Strokar Inside is an international platform of urban arts co -created by Alexandra Lambert and Fred Atax, transformed into a street art “4.0 supermarket” and laboratory workshop, this new platform who opened its doors in September 2018 expects to become an important street art center in Brussels.
The platform is located in an old supermarket with a surface area of about 5000 M2 at the heart of Brussels, in one of its hippest districts. It’s concept combines a museum, a gallery, a bar area, a shop, solo art exhibitions, a skate park, an art bazaar, shows, a fresco walk, film and documentary projections, events and performances.
Various prominent street artists such as Profecy, Andrea Ravo Mattoni, Denys Meyers participate in this monumental project. This year Strokar Inside also presents the historical aspect of the street art movement by inviting two major artists from New York: Kool Koor and T-Kid.
Irk Magazine had the pleasure to interview Alexandra Lambert to discuss more about Strokar Inside.
How was Strokar born? How has it evolved since its creation in 2016 until nowadays?
It’s an association that I co-founded with my best friend and partner in life Fred, he is a photo reporter since 20 years, and I’m a movie maker and the founder in Brussels of the fashion and design center which is called Mad Brussels. And together we are in love with the city and the problematic of cities and we are in love with the creative industry, and Fred is in love with the street art movement since 30 years. At the beginning Fred had incredible photographs from his trips in the world, he visited 120 countries and he didn't wanted to present them in galleries, so finally some street artists accepted to painted on them. So he could imagine something, and that’s the beginning of Strokar because we want to experiment a little bit with interdisciplinary creation existing between photography, street art, fashion design, original canvases or objects. And that is the origin, we founded it three years ago, and we presented 250 of Fred’s photographies revisited by street artists.
From where does the name STROKAR comes from?
The name is Art Stroke in verlun (slang in the French language) and it’s also Stroke by Art.
How does your background as the CEO of MAD Brussels (Alexandra Lambert) influences this project?
My background influenced the project because as the founder of Mad Brussels I can get finance from the European level, government, from the city to develop a project focused on creative industries. So I can bring to the association; which is private, me and Fred; some knowledge to begin the project and to it make grow up on the big level. and I am also in love with the creative industries but on a different focus and together we can mix our backgrounds and create a new crossover participation of artists. For example this year we present some bicycles created by a belgian designer called Pierre Lallemand which are revisited by some very famous street artists.
Which is the selection process of the artists that participate in the gallery?
It is the work of Fred beauce he is the artistic director and he is checking all the time what happens in the movement, who are the new artists or what the oldest ones are doing. And he contacts them, sometimes two or one year in advance for the artist to come here to develop something with us. But now because many important and big artists are participating it helps us to be more credible and to become more well known on the market as an association and as a label. Also sometimes artists ask him to participate.
Do you also present small artist that are not well known?
Yes because Fred is really interested to see who are the new best artists, and sometimes he selects a person who is emerging in the movement, because he thinks that they have a talent and we also want to present projects from artists for every taste. So you will like one fresco and another won't like it. So we want to present different kinds of projects and sometimes I don’t like something and Fred loves it. So it’s normal, we don't have the same taste, we are all different so we can present a very important variety and techniques of the movement.
But we also like to present major artists beauce they do incredible things, for example we have a huge fresco from Andrea Ravo Mattoni who worked with us and that two years ago began a project about the masters painters of the renaissance and here he we wants to show to young people that don’t go to museums anymore that it is possible to develop a very beautiful masterpiece with spray cans.
Which new discipline in street art you are willing to present in the future?
At the moment we develop step by step our production and maybe our next step will be a movie with Fred. We have the intention to make a movie with street art.
And do you think cinema is a discipline that street art should still explore?
Absolutely, because there are movies about street artists but are mostly documentaries.At the moment there aren't many movies that incorporate a street art element.
Strokar Inside has an undefined duration and it is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 6.30pm.
The entry fees are 8€ for the full price, 5€ for concessions and 12€ for guided tours.
More info:
Strokar Inside
569, Chaussée de Waterloo 1050 Brussels
