The House of Arts' street art call
The call invites Europe's best street artists to add colour and spectacle to the city's walls.
In the open call within the framework of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme artists can rethink several designated areas of Veszprém. The House of Arts Veszprém invites entries that showcase the rich cultural history of the town and the surrounding region.
Photo: Toroczkai Csaba
"Our call for entries is based on Italo Calvino's well-known idea that "the city is the place and the carrier of desires and memories". Our aim is to encourage artists to explore the historical heritage of Veszprém and the Bakony-Balaton region, and to create works that explore the hidden aspects of the place and its exploration"
The street art competition is closely linked to the visual arts concept of the VEB2023 ECoC programme, which aims to bring artworks beyond traditional art spaces to streets, public spaces, building walls and other unconventional locations. Street art also helps to bring the arts closer to young people through a genre that is accessible to them.
In this way, the natural and cultural richness that characterises Veszprém and the region will be strengthened in the ECoC year and the diversity created will be preserved beyond. The competition will allow artists to reimagine surfaces in prominent locations in the city that are well known by the local community and visible to visitors to the city.
Street art artists can redesign the underpass of the Veszprém Arena and the city's most visible bus turnaround, and even a city bus will carry a street art sticker for years to come.
In the underpass leading to the Veszprém Arena, the home of the city's long-standing handball team, artists can give new content to a 61 m x 7.5 m surface. The competition is looking for a visual response to the question "What does Veszprém mean to you?", which could be about the natural and built environment, historical monuments, culture, music, sport or even a European Capital of Culture theme. Related to the previous area, the Veszprém Arena underpass can be revitalised at several points. Here, a 63.5 m x 6 m and a 61 m x 7.5 m wall surfaces are available to the artists, on which the "What does the Bakony mean to you?" and "What does Lake Balaton mean to you?" is the theme of the competition.
The retaining walls of the recently renovated pedestrian and cycling underpass under the Southern Ring Road and the firewall of the House of Arts Veszprém office building will also serve as a "blank canvas" for the artists. In cooperation with V-Bus Public Transport Company, the Haszkovo bus turnaround drivers' rest area will be painted with street art to promote public transport and the entire surface of a Veszprém bus will be covered with a sticker of the work chosen in the competition.
Applications are judged by a professional board of seven trustees. After studying the entries, the jury will invite the most promising designers to a closed online consultation, where they may be asked to make changes or submit additional material. The jury will take its decision after the consultations, at the latest by 23 April 2023. The works will be created/installed on site between 1 May and 30 September 2023.
Deadline for entries: 9 April 2023.
