You'd Never Notice This Miniature Mouse Cafe on the Sidewalk

Make sure you don’t squeak past this mouse-sized street exhibit on a Swedish street corner.

by Diana Shi

December 25, 2016, 5:25am

All images courtesy the artist

The small delights of a miniature French town square combine European charm with hyperrealistic details that even a mouse would have a hard time poking holes through in a wall in Malmö, Sweden. As created by "Anonymouse," the rodent-sized diorama playfully lampoons the international hacktivist collective Anonymous, as well as that of street artist Banksy.

Since December 13, 2016, Anonymouse's display could be found covertly nestled at the cross-section of Bergsgatan and Almbacksgatan. Equal parts grungy and slightly romantic, the corner is a reserve of minute details. There is the microscopic, window-lit shop tilted under a French sign that translates to “nuts of life.” As a cherry on the tarte, the café fittingly serves cheese and crackers. Under a closer inspection, the shop’s window gleams with real-sized walnuts, presented like the freshest, most decadent food a mouse could imagine.

Next door to the nutty Noix de vie, is Il Topolina, translated from Italian to read “The Mickey." The scaled-down establishment is a quintessential, cozy bistro, with its own outdoor seating and an unlocked bicycle to set the mood.

A shrewd viewer will pick up on the emblazoned Anonymouse logo on the bistro-adjacent wall. In an official installation description, the collective says it is committed to staying true to showing off the miniature street art, and vows to keep its members’ identities under wraps: “The sceneries are built for their own sake and not to gain any financial or public recognition. But we are very happy that so many people have enjoyed it so far. We were hoping that pedestrians walking by would find the thing charming.”

In the flurry of reactions to the pint-sized installation, a larger than expected fanfare met the artists; they share, “We [began with] the hopes that at least some locals would notice it [and] that it would make them smile. But after less than 24 hours, a newspaper had written an article about it, and things snowballed from there. The people of Malmö seem to have taken it to their hearts, and almost immediately miniature things started to show up on the scene—club posters, cheeses, all kinds of plastic animals and much more.”