Slovakia

Kosice street art – an urban gallery in Slovakia

(Last Updated On: 27/12/2023)

Before visiting Kosice I had no idea the city is a big player on the street art scene. And after not finding many good murals in Bratislava my hopes weren’t that high, to be honest.

To my great surprise the second biggest city in Slovakia turned out to be pretty awesome and one of the reasons why I enjoyed it that much was Kosice street art! It might not be seen at first sight but once you dig deeper you can find some pretty amazing murals spread all over Kosice. Finding all the great street art there is one of the best things to do in Kosice.

Kosice street art

The story of Kosice street art

The whole concept to bring street art to Kosice was created by Street Art Communication – a local organization whose main aim was to introduce the urban art in the city. In 2008 they’ve launched a local street art festival during which some of the best murals were created.

These days there’re around 30 murals in the city made by both local and international artists. The peak of the activity was in 2013 when Kosice was the European Capital of Culture.

The festival used to be one of the biggest in Central Europe but now is long gone. However, Street Art Communication is still very active in the local scene.

Every year they work hard to put new murals in Kosice’s walls and I personally think it’s much better idea than having everything done at once. Bratislava street art should learn from them!

Kosice street art

Rules of Kosice street art

There’re couple of rules that Street Art Communication follows when choosing the location for the new mural.

It cannot be made next to the big advertisement in order not to confuse people. Locals should easily distinguish what is a piece of art, even if in a big, urban form.

The organization also helps inhabitants who don’t have money to renovate their blocks. Instead of painting them in bright colors (like in most of the cities in Central Europe these days) they offer to create murals on the walls so the blocks wouldn’t step out as the only ones that weren’t redone.

To have it done the organization needs to get the approval of 51% of people living in the block and sometimes that’s even too much…

Putting so many murals on the walls of Kosice has been somehow beneficial for the city. Random tags and graffiti are barely seen around, instead, fine works of art embellish Kosice.

But there’s more street art than that! Another project made for the European Capital of Culture 2013 was SPOTs – a former redundant infrastructure that was used to bring culture to the suburbs too. Those places, like the heating stations, are covered in some decent street art as well!

Kosice street art

Artists who created street art in Kosice

I was lucky to be able to discover Kosice street art together with Viktor from Street Art Communication and it was the best way to get to know explore the local scene. After really great tours in Buenos Aires and Lisbon also Kosice didn’t disappoint!

I couldn’t be happier to find out that some of the best murals around were made by Polish artists. There are also works by the English guy – Phlegm who created my favourite mural ever that I used to see every other day here in Warsaw (now it’s sadly gone) as well as INTI from Chile (I love his works too) or Point from the Czech Republic!

Kosice street art in pictures

Anyway, below you can see the amazing pieces I could admire in Kosice!

Inti, Chile, 2013

Kosice street art Inti

Sepe & Roem, Poland, 2013

Kosice street art sepe roem

Bezt & Pener, Poland, 2013

Kosice street art Bezt & Pener

Pener & Tone, Poland, 2012

Kosice street art Pener Tone

spot, Radoslav Repicky

Kosice street art

spot, razk 437

Kosice street art

Claudio Ethos, Brazil, 2012

street art kosice claudio ethos

Phlegm, England, 2012

street art kosice Phlegm

Reus, Slovakia

street art Kosice Reus

Point, Czech Republic

street art Kosice Point

Cart1, France, 2011

street art kosice cart1

Erica Il Cane, Italy

Kosice street art

Chazme & Tone, Poland, 2013

Kosice street art Chazme Tone


If you plan a trip to Kosice I wrote more articles about the city:


For the end I left a few announcements that might interest you:


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Disclaimer: I visited Kosice in partnership with Visit Kosice however all the opinions are 100% mine, as always.


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57 Comments

  • Reply
    Agnieszka/zależna w podróży
    22/07/2015 at 15:21

    You need to come back to Bratislava. They have some amazing street art as well. You can see some of it going by Polski Bus but as you probably never use it – a nice walk is just fine ;)

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 21:53

      will check that out in September!

  • Reply
    Łukasz Kędzierski
    22/07/2015 at 18:22

    Na początku chciałem napisać, że koleś zwe fladze amerykańskiej wygrywa, lecz szczury w przejściu wymiatają. Bardzo dużo dobrych prac Polaków – czy w Polsce też tworzą?

  • Reply
    Natalia Malec
    22/07/2015 at 19:45

    Kobieta z butelką (?) w ręku najlepsza!

  • Reply
    Monika Pawłowska-Radzimierska
    22/07/2015 at 20:55

    Dla mnie każdy z tych murali jest super, ale Bezt & Pener najlepszy !!! Wiem co mówię, jestem z Łodzi ;)

  • Reply
    Nick
    22/07/2015 at 22:23

    Wow, Kami! So great – this is one of my favorite things to do when traveling in new cities. You’ve cataloged Kosice’s street art amazingly, and I hope to get to follow your guide in the near future – Cheers! :)

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 22:00

      Thanks Nick! I always focus on street art and alternative spots too, but that you’ve probably already figured ;) You definitely should visit Kosice when you have a chance – such a cool city it is!

  • Reply
    Concrete and Kitsch
    22/07/2015 at 21:25

    Great write up! Thanks for sharing, Kami :)

  • Reply
    Pola Henderson
    22/07/2015 at 22:22

    I keep telling myself that next time I’m in Poland, I’ll hop over to Kosice. :)

  • Reply
    Michał Qmoh
    23/07/2015 at 06:42

    Dzięki, że dodałaś mapkę ;) Następna trasa wypada mi przez Koszyce i już się z tego powodu cieszę :)

  • Reply
    Meg Jerrard
    23/07/2015 at 13:26

    Love the street art!! Really does give a city a completely different vibe, and makes it interesting to wander and explore the streets. I also think it’s a better idea to add to the murals every year instead of all at once – means you’ll keep people coming back over time for return visits to see more!

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 22:01

      exactly! Kosice is the only place I know that stoped doing the street art festival when all the murals were created at once. And I like it so much more this way!

  • Reply
    Karol Werner
    23/07/2015 at 17:43

    A kiedy będzie Ruda Śląska street art?

  • Reply
    PatTravel
    24/07/2015 at 08:19

    Bardzo bliski mi temat. Koszyce i eksploracja streetartu już w nastepnym miesiącu. Czy istnieje jakas app lub www map z lokalizacjami tych murali?

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 22:02

      o, doskonale! Koszyce są dosć fantastyczne! o appce nic nie wiem, mapkę taką jak mi się udało zrobiłam, ale na stronie Street Art Communication wiecej adresów znajdziesz. W ogóle najlepiej napisz do nich, powiedz że u mnie info znalazłaś i poproś o więcej informacji, na pewno pomogą!

  • Reply
    Ibazela | Love Traveling
    24/07/2015 at 08:56

    Definitely my favorite one is Sepe & Roem, Poland, 2013: dark one with four guys (at the beginning I thought they’re riding horses because of their thin legs) with a wolf/dog and a kind of tree ;)
    I wonder what would happen if Beksiński had tried street art ;)

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 22:03

      that would be insane!!! I’d love to see his version of street art! too bad we can only dream about that…

  • Reply
    Nieustanne Wędrowanie
    24/07/2015 at 08:58

    Niektóre arty, które tu zaprezentowałaś są świetne!

    • Reply
      kami
      02/08/2015 at 22:13

      oj zgadzam się tak bardzo! :)

  • Reply
    Darek Sekula
    24/07/2015 at 14:08

    oh Koszyce marzą mi się :D od dawna już! super foty!

  • Reply
    Eva
    25/07/2015 at 01:06

    Fajna alternatywa dla mieszkancow, ktorzy nie moga sobie pozwolic na pomalowanie budynku! Same korzysci dla obu stron i nowe miejsce do odkrycia dla zwiedzajacych miasto. Tylko ten malunek ze szczurami jakos tak srednio mi sie podoba, brrr…. ;)

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:19

      no te szczury są delikatnie przerażające, fakt! ale ogólnie koszycka scena streetartowa bardzo na plus!

  • Reply
    Elliott
    25/07/2015 at 10:05

    Simply awesome. I think tasteful, really beautiful street art like this adds such a great atmosphere to a city. Great photos of great work!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:20

      Thanks! and I agree, street art can do so much good to the place!

  • Reply
    Fiona @ London-Unattached
    25/07/2015 at 10:24

    It looks stunning, though not what I was expecting as ‘street art’ – it seems very mainstream?

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:21

      well, it depends how you define street art, is it only random, illegal graffiti or also some well-thought murals. For me it’s a combination of both!

  • Reply
    Bethany Dickey
    25/07/2015 at 10:38

    Street art is so fascinating! I loved seeing the pieces in Prague and Montreal. These photos are very cool examples!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:23

      I completely agree, it is fascinating! I loved the street art scene in Montreal, so many good pieces! Prague is improving more and more recently!

  • Reply
    zof
    25/07/2015 at 11:01

    Oh wow, I don’t recall any murals from my time in Kosice. A lot has changed in the last six years I guess. Perhaps I should go back someday soon, I remember it as a very pretty city, and if they developed a street art scene now, it has to be just perfect.

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:24

      You definitely should return! Kosice is pretty amazing now, they invested a lot in culture in 2013 and now it really pays off! I think you’d enjoy it big time!

  • Reply
    Will
    25/07/2015 at 11:27

    That is so unbelievably awesome. Such amazing art and talent…i love Slovakia – great place of the world.

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:25

      true, such an underrated country with so much to offer!!

  • Reply
    The Educational Tourist
    25/07/2015 at 14:03

    WOW! I love street art and have enjoyed exploring the art in my city, Austin, Texas. You have found so MUCH! Love it! Thanks for a great post.
    Natalie, The Educational Tourist

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:26

      Thank you for the nice comment Natalie! I need to google street art in Austing then, you intrigued me!

  • Reply
    Agnieszka
    25/07/2015 at 21:03

    Street art is very nice and I think it enjoys not only tourists but also inhabitants who have more colorful streets :-). I like it very much!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:27

      exactly! I can see how big impact it has on me when I pass by some great murals every day here in Warsaw

  • Reply
    Michele TravelwithMrsT
    25/07/2015 at 22:21

    Loved this, especially the map at the end with the location of all of the art. What a wonderful idea, to keep adding art, AND have a Street Art Communication office–great commitment! I’ve started to look for street art more in my travels over the past 6 months!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:28

      Thanks! So where did you find the best street art?

  • Reply
    Travelwith2ofus
    26/07/2015 at 15:37

    Really amazing works of art. I absolutely love Inti, Chile, 2013 and Chazme&Tone, Poland, 2013. This is a very informative guide to Kosice Street art. Well done!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:28

      Thank you! Inti is one of my faves too!

  • Reply
    Valeria
    26/07/2015 at 19:14

    I’m always happy to read posts on street art. I feel it makes every city so much more colorful! I actually went on a street art tour when I visited Bristol a couple months ago and it gave me a lot of insight on the city itself.

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:30

      Bristol is so high on my list and it’s all because of the street art, I’ve heard so many amazing things about it! And the tour sounds great, that way you can learn so much about the background of the local scene! I love street art!

  • Reply
    Laura
    27/07/2015 at 10:15

    What a great idea for buildings which can’t afford renovations!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:31

      I totally agree!

  • Reply
    Claudia
    27/07/2015 at 11:11

    I love street art, and this one is spectacular. I like it how they have different artists from various places to paint buildings and give them new life :)

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:31

      I hear you! I think the Street Art Communication does a really amazing job in Kosice!

  • Reply
    Koralina
    31/07/2015 at 07:16

    Some of them are really great! Love it!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:31

      agree!!!

  • Reply
    Natalia | Biegun Wschodni
    31/07/2015 at 08:45

    Ale czad!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:31

      prawda :D ?

  • Reply
    Marcin W
    31/07/2015 at 10:00

    I must admit, they have a nice imagination! :)

    • Reply
      kami
      03/08/2015 at 21:32

      indeed :)

  • Reply
    Andrzej H.
    21/08/2015 at 10:49

    If you want to visit Kosice, you HAVE TO visit Lunik 9! Beautiful people, culture, law, order and multiculturalism!

    • Reply
      kami
      03/09/2015 at 21:49

      such a beautiful sarcasm! actually yes, I’d like to visit this part of Kosice too

  • Reply
    Adam
    21/01/2016 at 16:22

    Ciekawy artykuł. Brawo dla twórcy!

    • Reply
      kami
      22/01/2016 at 20:59

      dziękuję

  • Reply
    Koszyce - atrakcje wschodniej Słowacji | kamieverywhere blog
    28/06/2016 at 22:54

    […] Koszyce to też stolica słowackiego street artu. Co roku w tym słowackim mieście odbywa się Street Art Communication Festival, na który zjeżdżają gwiazdy sztuki ulicznej z całego świata. Ja niestety miałam na tyle napięty czas podczas tych dwóch dni w Koszycach, że zdołałam zobaczyć tylko kilka murali. Więcej naprawdę dobrego koszyckiego street artu znajdziecie u mojej imienniczki Kami and the rest of the world. […]

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