when even you can feel like a street artist. In addition to observing the masters spray-painting, you can also try it yourself! Participate in our graffiti workshop, join Street Art Tour by bike, have a great day with us in Amsterdam…and all of that is FREE! Don’t miss the free opportunity to enjoy the local art and meet these cool people. What makes this edition of Teleport Art event different is a promising art market, where you can score that one perfect gift to bring home from a trip to Amsterdam.

Ladies first, and this time we are proud to present two charming female artists, both from the Netherlands and with very recognizable styles.

Missy Dbalia

This talented female artist puts so much color, shape and emotions into her work that the fluffy murals stare at you from the wall, as if they are ready to step into this world. What’s amazing is that Missy Dbalia puts her bright pieces into a social context too, giving attention to less privileged neighborhoods and trying to change their reputation. Amy (that’s her real name) also does illustrations that have a very distinctive character.

Dood konijn

You wouldn’t tell straight away that there is actually a positive young girl Diana hiding behind the sinister name of Dead Bunny and that black and white boney rabbit. But if you look closer, you will see that Doodkonijn is a friendly character that can be often found next to other colorful creatures on the walls of Rotterdam. In addition to making the walls alive, Diana also creates those special stuffed bunnies that are so great to hug for both kids and adults alike. Doodkonijn has a great story behind the curious character, so feel free to admire Diana’s art and ask about the origin of the idea.

Hugo Mulder (DHM)

One of the most famous street artists present at Teleport, Hugo Mulder’s artwork has been published nationally and internationally, used by big brands and studios. But what matters most is that he remains a street artist who shares his ideas and talent with the public. While before Hugo could be easily recognized by his tribal/tattoo style animals, now he switched a bit more towards digital female images full of details and mixture of styles. He combines scratches, cuts, drawings and paint to create pieces that really stand out. Let’s see what style Hugo will choose for one of the rooms at Teleport Hotel.

#Otto Schade

The moment you see the murals by Otto Schade, you can tell that it’s his creation! This Chilean-German street artist, but also urban sculptor and architect, decorates the walls with smooth lines that shape into surreal contemporary pieces. They are not always joyful, but they always make you admire the collaboration between man’s mind, skill and spray-paint cans. Sometimes you are just ready to get lost in Otto’s bandages of imagination

Roy Schreuder

A stunning decorator of public spaces (the electricity boxes with his touch are the best!), Roy Schreuder is known for cartoony images of superheroes and photorealistic stencils. Sometimes his pieces are so real that you almost feel like talking to them, and other times this artist’s fantasy makes you smile. We’re glad to discover that Roy is a traveler himself and likes to freestyle, so we still don’t know what to expect from him at the hotel and what stories we will see and hear.

Franki5 Fingers

Franki5 Fingers has by right become the house artist of Teleport Hotel, so whenever you see some information on the walls, tables, boards- it’s all Frankie! He is a multi-discipline creator, who also illustrates kids’ books, is a talented musician, drummer and composer. Franki5 Fingers is a very approachable character, and so is his art that takes various forms and styles.

These are only a few of the selected artists that will be presenting their masterpieces to you at Teleport on 26-27 February. Make sure that you check out the free-spirited ornamented masks by Skount, gorgeous animal pieces by Joostvijfb and many more unique art walls in our hotel presented by some awesome street artists.

Street Art Transformation of Teleport

“Blank walls are a shared canvas and we’re all artists.” 

Carla H. Krueger

When we started with alternative art tours for our guests around Amsterdam and met great guys from AllTourNative, little did we know how carried  away we would get. Teleport had no clue where this collaboration would bring us and what would grow out of it. It’s been developing step by step: first we got introduced to Amsterdam Street Art (ASA) association (really talented street artists, who create true masterpieces!), then we decided to make Teleport Hotel more artsy and got so much inspiration that we couldn’t hold it anymore. That’s how the idea of Amsterdam Street Art Event was born.img_0647

We had the canvas of the blank walls, and we felt that we needed the artists to change them into something unique and breathtaking. And we were lucky to know just the right guys for it, who could share their talent with our guests and add up to the open-minded spirit of Teleport Hotel. Now we’re happy to share what turned out of a very special event last week.dotsty

2 days, 8 artists, 20 rooms

We’re fortunate enough to welcome guests to the city of Amsterdam that embodies freedom and liberty, and that has motivated us to give all the freedom of creativity to 8 selected (amazing!) artists from ASA. These talented guys have their own distinctive styles, and we knew that we made the right choice the moment we saw bright color sprays on the once boring white walls.

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This time our hotel started with 20 rooms that were ready for transformation and new character with any form of alternative art on their walls. And since we like sharing happy moments with our guests, we made a 2-days party out of it with free mojitos, yummy snacks, live DJ, live painting and even street art workshop.

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Paint smell, can shakes sound and work in progress

When you entered the hotel you could already smell the work of the artists, but the moment you opened the door of the rooms, you could finally see the work of the creators. Most of ASA guys not only didn’t mind visitors observing their creative process, but they were also willing to tell more about their style and a particular piece. Impressive eyes (whether it was one of a fish, a tree or one by itself) by Sjembakkus were staring at your soul from the walls, while almost real life Salvador Dali by Ives.One was questioning your intentions with his double face. Dotsy’s unique character was teleporting you from one room to another, and PressOne colorful creatures were multiplying without stopping. Beazarility decorated Teleport with detailed Amsterdam symbols easily recognized by tourists, while Sket185 sprayed some old school graffiti throw ups bring Amsterdam streets to the hotel.

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Mojitos, workshop and music

In between observing the talents spraying their artwork and making the walls alive, the visitors could catch some fresh air and enjoy freshly prepared mojitos accompanied by delicious snacks. The most adventurous souls even tried themselves at street art by learning how to spray the famous puzzle pieces by Hero de Janeiro. He was giving some speed lessons on stencils art, cracking jokes and working his way up the long corridor wall.

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Those with dancing feet could enjoy the vibrant tunes by our DJ and then come back to see the final results of the 2-days hard work of Amsterdam Street Art guys.

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What’s now and what will happen next?

Now Teleport Hotel is proud to have 20 rooms decorated with the top street art pieces by all different styles and techniques. The guests are happy with the creative rooms and original walls that they love taking pictures of. The good news is that this event just the start of the Teleport transformation. Amsterdam’s best street artists will return for our next street art event to bring even more colors, creativity and character to the rest of the hotel rooms in February. We can’t wait! Can you?

Lost glory of the street art in Wijdesteeg

For many people Amsterdam is associated with alternative culture, different progressive subcultures, street art and fresh view on the society. It used to be so, when anti-capitalistic youth often with an anarchic approach were striving in the city, keeping creative spirit alive, adding a soul to the streets and making a community with like-minded individuals. It was also the time when squatting was huge in Amsterdam, expanding the alternative scene and making the city more liberal. Spuistraat and Wijdesteeg once were two very important places in the history of squatting in Amsterdam. Want to know why then keep on reading.

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What’s squatting?

While some of you might be familiar with the idea of squatting (maybe you’ve even tried it yourself!), others could be interested in learning more. Usually it refers to occupying an abandoned building with a purpose of residing there. One claims the building without any lawful permission for it, not for renting or owning the new home. Squatting usually comes with a certain mentality, often with a rebellious spirit against the system. That leads to transformation of it from just living in the unoccupied area into a special movement of people sharing the same ideas. It’s estimated that there are around 1 billion squatters around the globe, and this number is expected to grow.

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How does it work in Amsterdam?

As expected from open-minded Amsterdam, it  has a large community of squatters, who tend to be creative, free-spirited people, with strong values and beliefs. There are even special sessions (kraakspreekuur) organized by squatters, where one can get advice on how and where to do it, rather than just go for the option of “wild” squatting.  However, what used to be a city paradise for squatters is there no more, as squatting was criminalized in the Netherlands in 2010. Once legal activity and lifestyle turned into a forbidden action that lead to protests, arrests and some buildings’ demolition. The squatting ban also killed lots of creativity and street art in Amsterdam, as cultural centers and galleries got closed, pieces of wall art got painted over or the walls got destroyed.

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The Snakehouse

One of the most iconic squatted spaces in Amsterdam was De Slang, a famous building at Spuistraat with a magnificent colorful snake mural on it. It was well loved by locals, as lots of art events took place there with a great vibe and nice people. The Snakehouse was squatted by artists, which also attracted other creative minds, and beautiful results were born on the walls of Spuistraat and Wijdesteeg. There were covered with astonishing artworks, admired by tourists and locals alike.  The narrow street of Wijdesteeg was like an open air street art museum. It used to be one of the most photographed alley of the city, but it has seen its times, as the squatted buildings were taken over by the municipality. The fight between Amsterdam squatters and the municipality lasted long, but the city won with lots of art sacrifices.

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Hero de Janeiro

One of the local street heroes that added color to Amsterdam and particularly Wijdesteeg is Hero de Janeiro.  This talented artist is known for painting bright puzzle pieces on the dull concrete. Although many of his bigger cool projects are gone with the knocked down or fenced off buildings, some of his work still makes Spuistraat more colorful and joyful. He creates the smaller art by pasting different frames against the city walls, while the larger pieces are mainly made out of stencils that this street artist attaches to Amsterdam walls.

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Hero de Janeiro’s most recognizable characters are Jip & Janneke, Karl Lagerfeld with a ghetto blaster (a sign of Hero’s music aspirations, as he’s also an experience DJ), the Dutch milkmaid, Andy Warhol and the tough penguin. All of them intend to make you happier and add more vibrant life to daily routines.  These charismatic art pieces appear not only in Amsterdam, but also around the world. And guess where the next one will be! That’s right, Amsterdam Teleport Hotel! Next week Hero de Janeiro will decorate the sidewalk in front of our hotel with his stunning artwork. And even more, he will join us for the Street Art Event at Teleport on 27-28 November,  when we’ll  be celebrating art with graffiti workshops, live DJ and free Mojitos! You’re invited too! Discover! Create! Inspire!

The Street Art Life of Amsterdam

As the Banksy exhibition has  recently left Amsterdam, it’s time to explore the  stunning street-art of the city available year-round and for free. From the first glance it might look that Amsterdam doesn’t have enough graffiti, murals, stencils, stickers and other forms of alternative art, but the first impressions can be deceiving. The truth is that our radiant city is full of them, but you might need to have your eyes open, pay attention and even know the hot spots of the local street artists. Let us help you a bit with that and send you at the right direction.

The NDSM Wharf

We can’t highlight enough the creative artsy spirit of the northern part of Amsterdam, where you see stunning graffiti and stencils every way you look. The NDSM Wharf is a vibrant industrial area with old cranes, trams turned into art projects, metal containers, huge ship halls and plenty of walls. All the colors of street-art look especially bright and vivid here with the rusty objects on the background. You can even see artists creating new pieces right in front of you, making the old walls come to life again. All you need to do is take a free ferry in the direction of NDSM behind the Central Station, and the best water views and street-art are guaranteed! As soon as your ferry arrives to the other side, you will be astonished by a gigantic colorful mural of Anne Frank’s portrait (240 square meters!!), recently painted by a very talented Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra.IMG_0118

Space Invaders of the Jordaan

The historical and more authentic part of Amsterdam, called the Jordaan, might be one of the least expected places for street-art, but it’s full of small charming pieces. One of the most impressive murals here is done by iconic local artists the London Police that spread love with their joyful LADS characters. The Jordaan also hides a bunch of Space Invaders, which are mosaic artworks spread around 60 cities all over the world. The best news is that now you can collect those pieces through a Flash Invaders app same way as you do with Pokémon these days. Except these invaders are the real art that you find on the walls. Make sure to check out Marnixstraat for constantly updating colorful graffiti.

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The Past Glory of Spuistraat

Not that long ago if you walked down Spuistraat in Amsterdam, you could enjoy numerous art pieces on the walls of all the squatted buildings right in the heart of the city. Creativity used to be limitless here, while the rebellious vibe was felt in the air. The situation has changed quite a bit since the municipality took over the central masterpiece of De Slang. What used to be an iconic picture of alternative scene of Amsterdam is unfortunately no more there. However, you can still find a few brightly painted garages’ doors, squatted bars with their doors full of graffiti and millions of small stencils and stickers along the street. Spuistraat is definitely worth having a look still, but you really need to look closely and check out tiny side streets too.

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Schellingwoudebrug

In case you want to see whether the roots of Amsterdam’s street art are coming from, then welcome to this bridge (under the bridge to be precise). Just take a tram 14 to the Flevopark, and you will find the graffiti paradise in the end of the line. Schellingwoudebrug goes over the IJ and is the witness of the crazy 90s, when street artists from all over the globe presented their wall pieces to Amsterdam.

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Downtown Street Art Map

How about turning your day in Amsterdam into a street art quest? Just use this map to locate the best pieces in town, see how many invaders you can detect and what gallery turns out to be your favorite. Amsterdam’s street art goes way beyond some cool graffiti in the hidden spots, it becomes a trend of the city, worth exhibiting in museums and galleries. Even the local municipality realizes the importance of alternative art for the cultural life, providing the street artists with legal opportunities to create and present their pieces to all the guests to enjoy.

Amsterdam Teleport Hotel is happy to join with our grand Street Art Event on 27-28 November, so stay tuned to learn more!