Two of South Africa’s most remarkable graffiti artists,  Falko and Rasty collaborate on the Splitpiece project ‘Once Upon a Town.’

“Once Upon a Town” started on the 24th April and runs until the 10th May, this project sees these two artists paint 40 murals, 20 in Mamre and 20 in Pella. This continues Falko’s visionary mission to create an art concept that will become the flagship of mural/street art for South Africa.

Through the success of his previous Splitpeice project “Darling Made me Do it”, Falko has seen the value it has brought to the people of that community. The purpose of doing a much bigger version of that is to create tourist interest in small towns.

The Splitpiece murals create a rare opportunity to tell the story of different people, cultures and landscape. The completed project will comprise a living gallery, part of a continuing story in that community.

“I, before anything else, want to make it truly South African by implementing the idea in cities and towns that will in the end be testament to our diverse country.” Falko

One of the objectives of ‘Once Upon a Town’ is to promote self-employment and inspiration through the simple medium of a spray can. Community workshops are being held with this initiative.

Little communities like these are not visited for many reasons; such as poor infrastructure, limited access from main routes, and locals from the towns often do not have the resources to effectively promote their areas.

Using graffiti art is making tourism relevant to everyone. The art will be the magnet for attracting outsiders with the effort of exposing the historical value of the town itself. Just brilliant!

An exhibition will be held at the completion of ‘Once Upon a Town’ where the final artworks will be printed on paper for viewing.

Check out the time lapse video below