What’s the street art in Burdeaux like? 3 Spots not to be missed

graffiti over the riverside

A weekend getaway from Madrid to Garonne’s riverside could let you discover France in a completely different way. As you may imagine, today’s article will not only showcase the alternative opportunities that avid travellers may experience while on a free tour in Burdeaux, but will it also show you most impressive street art & graffiti artworks in town.

Apart from walking along the river, we’d recommend you to picnic around the unnumerous cities’ gardens, enjoying a glass of their regional wine, or any of the famous French cheeses. However, you shouldn’t miss either the chance to photograph Saint André’s gothic cathedral, or the XVIII centuries’s architecture at Place de la Bourse.

Are you travelling by car? Don’t forget checking the icarsoft.

Nontheless, we will always recommend you to plan ahead of time what you’d like to visit. If there is a reservation required, then you’ll have it all done for the moment you arrive to the city. Still, we always love ‘getting lost’, wandering through the city to see if we find something unexpected.

Where should you head for an alternative tourism experience related to the street art in Burdeaux?

Whether you decide to join a street art Burdeaux experience with a local guide, or visit the city on your own, there are several spots that we’d suggest you visiting. Here we should make a difference between what graffiti and urban art is. Are they different? How would you catalogue both designs? Depending on whether you see graffiti as vandalism, or not, you may find more differences than you imagined.

In the same vein, you will also find that tourism trends are changing. It’s very common nowadays to find young adult travellers on a ebike or scooter, instead of walking. Thanks to powered vehicles, you’ll easily get to places that you may have not visited if you had to get there on walk.

A unique project called Darwin

Graffiti and street art in Burdeaux
Darwin is a unique spot located next to the Garonne River. Photo: Bernard Blanc / Flickr

For those of you who live in Madrid, it’ll be very easy to recognize what kind of space this is, if you related it to La Tabacalera. Darwin is a collaborative spot which harmonizes the alternative cultural scene in town, but which also acts as a hub for the street art in Burdeaux. These are some of the projects developed within this community:

  • ZAUÉ, Zone d’Agriculture Urbain Expérimental
  • Hangar, an indoor’s skatepark created from recycled materials
  • Coworking space, both for visitors and locals

Darwin is a unique location, not only because of the great street art artists and graffiti writers who have painted here (among them Bordalo II, Goin, Jeff Soto or Laurence Vallières), but also because of the sustainable and responsible project that it has turned into. We love visiting spots like this. Don’t miss it!

Shake well, a former graffiti and street art festival in Burdeaux

shake well artists at work
Graffiti writers used electric elevators to paint on large faccades

Despite the fact that the project is no longer working towards changing the street art scene in Burdeaux, there are still some murals that could be observed and photographed by visitors. Similarly to what happens in other French regions, the importance of a local contemporary underground art scene, could directly relate to the organization of festivals and events of this kind.

Shake well festival was last organized in 2018, but they keep working in the shades with the same spirit. For those of you interested in visiting some of the artworks that remain present from the event, here is some further details:

  • Cours du Maréchal Juin, PESSEC
  • Maison des Arts Université Bordeaux Montaigne
  • Around Bellegrave stadium

What’s the graffiti scene like in Burdeaux, and France in general?

graffiti scene in France
Throw-up and tags observed in an industrial area. Picture: 9CDR Photos / Flickr

Starting with the fact that a graffiiti will be illegal as long as it doesn’t count with the owners’ permission, then we could start a discussion about the war that exists between graffiti and the street art in Burdeaux. While some graffiti writers claim the streets with their ‘bombing’, others count with a commissioned project. You should even note that some of theses artists complain about projects like ours or the one run by Free Walking Tours Bordeaux.

*Cover picture by Bernard Blanc

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