SLOVAKIAN ADVENTURES
During my last visit to the BRING THE PAINT Festival in Leicester/UK, I met Dali & Tomasz – two Slovaks who I had previously only seen as absolute graffiti legends: world travelers and super-pleasant contemporaries who you just can’t help but take to your heart. We quickly realized that we seemed to be surfing the same wave and stayed in touch after the festival. At some point in early 2024, they asked me if I would like to take part in the CREATIVE STREETS Graffiti & Street Art Festival they organized in Košice, Slovakia. Of course, I didn’t need to be told twice – especially since Dali also recommended that I plan a few more days because he wanted to show me his homeland. So in mid-May, I got on a plane to Budapest, where the guys picked me up and we drove the 3 hours to Košice. The city in the east of Slovakia has around 240,000 inhabitants and the pretty city center is really pleasant with its small streets, lavishly restored buildings and countless bars. A few streets further on you can still breathe the classic Eastern Bloc flair that I knew from my countless visits to Czechoslovakia during my childhood. Skoda, Lada and Saporoz (the old models, of course) – everything was there. Around 20 artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary were invited to the festival itself, all of whom designed walls of different sizes quite close to each other. I was particularly happy to meet my buddy ADAM HEAT from Budapest, with whom I painted our largest mural to date at a height of 60 meters in Russia in 2019. What a wonderful guy and what a gifted artist!
My main wall was a 5m x 16m side panel of a transformer station in the middle of a residential area. Clearly visible and a nice format, which I managed to get done in just under 3 days. But of course there were also a few other surfaces and objects waiting to get some paint and to be honest, I’m always really motivated to do as much as possible at festivals like these. In the evening there was a free concert by SEPAR, probably the most famous rapper in Slovakia, in the middle of the block, which we obviously didn’t want to miss. And since the guys and he are pretty close homies, this was also an unforgettable evening.
On the 5th day, a local writer asked me if I had ever visited a “Gipsy Camp”. By this he meant the countless Roma settlements, of which there are over 800 in Slovakia alone. There might also be the possibility of painting a wall there. It must be said that the Roma minority live in conditions that are incomprehensible to us and that the settlements, some of which they have built themselves, can safely be described as slums. There is rarely a sewer system or running water and the sparse power supply is usually tapped illegally from somewhere. Without hesitation, I immediately agreed – despite the 50/50 chance of either being celebrated there or ripped off and chased away. Our homie REMAN grew up a few kilometers away and knew some of the approximately 900 people who live there. A group of around 10 people quickly formed and in the late afternoon we set off for the settlement, which is about 30 minutes outside of Košice. Logically, I didn’t take anything with me – apart from some change. Equipped with an iPhone (positioned tightly under my belt) and a few spray cans, I walked from the car parked far away to the camp. Even from a distance you could already guess the conditions. A ruin-like building with a pyramid of garbage and feces on the first floor and lots of makeshift dwellings all around. In addition, a very large crowd of people who had already spotted us from a distance and who seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Reman went ahead for a short while and spoke to a few people. After a short while he gave a sign and pointed to the wall that we could paint. In this situation you just switch to “DO OR DIE” and start the machine. On the floor there were a lot of trickles and puddles of indefinable liquid and an unbelievable number of children – some of them without shoes, who immediately surrounded us. I will probably never forget the smell of this place. When I drew the first lines, an incredible cheer broke out around us and we quickly noticed that the entire community approved of what we were doing – even if our freedom of movement was very limited by the number of kids. However, we didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary and after about 20 minutes the session was over. Of course, everything we had with us – cans, caps and even the bags – fell into the hands of the kids, who were incredibly happy and immediately painted everything that came in front of the can. We distributed the change that each of us had previously pocketed to the many young mothers, some of whom were standing in front of us with 2 children in their arms. After taking several selfies with half the settlement, we retreated accompanied by about 50 children… in the hope of finding some disinfectant in the car. That may sound harsh, but the overall conditions and the smell gave us something to think about. We stayed up late that evening because for almost everyone involved, this was apparently a truly life-changing experience that was hard to get out of your head.
The next day it was road tripping! Dali had thought up a little tour that took us to Štrbské Pleso in the High Tatras, where we went on a wonderful hike through the mountains and spent the night. After that we went to Bratislava – my friends’ hometown – for two more days, where we also emptied a few cans on a variety of surfaces. All in all, an incredibly intense trip with great people, no boredom at all, lots of experiences, learnings and new friends. It should also be said that Dali and Tomasz in particular – like me – are not really fans of excessive alcohol consumption, so we were able to rely on each other 100% and be productive. Slovakia will definitely not be the last time I see it. Dovidenia!
