Mural depicting ‘symbiosis between human beings and water’ adorns school wall

AMMAN — Amman’s cityscape was saturated with colour and hope as Italian street artist Millo kick-started the Baladk Street and Urban Art Festival of 2022 with his mural at the Rabat Ammon School last week. 

Baladk began as an attempt to “bring accessible art into the streets and to the people”, according to Rita Akroush, the Arts and Culture Projects Coordinator. Akroush set the 2022 theme for the festival as “equal access to resources”, related to the Sustainable Development Goals, with sub-themes of water, healthcare and education. 

Baladk additionally organises murals, workshops and talks around the theme of street art. Millo’s mural was accompanied by a talk on “Public Art and Social Change” at the Dante Alighieri Society in Amman. 

The mural relates to challenges concerning access to water, drawing inspiration from the concept of a biosphere that functions with a single drop of water, Millo told The Jordan Times. “It is related to Jordan, but the message is universal,” he added. 

The biosphere in the mural features a young boy in a jar of water, underlining “symbiosis between human beings and water”, he noted. This echoes the “essence of Baladk, which is the equal intersection of art, identity and access”, added Akroush. 

Millo was chosen for the project by Moad Isaid, the mural’s curator, as the artist’s figurative style renders his work uniquely recognisable. “Visually, his work echoes Amman and the way that it is and looks,” according to Akroush.

A city is defined by its residents and their needs, said Millo, noting that when he paints in unfamiliar places, he arrives early to feel the pulse of the place and reflect it in the work. 

“Street art is the only form of art that stays in the place where it is born,” he noted, which ensures that the intended audience is touched. 

In this mural, Millo said that the viewer becomes the “child-like, inspired character”, with the city in the background remaining “simple and anonymous.” 

“I want people to interpret my murals, I leave space for daily imagination, a bit of mystery,” he added. 

Every person will have their own interpretation, depending on their age and cultural background, which is influenced by their surroundings, said Millo.

As the mural was painted on a school, it can be “a great opportunity for more schools to do so, [and] for these buildings to draw attention”, said Akroush.

Vivien, an Amman-based German researcher, noted after the event that it is “nice to have pops of colour in the street, getting a small distraction and putting a smile on your face” in a city that can be “monotonic”. 

Street art is an “opportunity to see something nice that takes people out of their everyday life”, she added.

“I am always happy to go and paint in places where the art is needed,” said Millo, concluding the event.