Founded in 2016 by Niki Bernath together with a group of friends, VUNU began as an independent project space driven by experimentation and community. Its first home was a squat in the center of Košice, a long-abandoned building that had become a meeting point for artists and collectives thanks to the community center KLUB. What started as Bernath’s bachelor project quickly evolved into a platform presenting exhibitions by young artists, primarily students and peers from the local art academy.

After a year in the squat, VUNU adopted a nomadic model, staging exhibitions in disused urban spaces such as abandoned department stores. These large-scale shows became a defining element of the gallery’s identity, temporary, collaborative, and closely intertwined with the city’s architecture and atmosphere.

In 2018, VUNU found a more stable home on the Main Street in Košice, continuing to develop its program and present both Slovak and international emerging artists. A new chapter began in 2021 with the gallery’s relocation to the Kunsthalle Košice complex, where it operates today. This period brought a focus on expanded exhibition formats, site-specific installations, intermedia, and performance-based practices.

In 2024, VUNU opened its second location in Bratislava, establishing its first commercial branch and evolving into a hybrid gallery model that balances experimental curatorial projects with artist representation and market engagement. In 2025, the gallery expanded internationally with a third space in Vienna, at Florianigasse 5/A, marking a new stage in its development and strengthening its presence in the Central European art scene.

VUNU actively participates in international art fairs, presenting both its program and represented artists on a broader European stage. Most recently, the gallery took part in Vienna Contemporary, presenting a solo project by Natália Síkorová in the ZONE1 section, awarded the Bildrecht Solo Booth Award.

Today, VUNU continues to act as a flexible and evolving gallery platform, bridging experimental, institutional, and commercial contexts, supporting emerging voices, and contributing to the contemporary art dialogue across Slovakia and beyond.