POW! WOW!
 | This article needs to be updated. (January 2024) |
POW! WOW! is an international mural arts festival founded by Jasper Wong in Hong Kong in 2009. In 2010, the first edition of POW! WOW! as a week-long mural arts festival was held in Honolulu, Hawaii. The festival has since exhibited in 17 cities worldwide with the purpose of city beautification and community building. [1][2][3] Past festivals have also featured local restaurants,[3] partnerships with local sports teams,[4] illuminated art installations,[5][6] and musical performances from artists such as Eminem.[2]
While POW! WOW! shares the name of the Native American pow wow gathering, the festival's name originates combining the "Pow" of comic book action bubbles with the "WOW" of a reader's reaction.[1][3]
In April 2020, POW! WOW! celebrated its tenth anniversary by releasing a 256-page hardcover book through Paragon Books.[7] All international editions of the festival are represented through a photo reportage of a mural created there at least once.
Notable participants[edit]
Festival years[edit]
| Festival | Location | Festival Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| POW! WOW! Hawaii | Kaka'ako District, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | 2011—2019 | [2] |
| POW! WOW! Long Beach | Long Beach, California, U.S. | 2015—2020 | [9] |
| POW! WOW! Worcester | Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. | 2016—2019 | [4] |
| POW! WOW! DC | NoMa neighborhood, Washington, D.C., U.S. | 2016—2019 | |
| POW! WOW! San Jose | San Jose, California, U.S. | 2017—2019 | [10] |
| POW! WOW! Korea | Seoul, South Korea | 2017—2019 | [1] |
| POW! WOW! Rotterdam | Rotterdam, The Netherlands | 2018—2020 | [11] |
| POW! WOW! Cleveland | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | 2020 | [3] |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Kriel, Celeste (25 Sep 2019). "Pow! Wow! bombs Seoul with public art". The Korea Times.
- ^ a b c d Jones, Jay (6 Feb 2019). "Oahu's Pow! Wow! fest elevates and celebrates street murals as the art they are". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c d Hlavaty, Kaylyn (12 Nov 2019). "International mural arts festival, POW! WOW!, coming to Cleveland in 2020". ABC News 5 Cleveland.
- ^ a b Lyford, Joshua (17 Aug 2017). "The Return of POW! WOW! Worcester". Worcester Magazine. Gannett Media Corp.
- ^ "Street Art Superhero Spidertag To Kick-Off POW!WOW! Worcester 2019". thisweekinworcester.com. 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "Art at the Ivy Corset Building in Worcester, Massachusetts". Access Fixtures. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "Pow! Wow! Worldwide!: 10 Years of International Street Art". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ Writer, JULIE DRAKE Valley Press Staff (2 September 2020). "The Return of POW! WOW!". Antelope Valley Press. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ Berkoff, Nancy (21 Jul 2019). "Pow! Wow! Underway In Long Beach". The Grunion. Retrieved 11 Dec 2019.
- ^ Pizarro, Sal (24 Oct 2019). "POW!WOW! San Jose Mural Fest Expands into New Territory". The Mercury News. ISSN 0747-2099.
- ^ Bogojev, Sasha (3 Oct 2019). "RECAP: POW! WOW! Worldwide Returns to Rotterdam". Juxtapoz.