For decades, Pest’s tree-lined Falk Miksa Street has been renowned for its charming collection of art galleries and antique shops. This reputation gained fresh momentum with the recent renewal of Kossuth Square, where Parliament stands at the southern end of Falk Miksa. Additionally, regular Folk Art Forum events – transforming Falk Miksa into a vibrant street party of open-air art displays and live music – have been organized every year since 2006, and with a new collaboration, called Art&Antique Street, the area will be officially crowned as a true hub for artistic attractions. With 25 antique shops and galleries participating, this joint project aims to bring even more life to the street.
Walking along Falk Miksa Street, we can see that although there are a great many stores here, after the Balaton Street intersection they become less concentrated, as the row of shops are interrupted by the gigantic Ministry of Defence, hospitality units, and a pharmacy, among other businesses. To identify Falk Miksa as the city’s Art&Antique Street, the organizers want to go beyond establishing their own website and logo for the initiative – they would like to highlight it on the street as well (although gaining the necessary official permits won’t be an easy task). According to plans, Art&Antique Street signs would welcome and bid farewell to visitors, and they also would like to place decorated benches in front of the galleries during their opening hours, so that there’s a place for visitors to rest. Furthermore, the street’s trash cans, parking meters, and trees would also be involved in the visual concept in a playful way.
Even as it is today, a simple stroll along Falk Miksa Street is a pleasantly fascinating experience, as varied artworks and relics can be viewed through the shop windows, like paintings, porcelain trinkets, elegant gramophones, ornate chandeliers, tasteful glass sets, and even swords and weapons. Nonetheless, treasure hunting is not the only reason to come to this quarter, as the exhibitions of its famous galleries – like Kieselbach, Judit Virág, or MissionArt – provide an excellent insight to Hungarian culture.
The first joint program of Art&Antique Street is in connection with the Advent period: at the Christmas Happening on December 9th and 10th, visitors can not only expect mulled wine and roasted chestnuts, but also a 15-20% discount on artworks and antiques. Participating galleries will place a self-made gift box in front of their stores to make sure they can be recognized.
Artistic manager Hanna Lea Szegal says that this partnership is needed because a lot of people are scared to enter private galleries and antique stores, because they can’t imagine that they could buy jewelry, statuettes, or paintings for a reasonable price. They would like to shape this attitude with evening discussions, guided tours, and an educational program of sorts.
With the development of Falk Miksa’s transformation into Art&Antique Street, we can expect the quarter to become more colorful, full of life, and a bit more bohemian, but it still won’t be a buzzing, loud district of restaurants, even though three such businesses – Barista Café, Café Picard, and Klementina Bistro – are involved in the partnership.
