Backpackers often volunteer in return for accommodation when travelling as a means of cutting costs. This usually includes housekeeping, teaching English or farming, but because one travelling artist discovered, many hostels are open to more creative work stay arrangements.
London-based street artist Frankie Strand is renowned for her vibrant, larger-than-life murals. For the last 5 years, she's painted for everything from Milan Fashion Week to Greenpeace at Glastonbury. If Frankie's not using her work to promote conservation and spotlight environmental issues, she's using her passion for bright colours and unruly surfaces to brighten endless walls across countless cities.
In 2022, with a visit to South Asia coming along with a need to find out more about global ecological threats, Frankie started to contact charities hoping of developing a collaboration with like-minded people. Before too much time, she'd been offered accommodation in exchange for artwork that raised awareness of elephant poaching for that Wildlife and Natural Protection Society at Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka. It was then that Frankie realised her art might be used as currency, in addition to a force for good, on a wider scale while travelling.
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Where, how and why?
'In 2022, I travelled across Sri Lanka and India. At the beginning of this year, I stayed in Kerala before heading back to Sri Lanka', Frankie explains.
The first place Frankie stayed in would be a serene beachside hideaway called Panny Packers in Unawatuna. '[The hostel] had posted an advertisement online explaining that they are open to creative input using their guests. I reached out and said excitedly I was a painter, which i would like to live there and suggested that maybe I possibly could do so in exchange for painting for them. They loved the idea and so i wound up staying for 5 or 6 nights, cost free.'
Unlike other Parts of asia with higher tourist populations, Frankie states that in her experience, 'Sri Lanka has been by far the most receptive' with regards to these types of exchanges. 'India was less so because they're so inundated with visitors but I still were able to remain in Goa for a week for a couple of paintings. You just need to get in touch with places with backpacker trails and find out what sort of reception you get.'
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The creative process
With so much of Frankie's portfolio already promoting conservation, finding themes to suit her bio-diverse surroundings was easy.
'I'd contacted a few places before I visited and showed them a few examples of my work, explaining which i wanted to raise understanding of environmental issues', she recalls. 'It's such a hot topic, so most [hostel owners] were really on board with my ideas. Sion Surf Camp in Ahangama told me that one of the biggest concerns was the quantity of cigarette butts everyone was constantly dropping so wanted me to paint something reflecting that.'
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Is your art enough?
'Nowhere I stayed ever expected anything from me other than the artwork I'd provided to produce,' Frankie recalls when asked if she was required to work alongside the other volunteers.
'I almost felt a bit spoilt', she explains. 'People were so generous and I've stayed in places where the volunteers get worked really hard. I've always been in a position to paint by myself terms and are available and go as I please. It seems like a privilege. The Surf Camp offered me a container bedroom to myself for an entire week with free surf lessons and free breakfast, only for one mural.'
The impact
In the Instagram era, large scale art can act as priceless marketing for smaller businesses, particularly those frequented by young backpackers.
'I'd prefer to think that it could enhance the appeal of the place,' Frankie says of her work. 'When I stayed at The Doctor's House in Matara, I turned their pizza oven from the huge cement dome to an Octopus making it so much more interesting to check out and it almost turns into a landmark. The greater tourists discuss these places, the greater business they're likely to get.'
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Tips
Don't be shy to make contact with the hostels directly
'I discovered that if I contacted a place directly by email, it gave me more leverage if this came to that which was asked of me. If you apply through work exchange websites, I believe you run the chance of agreeing to volunteering terms that aren't necessarily suitable given what you're producing on their behalf.'
Know your USP
'It's important that you understand what your feature is. Seek information and ensure you're offering something which works.'
Paint free of charge as well as for freebies
'Painting in public places spaces is a great method of getting your work noticed. People would frequently approach me and ask me to color their house or their business in return for accommodation.
'I donated a mural to Girls Make Waves – an initiative that encourages Sri Lankan women to surf. It's been a predominantly male sport for more than 30 years in Sri Lanka because of cultural expectations. I painted that on International Women's Day so it felt particularly special.'
