Mural Magic at Montana Colors’ Flagship Festival Hola Utopia!

Hola Utopia 2022! has come and gone. The flagship mural festivals organized by Montana Colors in Hannover, Germany celebrated a successful third year of urban art adding six new permanent large format works to the cityscape, as well as adding an Urban Art Exhibition and the national premiere of Street Heroines, a documentary charting the progress of international female muralists.


Hannover is not one of the first destinations you think of when it comes to a street gallery of urban art. However, thanks to the initiative of Montana Colors’ German subsidiary, located in the city, that perception is slowly changing. This year’s festival invited a selection of international artists to produce designs informed by workshops involving local residents and the slogan of this years’ event: “Painting the Future.”

The first artist to arrive in the city was also the last to leave. Bier En Brood drove over from Rotterdam, Holland with one of the most complicated assignments: a curved façade at the Parkhaus Hanova in the center of the city, just around the corner from Nasca’s mural painted in 2021. The job was made even more tricky with the scaffolding that he had to negotiate, not to mention his ambitious anamorphic sketch. The owners of the building were so impressed by his work that they requested he paint a further two sections of the same size at the venue, which should be finished in a month or so.

Speaking of Nasca, the Peruvian-German artist was invited back to the 2022 edition of Hola Utopia! after his stellar work the year before. He created the illustration and design for the promotional poster and created 3D piece covering several surfaces of the youth club at the Speilpark Tiefenriede. His fantasy-inspired animals and birds made a fitting addition to the lush surroundings of the park.

Without doubt, the artist that made the biggest splash on the local media was Lily Brick. The artist from the rural community of Lleida, Catalunya produced a portrait of a mother and daughter close to the artist at the leafy surroundings belonging to Gundlach. Despite the numerous interviews and a couple of rainy days, the portrait was completed before she headed to her next destination – the Pow Wow Festival in Lancaster, California.

Another Catalan artist to make her way to Hannover was Galletamaria. The Valencian painter and illustrator is a relative newcomer to the international mural festival circuit, but her accomplished piece at the renovated industrial complex of Hainhölzer Höfe was a real accomplishment considering the size and shape of her canvas. She managed to apply her comic-inspired characters like a sticker, now visible all around the neighborhood.

Rookie The Weird is a Hola Utopia! mainstay, having contributed murals to all three of the festivals in Hannover. This year, his gothic animals were produced at the Boesner art supplies store on the outskirts of the city, as his impressive technique created what would be the signature piece of Hola Utopia! 2022.

The twin brothers Feros One and Dilk One had to get special permission from their native Ukraine to attend the festival, owing to restrictions in place in the country. Their 24-hour train trip was certainly worth it, as they combined to paint one of the most original pieces in the short history of Hola Utopia! Combining figurative painting with abstract techniques, the wall set in a residential area in the historical center of the city was especially well-received.

As we mentioned, Hainhölzer Höfe provided a surface for Galletamaria to paint on, but their implication in the project went further than that. In fact, they assembled a pop-up gallery space in a warehouse where the street art exhibition was held, featuring contributions from Hola Utopia! artists past and present. The show was combined with an impressive array of 3D skateboarding photographs by Sebastian Denz.

The cultural center Indiego Glocksee has provided support for the festival since day one, and this year increased its implication even more with a couple of social events that formed part of the Hola Utopia! program. A crowd of artists from Hannover’s graffiti scene attended a free screening of Alexandra Henry’s documentary “Street Heroines”, which provides a feminist perspective on the graffiti and street art scene worldwide, through testimony from Lady Pink, Martha Cooper and Aiko amongst many others. The night was completed with a party featuring Hola Utopia! DJs.

The organizational team of Artie Ilsemann (MTN GmbH), Jascha Mueller (artist) and Mark Dix (Montana Colors) told MTN News: “This year’s event has been especially harmonic, with great chemistry between the artists, volunteers and the local community. We’d like to thank everyone who helped make this possible.”

Hola Utopia! 2022 has gone to show that a sustainable street art event is possible outside of the usual big cities, with high production values, a progressive philosophy and fair conditions for the artists. We’re already looking forward to 2023!


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Hola Utopia is produced with the support of Gundlach Bau und Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, hanova WOHNEN GmbH, Fondsoziokultur Soziokultur Niedersachsen, Kulturbüro Hannover, Ostland and mateco GmbH.