Tribute Wall Sint-Andries MC's by Smates

The hood of several legendary Antwerp street artists

The hotbed of Antwerp street art is located in Frans Halsplein in Antwerp’s university neighbourhood. In the mid-nineties, however, the graffiti scene moved to the Sint-Andries neighbourhood. A vibrant hip-hop scene soon developed in this neighbourhood. Smates has created a tribute to this scene and the neighbourhood by extension. Everything converges in this gigantic mural. The DJ seems to be using the basketball court in Sint-Andriesplaats as a turntable.

Scale watches over Sint-Andries

The DJ’s name is Scale, and he’s a rapper with the legendary Antwerp hip-hop formation Sint-Andries MC’s. Nowadays he works as a stadium announcer in R Antwerp FC’s Bosuil Stadium. Look carefully and you’ll see that the Virgin Mary is none other than the rapper Slongs, who also lives in this neighbourhood. The neighbourhood itself is prominently featured in this mural with St. Andrew’s Church and the Poesje puppet theatre. The rods of a puppet refer to the poesjenellenkelder, the puppet theatre on this street.

A mural rather than a billboard

Smates looked for and found his own style. Nowadays he’s a famous street artist who is very much in demand. Companies and the authorities have realised that a mural has aesthetic added value. But it also generates a lot of visibility and requires a less significant investment than traditional advertising.

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