Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “Following the recommendations of governmental agencies, the decision has been taken to postpone the Nuart Aberdeen festival until further notice. The safety of the public, our artists, crew and partners is our upmost priority and we will work closely with our Nuart partners in Stavanger and Aberdeen City Council to rearrange this world class event.
“As we work hard to support businesses through these unprecedented times, we will continue to assess the continually evolving situation in coming months and it is our hope that the festival will be able to take place later this year. A further announcement will be made in due course as things become clearer.
“As an international event which attracts tens of thousands, and with artists and crew travelling from across the world, this decision was not taken lightly. We know that this news will be disappointing to many people but also that there will be understanding about the circumstances.
“Nuart Aberdeen holds a special place in the hearts of many and we are committed to bringing it back to the city later this year when it is safe and appropriate to do so.”
Update from Nuart and partners
Martyn Reed, Nuart director and curator, said: “Nuart Aberdeen is an important annual survey of the current global Street and Mural Art scene, it has quickly become a flagship event on the UK cultural calendar. A year of logistical work, programming, administration, design, financing and developing collaborations with partners has brought us this far.
“In our desire to see art become part of people's everyday lives, for an arts event, we work with much broader than usual demographics - from infants to children to youth to marginalised groups and the elderly -as well as dozens of local businesses of course. We consider Nuart as a large sprawling international family, and the last thing we want to do -is to put any of these, or the public at risk.
“Due to this and other pending restrictions both at home and abroad, we feel that the timing is no longer right for the Festival weekend and public launch. With this in mind, we have agreed with our partners and the City of Aberdeen to postpone the Festival Weekend to a later date.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely, however, the health and wellbeing of all our participants, public and crew is our number one priority.
“As an artist-run and publicly minded organisation, we take this decision seriously and will work hard to make sure all of the hard work behind this event does not get lost or wasted.
“A new date will be announced as soon as things become clearer, but for now we are committed to supporting our community and keeping them safe. The fallout from these changes is having a deep impact on the creative world, it will be more important than ever to support the arts and local businesses in coming back from these setbacks. We’d like to thank everyone involved for their unstinting support in bringing us this far and look forward to implementing everything we’ve developed at a later date.”