The new MONTANA-CANS LOOKBOOK 2018 out now featuring special MONTANA-CANS products, brand collaborations, events and artists. At MONTANA-CANS we benefit, as a team and as company, from working closely with creative heads, our friends and partners. In return, it is our pleasure to support events, projects and artists. In our opinion, a fruitful cooperation is the source for creativity, development and growth on all levels. We are fortunate and grateful for the fact that we are approached by artists and collaboration partners alike, who have incredible ideas and inspirations, is something that we are very thankful for. Also check the previous issues MONTANA-CANS LOOKBOOK 2016 and 2017
APTART
APTART Montana Cans: Through all these projects, how do you choose which cause to focus on? Samantha: We try to select places with the most need. Places where street art isn’t common. When we first started in 2010 public art was becoming more popular but eight years later it is significantly more common. We also try to select places where most artists wouldn’t normally go. We work in refugee camps, slums or post conflict areas. We select places where there is social tension and public art can be used to unite a divided community through a collaborative activity. Montana Cans: As a woman activist, but also involved in the arts, what are the obstacles you have faced through the years? Samantha: Street art and graffiti are a male dominated industry; there can be a lot of ego. I have been lucky enough to only work with extremely supportive men. The industry is slowly changing, but it is changing. Montana Cans: For you, what is the importance of art as a medium / a tool to educate and change our world? Samantha: Art is a language for everyone. It's a peaceful way of expressing ideas or feelings, but also a unique and universal way of communicating with people from other cultures or countries, different to our own. Montana Cans: If you could tell something to your younger ‘you’, "like 10 years back", what do you think that would be? Samantha: So many things! Wear sunscreen, study harder, stop drinking cheap beer. Those things and so many more, but probably the most important would it be to spend time with people who have different culture and ideas than mine. The more ideas you expose yourself to, the better you examine your own ideas and the broader your perspective becomes. I used to believe there was a clear right and wrong. My perspective was black and white, but now I see things more nuanced, and that makes me a happier person. There “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” is a Rumi quote I think sums this up completely: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” 138
