This might come as a shock for some ( or maybe not) but there will be no Open Call for stickers and paste-ups this year. After 5 years of doing this I need a break. Not for good, but at least this year I need to free myself from the 1000+  messages I send to artists about the call and everything that follows after: answers to their messages, receiving hundreds of envelopes in the mail, or having to go to the post office to pick them up, sometimes waiting in long queues just to enter the post office. Then open the envelope, take a pic for a story and note down the name, country and number of stickers/ paste-ups. After a while I would find some time available with good day light also to take the pics that later would serve as posts on SM. 

Now there is a story behind why I took this decision and if you can spare 5 minutes of your time I can break it down for you. Year after year the festival took more and more of my energy, because it became bigger with more and more things to do and very few people actually involved next to me. At the end of last year, although this was the first edition with a really involved team, I went through a burnout and even if I kept on trying to do stuff related to the festival, even things that were pretty necessary post the 2025 edition, I had no desire to work there anymore. There was no motivation from the passion that used to drag me hours and hours before. Every time I tried to do something  I used to tell myself I can easily do it the next day and now I should also find time for myself. This was more than just procrastination. It was a form of telling myself I don’t want to do this anymore. I need a long break. 

I thought that the citybreak in Vienna and then the winter holidays would do me fine and I will be back in January with fresh energy. And then January came and nothing changed. Same lack of motivation. The last  nail in the coffin was my home. A place where presumably I have a space to reflect, find new ideas and energy, a drive to take me further. Instead it was this place full of things that I gathered as a total hoarder . Many of which I didn’t even need anymore.

So in order to clear my mind, I had to clear my apartment. I’ve thrown away or donated many various items. I went to every drawer or shelf in every room and when I finally made enough space, I could also arrange a small office in the living room ( the kitchen table was my working space where I used to put my laptop prior to that). 

Now I am done with that and can finally start to work again on the Street Art projects I want. Not 100% sure the desire is back.  In Romania we have a saying: appetite comes by eating. Hope that applies here too.  

Now if you had the patience to fully read this I most warmly thank you and tell you that the festival will still take place, regardless if we have finance for it or not. Also, you can still send stickers or paste-ups. Cause I am pretty sure it won’t be many. I will call these my hardcore artists who can see the post or story in SM in which I announce the absence of the call, have the patience to read this blog post till the end and still want to send stickers or paste-ups. Really curious if anyone will send this way. I don’t worry because I still have lots of stuff from previous years and can do a reasonable edition with them.

With this being said I don’t think I had or have depression, although I don’t think I  was far either. This is a small reminder to everyone to be kind to your mind and body.  These are the most precious things we have in this life. I personally gave up alcohol on January 1st, started running 3-4 times a week in the park and also started eating less and healthier. Also discovered ( most of you probably know about him for a long time now) Steven Bartlett. His podcast is a life changer for me.  

Be safe & ❤ Street Art, 

Vali.