This October, a Global Public Art Project Turns 35 Cities into Playgrounds

This month, urban centers around the world are hosting a massive public art project helmed by Nōvo Collective. uncommissioned has tapped 54 artists for a global initiative that sees the city as a playground, inviting participants “to slip playful, overlooked, or quietly defiant gestures into the cracks of everyday life.”

In Stellenbosch, South Africa, Strijdom van der Merwe installed sun-activated text works displaying heady phrases like “the visible is a shadow cast by the invisible.” Escif painted tiny fruits among the architecture near his home in Valencia, while Vhils painted a collection of fragmented portraits atop a Munich cultural center.

an installation by vhils of circular paintings with faces on a building — Vhils, “Antennas” (2025), KUNSTLABOR 2, Munich. Image courtesy of Jose Pando Lucas, MUCA

Perhaps most striking is Nomad Studio’s wooden structure erected in a park in Castilla y León, Spain. Appearing to fan outward in a circle, a collection of branches forms a meditative space with an opening to the sky that lets light stream inside.

uncommissioned continues throughout October with works by Cannupa Hanska Luger, Jason deCaires Taylor, Stephanie Brown, and many others slated for 35 cities total. See more on the project’s website.

stacked logs form an opening in a structure by nomad studi — Nomad Studio, “Socarrado (Scorched)” (2025), Parque Natural Sabinares del Arlanza – La Yecla, Castilla y Leon, Spain

stacked logs form an opening in a structure by nomad studio. a man stands in the opening — Nomad Studio, “Socarrado (Scorched)” (2025), Parque Natural Sabinares del Arlanza – La Yecla, Castilla y Leon, Spain

Strijdom van der Merwe's text installation on a white wall that says "the visible is a shadow cast by the invisible" — Strijdom van der Merwe, “Shadow Words” (2025), Stellenbosch, South Africa

Strijdom van der Merwe's text installation on a white wall — Strijdom van der Merwe, “Shadow Words” (2025), Stellenbosch, South Africa

Leon Reid IV's sculpture of two hands holding a phone emerging from a white panel with handcuffs around the wrists — Leon Reid IV, “Of a Free Will” (2025), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Photo by Leon Reid IV

a small watermelon painted on a wall by escif — Escif, “Infinite Still Life” (2025), Valencia. Photo by Escif

a small apple painted on a wall by escif — Escif, “Infinite Still Life” (2025), Valencia. Photo by Escif

a detail of a face painted on a circular form by Vhils — Vhils, “Antennas” (2025), KUNSTLABOR 2, Munich. Image courtesy of Jose Pando Lucas, MUCA

an installation by vhils of circular paintings on a building — Vhils, “Antennas” (2025), KUNSTLABOR 2, Munich. Image courtesy of Jose Pando Lucas, MUCA

an aerial view of purple and pink fabric flying in the wind in a cemetary — Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, “HOW TO HEAL A B-R-O-K-E-N WORLD-Cemetery of Belongings” (2025), Osu Cemetery, Accra, Ghana

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