Street Art Museum, Zagreb, Croatia

Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

See also: FAM (Familiarization) tour of Croatia

“This project is dedicated to forming a more coherent street art scene in Croatia, raising people’s awareness about street art and its values, and marking the city of Zagreb on a global map of cities that support this kind of artistic expressions.”

Ivana Vukšić, Director of Street Art Museum, Zagreb

Zagreb Street Art Museum, Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

The Zagreb Street Art Museum (MUU) is open 24 X 7 and entry is free. The museum consists of a series of graffiti art, on the walls, along the Branimirova Street, Zagreb.

Zagreb Graffiti Art, Branimirova Street

Branimirova Street is an important street in  Zagreb and connects the main railway station to the main bus stop.

The graffiti art runs all along the 450 meter long wall that separates the street from the train tracks.

Since the late 1980s the wall has attracted the attention of various artist who showcased their latest street art master piece on this wall.

It was only in 2010 the Zagreb city authorities took the first step to showcase these master pieces in a systematic way.

Street Art Museum, Branimirova Street

The art displayed on the walls of Branimirova Street is a result of a art contest in which 117 artist participated, out of which 83 pieces were selected to be replicated on 450 meter long wall along the Branimirova Street.

Six of Croatia’s leading artist were responsible for the selection process. The Street Art Museum was opened to public in May 2010 and is open through out the day for 365 days a year..

Zagreb also houses a few other Street Art Museum but the one along the Branimirova Street is the best, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Zagreb Street Art Museum, Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

The graffiti is very detailed and is not restricted to paint only. There are several projected relief work all along the wall.

Zagreb Street Art Museum, Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

The only problem with the open air art museum is that the wall is separated from the road by a narrow side walk. So if you walk along the side walk will will definitely pick up the details but miss out on the overall graffiti.

Zagreb Street Art Museum, Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

But if you walk along the opposite side walk you will definitely enjoy the story narrated by the graffiti but miss out on the details.

Details from the Zagreb Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street

So the only solution is to cross and re – cross the road and keep clicking. Traffic is said to be heavy along the Branimirova Street but that was Zagreb standard and for a Kolkatan like me, it was just a cake walk.

Signals and Zebra Crossing, Zagreb Graffiti Wall, Details from the Zagreb Grafiti Wall, Branimirova Street

There were signals and zebra crossing but I often jay walked across the street to complete my collection of wide and detailed shot of the graffiti wall in Zagregb.

A Panoramic view of Street Art Museum, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

The other problem I faced was the language, most of the graffiti had text and it was Croatian. With no knowledge of Croatian I had to restrict myself to the colourful graphics only.

The two men painting the picture are actually part of the picture. Graffiti Street, Zagreb

Due to my inability to read Croatian I missed some of the humor, but it was largely compensated by the quality of the graphics. Some are so real life and blended with the surrounding effortlessly, that they can quiet likely fool you. Some times images in the paintings appear to be real life person or the vice versa.

The Lady is real!!!! Graffiti Wall, Branimirova Street, Zagreb

Note: I visited Croatia on the invitation of Zagreb Tourism Board (ZTB) and tour was organized by Celabrations!

 

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