Tahiti is an island of bounty: amply stocked stores and restaurants, friendly people, and flocks of chickens and roosters. The street art in Tahiti colors the city of Papeete with beauty.
Enjoying Our Time in Papeete
We thought we’d be in Papeete for a week or so to get some chores done, but boat work is taking longer than expected. At first, we took Papeete on foot, but after a few days we rented bikes which make it easier to cover more territory, run errands, and stop to photograph the street art in Tahiti.
Any way you travel around Papeete, expect to see beautiful murals around most corners. Sometimes you have to duck down alleyways to see the art. I love cities with vibrant street art and it’s one of the unheralded highlights of Papeete!
Tahiti Public Art Festival
Papeete is like a giant open air museum thanks to Ono’u, the Tahiti international graffiti festival. Ono’u launched in 2014, and international and local graffiti artists have been painting the walls since. I don’t know what it was like before, but now it’s a very pretty and colorful place to visit.
Many of the murals in Papeete feature the Ono’u tag and the year they were painted for the festival.
Themes of Street Art in Tahiti
I love places where the street art is plentiful and Papeete is one of those. I’ve noticed different themes to the street art in Tahiti so I’ve arranged the photos accordingly.
Women and girls
Beautiful Polynesian women and girls are one of the most common subjects of the street art in Tahiti.
birds
Birds are another common theme in Tahiti’s graffiti.
I see this bird every day on the way to feed Domino at the boatyard.
The Sea and Sea Creatures
Not surprising since we’re on a Pacific island, sea life plays a role in many murals in Tahiti.
Cartoons
Cartoon animals pop up sometimes in the Papeete murals.
Art Is Not Just on Buildings
Street art comes in surprising places sometimes. Here in Tahiti, vans and trucks are just as colorful as the buildings.
The highway that drops underground for a few blocks along the waterfront by the marina is also covered with beautiful murals.
The park adjacent to the waterfront also has this pretty heart sculpture, popular in a lot of selfies.
The street art here has really impressed me and makes Papeete so much fun to visit! I hope you can check it out for yourself one day.
Where have you visited that has great street art? Share in the comments.
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Oh my goodness I love this Tahitian street art and am suprised there is so much of it as I imagine Tahiti as some idyllic island far away from everything and everyone – I suppose being in the UK everything is far away! It is really interesting to see the indigenous subjects – so beautiful
oh my gosh! So much incredible art. I’d love to see it in person someday. I love how colorful it is.
Wow! Just gorgeous artwork.I had no idea you’d find this in Tahiti. We hope to visit in ‘24 and will have to plan a good amount of time to see all of this.
I hope you get to come and see it for yourself, Amy! There should be another graffiti fest before then so you’ll get some new art too.