Urban Art in Lisboa 4: downhill, towards the river

In the last few years, Lisboa has been increasingly known throughout the world as a city of urban art. Dedicated galleries, street art shops and other original projects have been popping up all over the map to bring this often overlooked way of artistic intervention to a larger public. National artists are recognized world-wide, while international names travel here to leave their mark. New projects appear every day, while others are painted over or destroyed as the city grows. Artistic graffiti is now proudly embraced by oficial institutions, and actively too. And in the center of all of this, the mural paintings.

This series will give you a few tours around Lisboa, focusing on some of the best works you can find. To really be able to follow it is best to have a city map at hand! For number 4 of this series, we will go from the neighbourhood of Amoreiras, passing through São Bento and ending in Cais do Sodré. This one is a bit of a stretch, but it will mostly be down the hill! You can also find some other trips of this series in the trendiest zone, the nearby neighbourhoods, the upper-city avenues, or following the Tejo riverside.

We're off to a great start. Avenida Conselheiro Fernando de Sousa is the location of what is called 'Muro das Amoreiras', a wall extending for over 400 meters, where street artists are free to leave their mark. Walk along the sidewalk to admire this immense mural! There are too many great works to show here, but here are some snippets.

At the south end of the street, turn left to reach Avenida Duarte Pacheco, follow it past Amoreiras Shopping Center and then a bit more, until you see the beautiful mural by the Arm Collective. Turn back a little bit and enter Rua José Gomes Ferreira, and near the end of the street you will find one of Shepard Fairey's works in the city.

Keep going east until you get to Largo do Rato, and then go down by Rua de São Bento. On your descent you will find several great murals. The first one you will see, in a small parking lot square, is the work of illustrator André da Loba. The thought-provoking image shows a storm of emotions, painted for the Dias do Desassossego event of 2016.

In the very same spot, turn the other way for a moment to see akaCorleone and Hedof's commemoration of 75 years of airplane connection between Lisboa and Amsterdam. Further down the same street, getting closer to São Bento Palace, there is a large work by portuguese artist Drawing Jesus, a multicultural face.

Always going down Rua de São Bento, you will enter the Santos neighbourhood. Find Rua das Gaivotas, among the labirinth of streets, where the Gaivotas Cultural Center is located. Their facade shows a carved face by Vhils, a major portuguese street artist.

We are almost done! Keep going down by Rua do Instituto Industrial, until you reach Cais do Sodré. On the other side of the train tracks, one set of the old warehouses stands out: it is the one painted by the hands of the great brazilian group Bicicleta Sem Freio, in Clube Naval de Lisboa. Go across the avenue for a closer look at their fantastic work!

For a more comprehensive list of oficial urban art in the city, check out Galeria de Arte Urbana. And there are some other great urban art trips around different neighbourhoods of Lisboa you can check out above !