Murals

In the summer of 2025, a unique publicly accessible art event took place in Broumov, resulting in a new mural at the children’s playground in the Křinické Housing Estate. The project was created in collaboration between the LUSTR Illustration and Comics Festival and the City of Broumov, who jointly announced an open call for artists – individuals as well as collectives – to submit proposals for a large-format mural.

About the Space

The selected location was a multifunctional playground with a central wall at the Křinické Housing Estate in Broumov. The wall divides the playground into two sections – one designed for younger children, and the other used by older children and adults for sports such as basketball, volleyball, or football. The wall itself (8 × 3 meters) is heavily used as a play element – for bouncing balls, accuracy training, or as a backdrop for various games. For this reason, the aim was to find an artistic solution that would be visually strong while also respecting the functional use of the space.

The Call and Selection

A total of 29 artists from the Czech Republic and abroad applied to the open call. From these, a jury composed of representatives of the LUSTR festival and the City of Broumov selected five finalists. The final selection took place through a public vote in which Broumov residents participated. The winning design was submitted by Spanish muralist Andrea Oliva Nieves, who was subsequently invited to carry out the realization.

Realization

Over the course of several days, Andrea Oliva Nieves transformed the wall into an original, playful, and vividly colored surface that communicates with its surroundings and naturally complements the atmosphere of the playground. The mural adorns both sides of the wall and incorporates themes of movement, joy, and mutual cooperation – values that are essential for public spaces and children’s playgrounds.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the open call – the artists for their excellent proposals, the public for voting, and the City of Broumov for their support. We believe that the new mural will bring joy to the local community as well as visitors for many years to come.

The mural created as part of the Mezikrok project was the outcome of a two-week international residency organised by the LUSTR festival team in Prague. The main aim of the project was to raise awareness about the issue of leaving children’s homes, when young people who have just reached adulthood are often released into the world without sufficient preparation for what adult life may bring. This transition period is challenging even for those who have family support and a safety net, but for young people from children’s homes it becomes a critical moment—many of them end up on the streets, without any help and relying only on themselves.

Czech Murals All Around the World!

In cooperation with the Czech Centres, we managed to realise nine large-scale murals in (not only) European cities where Czech diplomacy is present. The murals are united by the theme Neighbourhood – Community – Reciprocity and were created on the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, primarily in the second half of 2022.

Two murals in Athens were created by Nikola Logosová and David Krňanský, while the mural in Breda, the Netherlands, was realised by Patrik Antczak. The lettering works in the Polish cities of Kamienna Góra and Warsaw were created by typographer Petra Dočekalová. The mural in Casarrubuelos near Madrid was designed by Přemysl Černý in collaboration with local children, and earned him a nomination for Illustrator of the Year in the Czech Grand Design awards. The equestrian figures in Sibiu, Romania, were painted by Maria Makeeva, the underpass in Veszprém, Hungary, was painted by Jakub Bachorík, and the final mural—created in Tel Aviv—was realised by Ilona Polanski.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the project and helped leave a beautiful Czech trace on walls around the world!