Just as the COVID 19 was emerging, when Luang Prabang food night market was active, we sat one evening in the narrow ally. Crowded among dozens of tourists assembled by the street food stand, suddenly I noticed on the cracked and dark wall in front of me were two impressive murals, signed by TONA.

A few weeks later, because the COVID 19 spread in many countries around the world and news of the lockdown in Laos began, most of the tourists returned to their homelands. The streets were quiet, and most of the street food stands were gone. The beautiful and peaceful streets of the city, which UNESCO takes care of preserving, were exposed so from time to time more paintings of the artist caught our attention.

The paintings are realistic and special. We find them on the walls of abandoned houses and notice its mark even in areas far from the well-kept center of the city.

Most of the paintings, some of which have been well preserved, began to show signs of wear and tear.

Each painting we find, our curiosity grows. "Who are you TONA?" I wonder aloud and Kfir rushed to join in the search. He locates the artist's Instagram page: tona_one. There we are first exposed to the complexity and uniqueness of street art.

Later we found his Facebook pages: Tona Streetart, TONA

Soon, we learn that his art can be found in many countries: Indonesia, India, Japan, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and more …

So, who are you TONA?

TONA, a street artist from Hamburg, started spraying graffiti in 1999, in 2002 started make stencils art and in 2008 started make linocut and silkscreen printing. Most of his works were inspired by his journeys in India. Each character in his works has a name that expresses an idea. Wth his artwork, he intends to get the attention of the viewer, who is often distracted by the coldness and mercilessness of reality and touch the observer on an emotional level.

Contrary to other street artists, whose work often expresses social criticism and irony, TONA wants to make the viewer of his art smile. He hope that this way people may rethink their ideas and values.

TONA photographs children; converts the photographs into stencils; and creates their print, usually on surfaces and cracked walls, which provide a unique setting for the work.

In most cases TONA's art work is temporarily shown in public spaces. In the last decade, his works have also been exhibited at international art festivals and exhibitions: in New York, Venezuela, Canada, South Africa, Tel Aviv and New Delhi.

As André Maurois, a French-Jewish author, said:

Art is an effort to create, beside the real world, a more human world

and in my opinion there is no doubt that TONA manages to this very effectively!