Palestinian street artist to unveil large-scale mural in Scottish city

A PALESTINIAN street artist is set to unveil a large-scale mural in Glasgow this weekend as part of a UK-wide arts festival.

Taqi Spateen, a Palestinian street artist and activist, is planning to unveil a large mural in Glasgow’s East End at Stevenson Street West, by Barrowlands Gate, on Saturday, May 25.

Traveling from Palestine, Spateen liaised with five artists across the UK to create a collaborative mural for each city he visited to showcase Palestinian culture.

Street art is a major cultural force in Palestine with the 440-miles-long West Bank Wall, also known as the Separation Wall, becoming a hot spot for graffiti artists to express themselves.

Spateen has created many murals on the wall including The Boy with the Goldfish Bowl, showing a child with their destroyed childhood home, and a collaboration with the outdoors brand The North Face with the mantra of Walls Are Meant for Climbing.

The Palestinian now creates his artworks internationally as he draws inspiration from his home's countryside, in particular the olive tree, which has become a powerful symbol for Palestinians.

His most recent paintings include depictions of mass urbanisation and colonial settlements in his homeland.

The mural will be a collaborative effort with local artist Ciaran Glöbe, who was one of the artists behind the recent fake Banksy in Glasgow.

Spateen is visiting the UK as part of the Bethlehem Cultural Festival as he travels to Leeds, Bristol, Stroud, London, and Glasgow to share and create his art.

Street artists Taqi Spateen

Bethlehem Cultural Festival was set up in 2020 to put the artists and culture of Palestine and Bethlehem centre stage across the UK.

Melissa Scott, the festival’s creative director, said: "We are excited to be able to facilitate collaborations between Taqi and UK-based street artists.

“We hope the resulting murals will be a lasting legacy demonstrating our hopes to eliminate the walls and borders that divide us as humans.

“We continue to be devastated by the violence inflicted on all our friends, artists and cultural practitioners in Palestine.”