Budapest is deemed the perfect canvas for street art. At least this is how the pioneers of firewall painting and public space coloring ‘Színes Város’ (‘Colorful City’) group of artists see it. The murals in central Budapest started appearing already in 2010, and I myself witnessed one being created. The specialty of these spectacular pieces of street art is local reference, be it a Hungarian invention such as Rubik’s cube, or Hungaricum such as the grey cow. The Macskafogó (‘Cat City’) mural is not an exception to this trend. It is inspired by a 1986 poster of the famous Hungarian-German-Canadian animated science fiction and spy parody cartoon. Famous enough for me to remember watching it in a cinema when I was a child back in the Soviet Union. The 600 sq. m. mural brightens up the greyness of the panel buildings in the outer part of the 8th district with fresh and vibrant colors. I always feel nostalgic when I walk by not only because of my childhood memories but also because I lived in a neighboring multi-story building for a year when I first moved to Budapest.

Fun fact: the composer of ‘Cat City’ Tamás Deák not only wrote music but also played the trumpet solo of one of the characters himself. He is also an author of the composition ‘Water Skies’ which is used as the most recognizable theme of Well, Just You Wait! Soviet animated series without any credentials/recognition of the author.