I stumbled upon Blu murals on my last two trips to Europe.
While I love Blu’s mind-blowing wall-painting animations like Big Bang Big Boom and Muto, it’s cool to come upon his still images—and remnants of his animations—on facades around the world. Especially when you’re not looking for them.
City: Berlin // Neighborhood: Friedrichshain






Location: Lisbon // Metro Station: Picoas





I would love to see the remnants of the animation that would be cool
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Awesome.
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I like how the murals make plain buildings come to life, especially if the buildings are in neighborhoods that are considered urban.
Found this post through a post on street art that you commented. Nice to see fellow lovers of street art.
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Sorry for the late reply — thanks for visiting. I’m in Cairo and came upon a street of art, stencils, and graffiti today. May post some here soon!
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They are really marvelous murals. They do that here in Sydney. Thanks for the posting.
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nice photos
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Awesome murals! They seem to be the architecture of the whole area. It looks like you’re in Wonderland, not in those two cities 🙂
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Awesome work! bravo!
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When done properly (like in your examples) this sort of art is stunning and really grabs your imagination.
Love the photos.
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Love him! 🙂
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Awesome… Like the King with earth as a coconut cocktail…
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inspiring! thanks for sharing.
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Nice photos. Grafittis like the one you featured are quite new in our place.
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So glad I saw your post. Wonderful images of Blu murals. Really peaked my interest in photographing murals.
Thanks and congratulations on being Freshly Pressed.
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this is amazing!
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interesting murals. great images.
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I love the mural in Germany of the man with chained hands, dressed in a nice shirt and tie!!!
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Amazing. Europe has some of the best Street Art. I find it beautiful but I wonder how most Europeans feel about their street art. What is the prevailing attitude?
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Hey Charlie–
You know, that’s a good question, and I’m sure the attitude and response depends on each city. But I don’t know the answer for Berlin and Lisbon. I love graffiti, street art, and flyer culture, but in Lisbon I actually thought a great deal of the “street art” I saw was ugly and took away from some of the neighborhoods. (The BLU stuff is an exception, of course!) Lots of mindless, illegible tagging and scribbles, for instance. (And it seemed to be a dirtier city than others, so that added to it, too.)
But yeah–very good question. Makes me want to look this up and see if anyone has written about it.
Cheers,
Cheri
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Nice shots 🙂 You have a good eye for catching these.
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Great Blog! Thanks! best wishes, Miriam
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Great street art, BLU is one of my favorite artists. Each time he surprises me with his inventions, great!!
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These are amazing! Love the massive man of tiny men.
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very nice art …. great to see them….
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Hi there! I was also in both cities and surely prefer my own Lisbon also regarding to this art work.
Hav a great week thx 4 sharing this nice images
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Thanks for the Blu photos, great to see them!
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Superlike this! I’m so glad you chose to post these pictures intead of the done to death picture-postcard photos of cathedrals and blah blah 🙂
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Some absolutely stellar work here!!
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Congratulations on FP!
These pics are simply amazing! Thank you for sharing!!
I like them all, especially the big- man of mini-men and the man drinking from the earth. Well shot!
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In the Pink Man one it looks to me like their inspiration came from Frognerparken in Oslo where there is a statue made in exactly the same way. Good art though. Thanks for posting.
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Hey Eleanor–
So, I Googled the place in Oslo and came upon images of statues by Gustav Wigeland — one is a tall, lean column made of “many men,” and from what I see it looks like there’s a whole sculpture park by this person. I think this is what you’re referring to, eh?
Very cool. Thanks for the note!
–Cheri
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Cheri, I was so inspired by your mural pictures in Europe, so I looked for something similar locally. It turned out that Philadelphia has a lot of murals to offer, and the city has really high quality murals in the center city. So I took a self-guided mural arts tour with a friend today and took a lot of pictures. Even though my pictures don’t look as artistic as yours, i was so happy that I had a chance to experience an aspect of Philly that I would never have thought of without stumbling to your blog.
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Aw, that’s great — I’m so glad to hear that! I maintain this blog to document my travels and musings for primarily personal reasons, so when you say you were inspired by some of the work featured here, it makes me happy. I have not been to Philly yet — I’ve been meaning to visit a friend there for years, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’d no idea the city was full of murals — good to know. Thanks so much for your comment.
Cheers,
Cheri
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You should definitely visit Philly when you’re back to the US. It is a dynamic city with a lot of public arts to offer. The murals are into depicting multiculturalism and US historical events and people because it is a program funded by the city. I will continue reading your blog for arts and traveling inspiration.
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Awesome! I’d love to see those one day. 🙂
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After seeing this, I want to go!!!
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Blu’s work is amazing! Thanks for this post. I’m going to try to find more of this artist’s work online.
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Very interesting murals in terms of style. Thanks for this!
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I remember seeing these when I was in Berlin, and they’re absolutely amazing!
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Blu is a genius. Great photos!!!
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Mini Man is cool. Your blog is great! Keep up the great work.
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simply amazing pictures!
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woow it is very Beautiful
thank you for the Pictures 😀
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I love the handcuffed businessman. I went by this one today. I could just stare at it forever.
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I was in Lisbon too recently and saw these graffiti, really cool! nice post
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Damn.
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Amazing how you can turn almost everything into respected, brilliant art… Very inspiring!
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These are mind-blowing, exciting and fantastic. The pink dude made of smaller dudes is…well…mind-blowing, exciting and fantastic.
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I might just have to take a visit to Lisbon and Berlin… amazing work
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Great photos. Thanks for sharing this.
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the art is beautiful and the photos are amazing!
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Great work !
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Great photos! Beautiful art in two cities I hold dear to my heart – thanks so much for posting and for hipping me to Blu. There’s so much to explore on your blog – keep up the great work and have a great weekend!
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Its so amazing pitcures! I really love them!
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Amazing photos
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Whoa nice photos of street art. Share more of these. 🙂
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good..like the pics
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Murals can be found in many cities around the world. But the ones in your photos captivated me instantly!
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Interesting photos! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 I’d love to see them up close too someday.
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pretty nice how the texture of the last building, lent to the realistic texture of the yellow hand holding up the man.
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This is pretty sweet!
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This is a nut job! But an extraordinary amazing one!! Love it!! 😀 Great pics!
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Dark visions, very nice photography. Thanks for sharing these….
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Wow, thanks for sharing all these pictures. They look exotic!
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That wall art is awesome… I lived in Virginia and Seattle and there were giant murals of whales that were done by the same guy!
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Nice art and nice of you to promote it but this post, like so many other blogs, is not based on your own work and has little of your own thoughts. It’s easy to post some photos. It requires effort (and talent) to write about and discuss them. Sadly, blogging is about posting frequently and trying to catch someone’s attention for 30 seconds. People view posts like this and soon forget them.
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Hi there–
I appreciate your straightforwardness, and take your criticism seriously, as I agree that many blogs are simply platforms for people to scrape content and images from other sources and regurgitate, alter, or present as their own. I totally admit this BLU post is one of my recent “lazy” posts — and believe me, I have a handful, as I’ve not felt inspired to write lately, and in the absence of a creative spark I look to my volume of photographs from my travels and do photo posts like this one, often with little of my own commentary.
Yes, you are right: it requires little effort. So, I value your comments, and when I choose to highlight other writers’ or artists’ work in this way in the future, I will push myself to add something new to the equation.
That said, from what you hint at — “It requires effort (and talent) to write…” — I feel you, likely a first-time visitor to my blog, are judging my entire body of work from this post. I always wonder how WordPress editors select Freshly Pressed posts, and if I were able to nominate a post for selection, this post would *not* be one of them! It doesn’t represent, truly, the writing I do and love. (I’m not saying I’m not grateful for the feature; I think it’s awesome it was selected.) I’d say 85% of the content on my blog is original nonfiction, memoir, and travel writing. But yes, I toss in colorful, fun, easy photography posts like this, too.
If you are at all interested in the themes and ideas that I love writing about, select one of the Virtual Life; Life, Time, and Memory; Writing Life; or Love posts on my Top Posts page.
Again, thanks for your feedback.
–Cheri
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Well handled 🙂 Thanks for including the link, as I teach incarcerated teenage boys and use Art in the classroom as a way of inspiring them and keeping their attention. I hadn’t known of Blu or this clip (which I am going to now show them), so without your post not only I would be missing out, but my boys would be missing out too. Sometimes it’s okay to just share!
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“Sometimes it’s okay to just share!” << I agree with this, too. Thank you! I'm glad you've found this post helpful for the work you do, and I think that's awesome you'll introduce BLU to your students. And what an interesting (and challenging, I'm assuming) line of work.
Cheers,
Cheri
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Yes, that was a good response. Perhaps I was more annoyed at the many dumb responses like “Awesome!!!!” and “I love these images, so colourful and vibrant.” Reminds me of Twithead (Twitter). I wish you further success (whatever your goals and aspirations may be) in your blogging.
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Awesome!!!!
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In addition to being fine art, some of the works were clearly intended to make a social statement, not too heavy-handed but obvious enough. Thanks for sharing.
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*Extraordinary* post, Cheri! With 11 photos, you’ve settled the question I’ve asked many a time: “Is street art ‘art’?” Let’s hear it for a resounding YES!!! Thanks … and congrats on being Freshly Pressed. Well deserved!
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Blu is awesome. I’d lost track of him. What a wonderful report on him you’ve provided.
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Art that’s free, beautifully made with a human a message to boot. If a person still can’t comprehend what it means, then he/she is numb to the worlds cry. Amazing photos!
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nice photo. keep good bloging
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Wonderful Lisbon.
http://calogeromiratraveland.wordpress.com
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Great shots. After having documented street art in my city for years, this makes me really jealous. The art is amazing. i really appreciate your perspective – both long and close-up shots. Nice work.
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These are such great pictures! My wife is a long photography lover and I’m planning this day trip to the city (of Los Angeles) to take pictures… maybe not as good as these ones, but still.
Thank you for sharing.
-MTO
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Wow, this is so amazZing!
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I love these images, so colourful and vibrant.
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GOLDEZ !!
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These are really cool! Not your typical shots of the city.
Rob
http://robfranklin83.wordpress.com
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Inspired me to find out more , Never heard of this guy.
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love love love this!!!!!
the commentary that is being reflected in the work is so outstanding. It makes me miss Europe. Beautiful shots! and loved the close ups. I love being able to look at details, its something you rarely get unless youre there in person! thanks for sharing!!
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Hey Andrew–
I agree about the close-ups…from afar, these murals are spectacular, but the details are equally awesome!
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I…Love the View…Artist in Chicago.
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Great shot selections
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Brilliant photos and art! Perhaps someday I shall visit!
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Thanks for the pics. I loved the graffiti and murals in Germany! Try to visit Stuttgart; amazing!
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okay duuuuh i feel retarded now, you posted the clip in your blog. nevermind. i’m so eager to get wordpress relevancy i didn’t even notice it before i commented.
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Ha, no worries. But yeah, his stop motion animation is pretty mind-blowing… Thanks for the note.
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have you seen the youtube clips of them making their art, it’s in stop motion and it’s really cool. my world art teacher had us watch this a few semesters ago… http://youtu.be/uad17d5hR5s really dope!!!
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Nice!
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These murals and photos are breathtaking! Makes me want to visit Berlin and Lisbon.
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I love me some raw street art! Great shots! I am always snapping graffiti, myself. 😉
http://www.modernfunk.wordpress.com
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The man made up of little men reminds me of Clive Barker’s short story, “In the Hills, the Cities.” Very ominous. Very cool.
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Hmm…I don’t know of this story. You make me curious; I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the note!
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Thanks for sharing this post. It is informative and inspirational. Do you know any such murals in the US?
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Yes…Chicago…has Lotts.
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That is amazing! Really brings some life to the buildings.
Thanks for posting.
Dave
http://blog.beentheredunnthat.com
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The pink man is very interesting. I didn’t realize that it was men until I looked closer. Thanks for sharing.
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This makes me really want to travel there!
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wooww…amazing..!
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i have never been to lisbona, but i now berlin’s street art, which is realy great!
you can find some street art’s photos on ma blog too 🙂
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Blu is so awesome. 🙂
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Blu is greatness. Thanks for sharing
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That’s so amazing, so expressive art
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This is incredible!! Extremely creative!!! Thanks
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Wow. Pretty amazing. I think my favorite is the gas king.
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Love your blog. Congratulations!
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Blu is a genius. Saw some of his stuff in Grottaglie last year (posted on my blog here: http://tiny.cc/8p3s5)….but you should check out his animations – it’s insane. eg: http://www.vimeo.com/993998
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Just Awesome – I really like the Pink Man mural. Congrats on being FP!
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The massive man of tiny men is just amazing
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These are brilliant. Fantastic art, great photographs.
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Those are incredible. I love how they literally change the skyline. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed.
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“I love how they literally change the skyline.” << Ah! I love this. Well said.
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Cool pics! I love the way the drawings and the architecture of the building complement each other (i.e. the last 4 pics)!
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Yeah, I hear you how they complement each other. Both cities, particularly Berlin, are fitting landscapes for these murals. Thanks for the note!
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Spectacular photos — spectacular art!
Thank you for sharing,
Mikalee
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BLU is wickedly disturbing. I like the man made of mini-men best.
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Neat shots! I especially like the “massive man of tiny men.”
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Awesome photos, just brilliant!
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