Portuguese artist transforms Rome train station with street art.

Portuguese street artist and sculptor Bordalo II is currently creating one of his mixed-media murals at Rome's S. Pietro train station near the Vatican.

Uma Cabra, which combines the artist's use of strong colour with discarded mechanical parts, is located at the Clivo di Monte del Gallo side-entrance of the station and will be completed by 24 January.

This is the first Rome mural for Bordalo II who is in town as part of the Forgotten street art project. Supported by, among others, the embassy of Portugal in Italy, the project involves five Portuguese artists being commissioned to enliven abandoned or "forgotten" buildings around the Italian capital.

Curated by architect Alessandra Arpino and art director Hugo Dias, the project began in October with This Connection, a mural by Add Fuel near the marine ministry in Piazza della Marina, in the Flaminio district.

The second Forgotten mural, by Frederico Draw, featured a portrait of Pier Paolo Pasolini on a silo at the former Mira Lanza soap factory in Ostiense, the site of Teatro India. The next two participating artists will be Eime and Maismenos.

Bordalo II is known for his highly colourful bas-relief creatures made using paint and items such as broken bicycles, car parts and tyres. His murals can be found throughout Portugal and also in Azebaijan, numerous European countries and the US.

See related article for an insight into Rome's street art scene.