Street art festival will beautify Kutná Hora’s abandoned buildings

Město = Galerie (City = Gallery) will take place on 11-14 August

On Wednesday 11 August, artists from around the world will visit Kutná Hora for this year’s edition of the street art festival Město = Galerie (City = Gallery). The Czech city already boasts several large-scale paintings by artists from previous years in which this festival has taken place. Now, it will expand its impressive collection and further increase its attractiveness.

Upgrading neglected spaces

Město = Galerie seeks to improve dilapidated areas that harm the city’s image and decrease residents’ quality of life. In other words, the festival beautifies spaces with the use of scaffolding, ladders, paint, sprays, etc.

It must be noted that only selected areas are transformed and that the historical parts of cities are left untouched. What is more, artists are required to discuss their plans with cultural departments and architects before executing their ideas.

An event for all ages

The street art festival will be exciting for citizens of all ages and include work by artists from all generations. According to the City of Kutná Hora, the following artists will take part in this year’s edition of Město = Galerie: Ondřej Vyhnánek, Keim + Epiks, Lukáš Kladívko, Andrej Németh Endré, David Adamec, and Kurt Gebauer, who will celebrate his 80^th birthday next week.

On Wednesday at 19:00, artists will gather at the Blues Café for an entertaining, cultural evening where they can engage in debate, watch performances, and listen to music. On Saturday 14 August, the festival will invite all of the city’s residents to a workshop so they can take part in various artistic activities. Jakub Jandora, who oversees the Město = Galerie festival, noted:

"It's a unique opportunity to bring this kind of art [street art] closer to people in empty, often neglected areas and at the same time show them how paintings are created. Where we do workshops for the public, you can see how people are interested in this phenomenon, and not only children but also their parents or grandparents try their hand.”

This year’s edition of the Město = Galerie festival has already taken place in Lysá nad Labem, Poděbrady and Nymburk. Coming to Kutná Hora is crucial, however, as the director and curator of the event Lukáš Kladívko highlights the significance of the city: “This is where we started our idea five years ago and we are all happy to return.”