For us at MONTANA-CANS, it is immeasurably important to have a close connection to our friends and partners who use our tools. This need for a close correlation has led us to support and sponsor an amazing amount of incredible events and projects, and helped us to establish collaborations with numerous artists, brands and partners. We are grateful to be in a position to be able to provide this kind of support, and thankful for the abundance of inspirations and ideas that artists and collaboration partners from all across the world share with us. We make it a point to feature these projects and collaborations on our blog and and social media channels, but because of the fast-paced hustle and bustle of the internet, we have decided it was time to create a printed collection which contains merely a small fraction of the creative work we have been involved in over the past years.
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URBAN NATION GALLERY Berlin is but a canvas to Urban Nation’s imagination In nearly all the major cities across the globe, the observant pedestrian will encounter and enjoy Urban Art. Their reward is taking in artworks of all dimensions, flaunted on walls, bridges, pillars or signs, using a variety of tools such as brushes, glue or spray cans. But you will rarely find a higher concentration than what can now be seen in Berlin’s Buelowstrasse, where suddenly, every pedestrian becomes a gallery visitor. Since its formation in late 2013, URBAN NATION is a foundation based in Berlin that focusses on bringing together urban artists to form and enrich neighborhoods, particularly in Berlin, but also all over the world. They hold many different kinds of workshops, events and exhibitions in non-profit public spaces with one goal: bringing community and artists alike together to beautify their surroundings. Their priorities are what makes this foundation unique, promoting equal support for upcoming as well as renowned artists, and communities, cities and their inhabitants. And the reactions they have received, especially in Berlin, have been their reward: full support from the community, people coming to take pictures and attracting positive attention. The „One Wall“ project series they have organized, has generated much interest from the locals, ultimately achieving their goal of boosting community, participation and creative exchange. Their focus on redesigning urban spaces, and consequently making art more accessible to the public, has already made a large impact on the street-life in Berlin, Kietz. Prettifying a few seriously ugly buildings has also required the help from some neighborhood kids, for whom a workshop was held to impart the values of street art and especially the impact our surroundings have on our everyday life. Another ongoing project is „Project M/“. URBAN NATION’s director Yasha Young chooses a curator, who then invites a group of internationally acclaimed artists to transform the windows and facade of a prominent building in Berlin, which is currently undergoing change. MONTANA’s support for URBAN NATION hasn’t wavered since the foundation has taken its first steps. Our team was fortunate enough to be in Berlin during „Project M/5“, curated by Roland Henry and VNA Magazine. The lineup was quite swank including Mark Lyken, Ben Frost, Pam Glew, Will Barras, Eine, Steff Plaetz, Nick Walker, O. Two, Sickboy, Xenz and Sheone. Eine refers to M/5 as being „the first urban contemporary museum solely dedicated to stuff that we do“, reflecting the respect and recognition project M has yielded for the impressive urban art scene. On that level Berlin is flourishing with the help of URBAN NATION, which is a cause, that we simply had to be actively involved in. The gallery is open: Berlin’s Buelowstrasse offers a gallery-style view urban art to every pedestrian. „The movement of this particular art form is spreading so big, that there is a confidence that comes from it.“ says URBAN NATION director Yasha Young. 43
