16 Jan Where to Find Street Art and Graffiti in Budapest
Budapest is a city filled with beautiful, and dilapidated buildings, and sadly as many old buildings get pulled down an empty firewall or empty walls pop up in their place. The good news though is that local and international artists and collectives have jumped on the chance to decorate these urban pieces of canvases with colourful murals, and artistic graffiti.
Next time you’re in Budapest, step away from the museums and explore the streets of made up of murals, stencils, graffiti, and paste ups.
The Murals of the Jewish Quarter
If you want to immerse yourself in the world of Budapest’s street art, start with the murals in the Jewish Quarter. Once dull firewalls have got a pop of colour in the form of Alice in Wonderland, a Greengrocer’s, Swallows and other murals. Collectives like Neopaint Works and Színes Város (Colourful City Group) work to bring colour to the inner city.
The great thing about this is you can just explore the neighbourhood and keep your eyes open to the bright firewalls around each corner, however if you like to do things more strategically, you can use our street art map to plan your street art route.
A good place to start is around Rumbach Sebestyen street, where you’ll find the Rubik’s Cube, the mural dedicated to Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskás, the former Austrian Empress and Queen of Hungary Sisi, then you can head a couple of streets up to Kazinczy Street, where wall art depicting the alien space invasions and stylised maps of hang above the ruin bars and beer gardens.
See below some of the most significant murals in the Jewish quarter made by Hungarian and local artists:
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
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Murals beyond the downtown area
But if you can’t get enough murals, you can find a few more off the beaten path away from the VII District, even in Buda. Check out the street art under Elizabeth Bridge just behind Rudas Bath, or head all the way south to Rákóczi Bridge where you’ll find great street art away from the tourists on both sides of the river. Just see our map to find these.
Photo: budapestflow.com
On Earth, Wather and Air. Aritst: Pubberoner (HUN)
Photo: budapestflow.com
Jing Jang City. Aritst: Zsuzsi Bakos (HUN)
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: szinesvaros.hu
The Alternative Art of Stickers, Stencils, and Paste Ups
In 2018, Budapest’s street art made the news when a stencil of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on a toy train popped up overnight on Rumbach Sebestyén street. At first, there was some speculation it was a real Banksy, but Banksy or not it was painted over pretty quickly. Soon the truth of art’s ownership came out, when parody political party the Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (Two-Tailed Dog Party) revealed they were behind it under the “Real Basky,” a Banksy imitation.
Soon you could find the Real Basky everywhere in the city with stickers and stencils of the iconic image covering the walls from lamposts to the doors of the St. János Hospital. You never know when the Real Basky will strike again, but keep an eye on their Instagram page to see when a new one pops up.
Photo: budapestflow.com
Another stencil and paste up street artist to look out for is Miss KK, one of the most prominent female street artists in Budapest. She plasters stickers of “dolls,” exaggerated and stylised female figures often with a political or social message, on abandoned phone booths or flaking walls in the city.
Stickers, stencils, and paste ups may not have the longevity of their mural counterparts, but you can still spot them around the Jewish Quarter, especially around the arcaded alley on Dob and on Kazinczy street
Paste up by Miss KK. Photo: budapestflow.com
Paste up by Miss KK. Photo: budapestflow.com
Paste up by Miss KK. Photo: budapestflow.com
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Discover Budapest’s street art scene and learn about the city’s contemporary culture
Spray Paint and Paste-ups in the Ruin Bars
You won’t just find graffiti on the street, but Budapest’s ruin bars come decorated with tags and urban art. Head into the drinking wonderland of Szimpla Kert, where the walls are covered in all kinds of art.
Although most of the graffiti manifests in scribbles in biro or marker pen by travelling guests – usually hearts with a date and a name – and by inspired locals inscribing political and social commentary (or just drunk banter), you may find some curious pieces of street art like Buddha among all the pen strokes on the wall.
You can also find street art, murals, and graffiti in the more counter cultural venues, like Auróra, Gólya, and Vittula, as well as mid-way ruin bars like Ellátó Kert where you’ll find a mix of Aztec murals mixed up with stickers and graffiti.
Spray art at Szimpla kert ruin bar. Photo: budapestflow.com
Sticker at Szimpla kert ruin bar. Photo: budapestflow.com
Paste up at Auróra underground cultural center. Photo: budapestflow.com
Stencial by Edward von Longus at Auróra underground cultural center. Photo: budapestflow.com
Guerrilla mini stateus by Kolodko Mihály
The Tiny Tank. Photo: kolodkoart.com
Mihály Kolodko was born in Ukraine with Hungarian origins, he graduated from Lviv Academy of Arts. After dabbling in larger sculptures, Kolodko decided in 2010 to devote his work solely to the miniatures he’s now become famous for. Most of Kolodko’s artworks are guerilla sculptures, however, there have been commissions recently.
The majority of his mini statues can be found in the inner neighborhoods of Budapest, hidden away in nooks and crannies on either side of the Danube.
Some of his artwork refers back to staples of Hungarian media, others commemorate great Hungarians of the past, and there’s even a little wry political commentary in there too.
Where to find Graffiti in Budapest
You don’t have to stay in the Jewish Quarter to see some great street art. In fact, it’s worth getting away from the crowds and exploring a different side of the city. Take the local suburban railway to the northern suburbs in Óbuda to Filatorigát, where you’ll find one of the few legal graffiti walls in the city. Just outside a cluster of abandoned industrial buildings, there is 400 meters of space where anyone with a spraypaint can is allowed to create art or tag. This colourful wall is a living canvas of art that will be different each time you visit.
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
Photo: budapestflow.com
If you want to check out another legal graffiti wall, then you may want to make a detour to the wall at Szemeretelep when you’re headed to the airport.
At the invitation of the local mayor, street artists turned this wall near the Ferihegy airport into an open air work of art with colourful and artistic renditions that make it worth going out of town or at the very least, a little side trip when traveling to and from the airport.
Photo: facebook.com/MOShungary
Photo: facebook.com/MOShungary
Photo: facebook.com/MOShungary
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RELATED WALKING TOUR
Discover Budapest’s street art scene and learn about the city’s contemporary culture, history and politics through these vibrant murals and street art pieces.
Have you ever dreamed of the thrill of popping open a fresh spray can and actually plastering a piece of street art on the wall somewhere?
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