See No Evil (artwork)

See No Evil is a collection of works of public art by multiple graffiti artists, located around Nelson Street, Bristol, UK. The initial event to create the artwork took place over the weekend of 20/21 August 2011 and was Europe's largest street art festival at the time. It culminated with a block party. The street was mostly repainted in a repeat event in 2012.

It comprises murals of various sizes, See No Evil project represents a large number of elements and styles of the street art world, some painted on tower blocks, including a 10-storey office block. The works were created under a road closure, using scaffolding and aerial work platforms.

See No Evil 2011, was a week-long graffiti art event, that claimed to be the largest street art event of its kind in the UK, reaffirmed Bristol’s high position in the UK’s urban art movement, and supports the claim, that Bristol may be the current international center of this urban art movement. The city has a well established and thriving urban art scene, with many walls around the city decorated over the years by artistic graffiti, notably around the Stokes Croft area, often by local but international respected urban artists like Inkie and Banksy."Urban and street art are widely felt to be an important part of the city's creative DNA "(Bennet). The event was organized by respected Bristol street artist Inkie (Tom Bingle) who emerged (like Banksy) out of Bristol’s 1980’s graffiti scene. Once arrested in the UK’s as the ringleader of 75 plus artists in UK’s largest graffiti bust (Operation Anderson), Inkie said that the inspiration for the event arose partly from witnessing similarly grand street art projects in Lisbon and Melbourne: "I thought it was about time Bristol, home of urban art in the UK had an installation of this scale." "Nothing of this size and scale has ever taken place in the UK and it’s an event that has captured the minds of some the world’s most respected street artists. It’s a major coupé that we’ve managed to pull this off in Bristol."

The event was coordinated by Inkie, along with Mike Bennett - Bristol City Council, Bristol based music promoter Team Love (made up of music producers Dave Harvey and Tom Payne) and Sam Brandt, director of Weapon of Choice Gallery. The Council contributed £40 000 to the project, on the assumption of attracting tourists, with place-making director Mike Bennett paying for half of the project through his salary. The £40 000 was to be matched by private donations. the organizers spent a year planning the project, with full support from street’s residents, businesses and building owners. Bristol-based Team Love (TL) organized the music festival and street party side. Inkie "The biggest hurdle in organising all this has just been trying to balance it out and keep everyone happy."

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