Thanks to annual street art festival Nuart, the Granite City has become one of the world’s top destinations for street art.
Alongside cities such as San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney, the Financial Times ranked Aberdeen among the world’s top six locations for street art.
It’s thanks to Nuart Aberdeen, the city’s annual street art festival which first launched in 2017.
Organised by Aberdeen Inspired, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, Nuart has attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the region, as well as dozens of internationally-acclaimed artists.
Bahia Shehab and Niels Shoe Meulman were among those taking part in the 2024 event, alongside returning talents such as Hera and KMG.
With more than 60 works now located around Aberdeen, from huge murals to playful figures hidden around the city, here are 27 of the best Nuart Aberdeen murals from across the years.
5. Nuart Aberdeen 2018: Conzo & Glöbel
Glasgow-based duo Conzo & Glöbel, also known as Ciaran Glöbel and Conzo Throb, brought traditional sign painting techniques to the Granite City with their “Super Scurry” toy. Aberdeen’s love-hate relationship with seagulls is well documented, and locals know well enough not to eat while wandering city streets. With the wind-up toy’s affordable price of £20.18 matching the year it was installed, you can spot this mural when travelling along Holburn Street to Union Street where it sits on the corner of Willowbank Road. | Lauren Jack/The Scotsman
6. Nuart Aberdeen 2022: James Klinge
Glasgow artist James Klinge made his Nuart debut in style in 2022, with his art beginning with detailed hand cut stencils and descending into self-described “controlled chaos”. The chaos Klinge describes is likely contained to his process, as his finished artwork sits above a busy road with a woman cheekily calling for silence. Though his portrait perches on the wall of the Ibis Hotel, absolute silence isn’t likely with its location along the A956 Virginia Street and opposite the harbour. | Clarke Joss/clarkejossphotography.co.uk
7. Nuart Aberdeen 2017: Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery’s bold work which was installed as part of Nuart Aberdeen’s first year in 2017. The Scottish artist has been described as a vandal, a street artist, a post-Situationist, a punk artist and the “poet’s Banksy” and his Nuart project was created with former US President Donald Trump in mind. | Lauren Jack/The Scotsman
8. Nuart Aberdeen 2022: Jofre Oliveras
Another Spanish artist, Jofre Oliveras’ Aberdeen mural titled “The Man Who Owns The Stone” focuses on societal disconnection, meeting the theme of reconnection for Nuart 2022. Perhaps controversial for Scotland, a proud country, Oliveras thinks “nationalism obscures the vision” and that “identifying with national identity is defending the interests of the people who oppress us". Regardless, his Frederick Street mural featuring a man with his face covered by a flag is thought provoking political and continually relevant. | Conor Gault