A historic abandoned cruise liner, the Duke of Lancaster has become a UK landmark with the help of artists. The ship, located on the Dee Estuary in north Wales has become a canvas for graffiti artists recently, attracting tourists to the area. In August graffiti collective Dudug put its first artist work on the ship. Latvian Street Artist KIWIE was the first to put his touch on the ship.
He attacked in style creating videos under the guise of bombing the ship illegally without permission. He created two pirate characters which perfectly fitted in with the corruption theme," reported Dudug.co.uk. "
The website was launched on the night the work was unveiled and the local press were quick to cover the story. KIWIE soon followed up with the true video account of what happened - that he wasn't there illegally and had been invited by Dudug."
Ship coordinator Paul Williams said to CNN,"It's got the potential to be the biggest open-air art project in the world. The quality and size of the pieces is spectacular -- there aren't many places in the world that can accommodate artworks 10-meters high."
The former cruise liner is 137 meters long and seven storeys tall making it an expansive canvas for artists. With the owners cooperation, artists started joining Dudug and painting the ship. Now, those involved are campaigning to have the ship repopened for public viewing as an arts festival reported CNN.
"When the pieces first started appearing, we had some people say 'that's no way to treat the ship.'" Williams said to CNN. "But there's no doubt that what they're doing is art -- the key definition between art and graffiti is graffiti is done illegally. This, however, is done with the owner's knowledge and accommodation.
"And if it's the catalyst for regeneration, it's got to be a good thing," added Williams.
The largest artwork on the ship is "Eduk the Diver" which is a skeleton in a deep-sea diving suit that is 18 meters tall and 14 meters wide.
"I can see no better way to bring the historical plight of this beautiful old lady to the world other than creating a true landmark -- the largest open air gallery in Europe," said Dudug co-ordinator, Maurice Blunt to CNN.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
