NORTH CHARLESTON — Tiny clay moldings writhed on a round table. Giant pink people embraced in a sculpture. A makeshift aquarium tunnel full of paper maché fish and coral, spattered with blue twinkling lights, offered an under-the-sea escape. Two 20-foot-tall Shepard Fairey murals. Andre the Giant OBEY posters.
It all reminded us Charleston is an arts city.
The 10th Kulture Klash was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my hometown. In a massive warehouse space at the Navy Yard, three music stages and countless visual art pieces and experimental interactive exhibitions were on display for hundreds of attendees Nov. 22.
It’s the closest to Meow Wolf (the large-scale interactive fantasy art world with sites in Santa Fe, N.M., and Denver, Colo., among others) I’ve been. Dozens of pop-up walls and tiny rooms were constructed for this one-night extravaganza to show off the variety and scale of local art, taking you into different realms everywhere you turned.
After entering one geometric tunnel, you were assigned with finding hidden objects in a room full of baubles, knickknacks and a skeleton in a chair. Another puzzle station asked you to complete a series of tasks, while a drawing table offered up markers and paper for those interested in making their own art in the moment.
Meanwhile, live dance, comedy and music were unfolding. Out on a Limb Circus and other dance troupes entertained inside and out — jugglers launching glowing bowling pins, acrobats spinning on a hoop dangling in the air, break dancers landing a series of backflips and headstands, fire spinners swirling heat circles.
“My favorite part of doing Kulture Klash is the setting up before the event,” co-founder and artist Scott Debus previously told The Post and Courier. “It’s like I’m unwrapping presents on a special holiday. I get giddy seeing all the really fantastic art that everyone brings.”
As for the music, local DJ Sista Misses kept the dance floor bumping while local noise-punk band Florida Man, hip-hop artist MoonKat Daddi and EDM duo Girls Gone Down Bad were among dozens of acts performing. Headlining on the main stage was the DMC of popular ’80s hip-hop pioneers Run-DMC.