REGENERATION is the theme of this year's street art festival Calle Libre, to which the Portuguese street artist Bordalo II has been invited. In his work block Trash Animals, he processes plastic waste into huge sculptures and wall reliefs depicting animals. For the festival, he designed a seven-meter-high and five-meter-wide squirrel growing out of the front of a Northwest Station warehouse. In memory of one of his most famous murals - a red squirrel - that was destroyed in Dublin, Bordalo II resurrects it for the festival in Vienna as a colorful trash sculpture. The animal's cuteness is a deception, however, and the artist's concern becomes apparent upon closer examination of the material: "Misdirected" waste leads to decades of accumulation of toxic constituents in our environment and in garbage areas. "This waste comes back to us in one way or another if we don't take care of it properly," according to the artist.

CALLE LIBRE FESTIVAL: August 1-7, 2022.
In the ninth edition of the Calle Libre Festival, the derelict Northwest Station will be occupied by international artists. In collaboration with KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien, a sculpture by the Portuguese artist Bordalo II will be created.