Eisenstadt, a city steeped in history, known for its classical music heritage and Baroque charm, now harbors an unexpected contemporary art movement. Beneath its polished façade, in the forgotten corners of underpasses, crumbling city walls, and overlooked alleyways, a new form of artistic intervention is emerging—one that fuses history, urban decay, and cutting-edge technology into a mesmerizing augmented reality (AR) experience.
This transformation began with Stony’s vision. The first project started when he and Michi hung up artwork throughout the city—pieces that, to their surprise, were stolen almost immediately. Rather than being discouraged, Stony embraced the ephemeral nature of street art and turned necessity into innovation. Instead of replacing what had been taken, he began working with what was already there—Eisenstadt’s overlooked textures, abandoned graffiti, and architectural relics—transforming them into an interactive experience.
Armed with cameras, brushes, and digital tools, he began reviving these lost expressions of the past, weaving them into a living, immersive archive. Using ARTIVIVE, an AR application that allows static imagery to come alive through mobile screens, these revitalized surfaces now pulse with digital life. A decayed fresco in an underpass flickers back to its original vibrancy when viewed through a phone; an old, cryptic graffiti tag suddenly animates, revealing layers of narrative that had long been buried beneath time and indifference. Eisenstadt’s old city wall, a silent witness to centuries, is now an interactive canvas where history and contemporary art collide in an ephemeral yet deeply visceral experience.
After a discussion with the crew, the Pannonians launched the Hidden Galleries project. It marked the beginning of a larger movement—one that will continue to evolve, pushing the boundaries of AR street art in new and unexpected directions. This is just the start.
Each location tells a story—a convergence of past and present, analog and digital, decay and rebirth. The project is as much about the evolution of public space as it is about art itself. These once-ignored spaces have become portals, transforming casual passersby into explorers, forcing them to reconsider the city’s landscape and their relationship with it.
This initiative not only breathes new life into Eisenstadt’s neglected urban layers but also redefines accessibility to art. No longer confined to galleries and institutions, it spills onto the streets, free and boundless, engaging anyone willing to look beyond the obvious. The streets whisper if one is willing to listen, and with the right lens—be it digital or imaginative—they reveal a world waiting to be experienced anew.
In a time when digital and physical realities increasingly blur, Eisenstadt’s hidden galleries stand as a testament to the boundless potential of art in the urban environment. The city’s ghosts, long relegated to silent observation, now have voices—animated, augmented, and unshackled from time.
Expect more. The Hidden Galleries project has only just begun.
