Dagens fångst (Catch of the day)

On the rear side of Kulturhuset Örebro, a monumental mural towers over the street of Gamla gatan. A gigantic narwhal stuck in a fishing hook covers the entire façade with its sorrowful expression. The work was painted for OpenART 2013 by the Belgian street artist ROA.

‘The narwhal is one of the few marine mammals, a unique species considering their horns. In this sense, they are mythical sea creatures – you might say the unicorns of the sea. The young narwhal that I painted has unfortunately got stuck in a fishing hook, which depicts the sad reality that these animals, just like many other species, have fallen victim to hunting and environmental degradation.’

ROA is an internationally renowned street artist, who often depicts animals and reptiles in a black, white and grey colour scale with acrylics and spray paint. His motifs are often inspired by the installation site and the animals that live there. Sometimes he also paints the animals’ insides, skeletons and inner organs. In his early career in his hometown of Gent, Belgium, he painted on building walls and under bridges. Today, large parts of the world are his canvas.

Narwhals live in the Arctic Ocean and have been hunted for a long time. The narwhal’s characteristic horn, which is actually a canine tooth, has been ascribed magical properties and sold as unicorn horns. The greatest threats to the narwhal today are probably increased oil extraction in the Arctic and environmental degradation, which has a drastic impact on the narwhals’ habitat.

Have you noticed the text under the mural? It is a trace from Open Art 2011 by the artist Marja Kanervo from Finland, who made the site-specific and interactive artwork TELL ME, in which visitors were invited to come up with suggestions on what the wall could be filled with. The text was created by the artist knocking plaster off the façade to expose the bare brick beneath.

Both Catch of the Day and TELL ME are examples of how street art can highlight topical issues about our society, our way of living, and about which voices and messages are seen and heard in the public space.