ted x Innsbruck: How to transform the public sphere through art with Jakob Kattner

“How to transform the public sphere through art”

In October 2021, Jakob was invited to speak at TEDxInnsbruck about the Calle Libre Festival.

What does it take to make the city a more colorful place to live?
A question that is raised by Jakob every day when he wanders the historic city center of Vienna. With his eyes wide open, he looks for blank spaces, walls, and concrete areas that are left unmarked. Free from commercial hindsights, he believes it is possible to create a more liveable area for all its inhabitants. Surrounded by advertising, traffic, and regulated areas, he challenges himself to bring the most democratic art form to light. With Calle Libre, he has painted over 70 walls in Vienna, integrating artists from all over the world and opening up an intercultural dialogue about how the city can be shaped by its residents. Street Art as a form of expression, free for everyone to see, can be a vehicle for everybody to make the city an open gallery and a place of participation.