Žilina Beskids 2026 https://zilina2026.eu/en European Capital of Culture, Candidate City Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:39:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://zilina2026.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/cropped-logo_zilina_beskids_2026-32x32.png Žilina Beskids 2026 https://zilina2026.eu/en 32 32 What kind of city do students in the Beskids region dream of? https://zilina2026.eu/en/o-akom-meste-snivaju-ziaci-zakladnych-skol-v-beskydskom-regione/ Mon, 06 Dec 2021 16:44:54 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4837 Window of opportunity for youth We have a window of opportunity open for everyone and every opinion counts in the Žilina Beskids 2026. During the almost two-year process of our candidacy, we have tried to develop civic participation and get as many suggestions as possible from the inhabitants of Žilina and the Beskids region. At […]

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]]> Window of opportunity for youth

We have a window of opportunity open for everyone and every opinion counts in the Žilina Beskids 2026. During the almost two-year process of our candidacy, we have tried to develop civic participation and get as many suggestions as possible from the inhabitants of Žilina and the Beskids region. At the end of the candidacy we focused on young people, we had several meetings with young people who participate in cultural activities in the region, but we did not leave out the students of primary, secondary and art schools on three sides of the border in the region!

Over the past month, we connected with dozens of primary schools, high schools and art schools in Žilina, Frýdek-Místek and Bielsko-Biała to find out what kind of cities and region young Beskids citizens envision in 2026. Thanks to the involvement of thousands of students, we have collected a lot of interesting messages, ideas and aspirations of how the cities and the Beskids region should look like if Žilina, together with its partner cities Frýdek-Místek and Bielsko-Biała, becomes the European Capital of Culture 2026.

The students in Žilina wrote their messages and ideas on white and blue textile triangles. They did not choose the shape, colour or material by chance. The white-blue colour combination is the main colour of our candidacy, the triangle represents Žilina’s cross-border cooperation with the cities of Bielsko-Biała in Poland and Frýdek-Místek in the Czech Republic. Textile refers to our programme pillar Factory for the Future, which includes several planned projects referring to the textile tradition in the Beskids region. Almost 2000 flags with messages were subsequently processed by local artist Daniela Danielis, founder of the Wnoozow weaving studio in Prague and also of the Textile Craft Centre in Čadec, which is a partner of our project. Daniela created an art installation from flags with messages in a public space, located in the arcade on Horný Vál Street – the headquarters of Žilina Beskids 2026.

In addition to the textile flags, the students also sent us hundreds of paintings and drawings in which they visually represented their ideas about the future of the towns and the region. We exhibited the artworks by students from primary and art schools from the three cities in the children’s workshop of the Rosenfeld Palace in Žilina.

Check out the links and the work of the students from the Beskids region!


Thanks to all schools participating in this campaign!

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]]> We uncover our final bid book! #4 Borderless Identity, Vrba-Wetzler – In the Footsteps of Heros + investments in Žilina and Čadca https://zilina2026.eu/en/odkryvame-nas-finalny-bid-book-4-identita-bez-hranic-vrba-wetzler-malicka-slzicka-a-investicie-v-ziline-a-v-cadci/ Sun, 05 Dec 2021 20:27:19 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4816 Borderless Identity involves us in an ongoing process of reconciliation with our past by abstracting the uneasy parts of our history and revisiting them in their actual contexts. Helps us reflect on our national, Euro-regional, and European identities, reflecting on the past so that we can better understand who we are. ∞ Refutes stereotypes, myths, […]

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Borderless Identity involves us in an ongoing process of reconciliation with our past by abstracting the uneasy parts of our history and revisiting them in their actual contexts. Helps us reflect on our national, Euro-regional, and European identities, reflecting on the past so that we can better understand who we are. ∞ Refutes stereotypes, myths, and stickers that are a common part of our language and explores and raises awareness of the story of Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler.

 

Borderless Identity 

If culture is one of the forming elements of our identities – whether national, regional or local – the societal role of art is to challenge those identities and to put our history in perspective. We see the ECoC title as an opportunity to better understand that past, to confront the taboos lingering in our collective unconscious, especially those related to the region’s role in WW2 and subsequent nationalisms, and turn them into a force of construction, rather than destruction. Yet, we do not want to get stuck in the past. We see the title, first and foremost, as an opportunity to use art to imagine a different kind of world, through art, challenging established narratives and envisaging new ones. We also want to reflect Žilina’s long-standing identity as a transportation hub, and drive European mobility and intercultural dialogue throughout the ECoC process. We think that such dialogue is the essence of all transportation and mobility, not just their accidental byproduct. Our programme is a celebration of that dialogue. Last but not least, murders of the investigative journalists Daphne Galizia in Malta in 2017 and Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in 2018 in Slovakia shook the European public’s belief in freedom of expression and the fundamental principles of democracy. The events in Malta and Slovakia were not standalone, we see freedom of speech attacked throughout the world. In our programme, we feel an urgency to explore this freedom in any artistic or journalistic expression, and to become a European centre for debate on the freedom to speak and create, whether in art or in the media.


Vrba-Wetzler – In the footsteps of Heros

On 7th April 1944, Good Friday, two Slovak Jews, Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoners Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba, were reported missing at their barracks. It was the beginning of their heroic escape from the Auchwitz-Birkenau death complex – the 70-km march on foot through the Nazi-occupied Polish Beskids and across the border into the wartime Slovak State, a Nazi ally. Helped on their way by several families and individuals, they finally made it to Žilina, where they hid in the cellar of the Jewish retirement home, along with a number of documents they had taken with them from Auschwitz. These, together with their accounts of the internal workings of and everyday struggle for survival in the extermination camp, formed the famous Vrba-Wetzler Report, or Auschwitz Protocols as it is also known, the world’s first comprehensive and confirmed report of what was going on in Nazi death camps and one of the most important documents of World War II relating to the Holocaust.

Related projects

⬤ Vrba-Wetzler Route ⬤ A Tiny Teardrop ⬤ Vrba-Wetzler Commemoration Room and Exhibitions ⬤ International Literature House Vrba-Wetzler


A Tiny Teardrop

The annual Vrba-Wetzler Memorial (SK) will be followed up, as it has so far, in Žili- na, with ensuing cultural events designed to help reflect on the experience of the journey. Our partners, the cultural centre Nová synagóga (SK), as well as the Polis Foundation (SK), will provide their premises for discussions with interesting speakers, concerts, film projections, and other cultural events for the pilgrims. One of these is the unique concept of A Tiny Teardrop, a musical and literary experience, with original music by Central European Jewish composers silenced by WWII played by the Slovak Sinfonietta and accompa- nied by live readings from the namesake book by Agata Schindler about the com- posers’ life stories. A Tiny Teardrop will also be presented on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Eben- see concentration camp at the Ebensee Memorial (AT) in 2025, as well as in Bad Ischl 2024 (AT). In total, five concerts are planned in various European cities.

 

International Literature House Vrba-Wetzler

The Vrba and Wetzler story is also about writing a report that was translated into many languages and changed the perception of WWII and brought about initial awareness of the Holocaust. We will turn the rest of the building which holds the commemoration room into the International Literature House Vrba Wetzler. Literary translation is the basis of intercultural cooperation and promotion of European literature across borders. Translators’s work requires continuous contact and communication with the source language and literature. In the past, Slovak literature did not particularly resonate in the international context outside of the immediate Visegrad region, due to the relatively short history of the country and its language. The House represents a chance to increase the quality level of translation, strengthen cultural ties with Europe, and foster contacts between Slovak authors, translators, and foreign publishers. The establishment’s disposition, cozy, practical and modern equipment, is intended to create a creative atmosphere and enable, above all, translators of Slovak literature into foreign languages to concentrate and produce meaningful work. The House will be a model of an independent cultural institution that will provide space for individual residencies, consultations, joint meetings, seminars or lectures. It will host workshops, public readings, book presentations and actively participate in cultural events like the Žilina Literature Festival.page31image27598336

Related events

⬤ Vrba-Wetzler Route  ⬤ Vrba-Wetzler Commemoration Room and Exhibitions
⬤ A Tiny Teardrop

 

Cultural House of Ján Palárik v Čadci

The original building of the Culture House on the main promenade in Čadca burned down in 2004. The main goal of the project is the reconstruction of the building and the subsequent establishment of an exhibition dedicated to the story of Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler in its central part. The second floor will be dedicated to temporary exhibitions, various cultural activities and public debates.

Related events

⬤ Vrba-Wetzler Route ⬤  Vrba-Wetzler komix

Photos: Tomáš Turek

The post We uncover our final bid book! #4 Borderless Identity, Vrba-Wetzler – In the Footsteps of Heros + investments in Žilina and Čadca appeared first on Žilina Beskids 2026.

]]> We uncover our final bid book #3 Flow of nature, Living Water, Water Exhibitions and investments projects in Žilina, Bielsko-Biała and Frýdek-Místek https://zilina2026.eu/en/odkryvame-nas-finalny-bid-book-3-tok-prirody-ziva-voda-vodne-vystavy-a-investicie-v-ziline-a-partnerskych-mestach-bielsko-biala-a-frydek-mistek/ Wed, 01 Dec 2021 23:02:16 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4751 Explore our second program pillar ≈ The flow of Nature focused on nature, the climate crisis, and the sensitive connection between artistic creation and nature. Discover a project cluster ≈ Living Water responding to the regulation of watercourses and the loss of contact between the inhabitants of the region and water. ≈ Find out more […]

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]]> Explore our second program pillar ≈ The flow of Nature focused on nature, the climate crisis, and the sensitive connection between artistic creation and nature. Discover a project cluster ≈ Living Water responding to the regulation of watercourses and the loss of contact between the inhabitants of the region and water. ≈ Find out more about the Water Museum and immersive water exhibitions. → Climate emergency is fundamentally affecting mountain cities, we have to not only raise awareness about the urgency of the matter but as well we have to look for innovative solutions. We are committed to forward the thinking in the field and our proposed investments are proof of it. In all three cities, we aim to create spaces for artists to address the environmental topics through culture.

 

Flow of Nature

No matter which direction you take from our cities, you quickly reach nature and beautiful mountains. In this programme pillar, we merge thematic focus on environmental issues with artistic creation and pay cultural tribute to the surrounding Beskids. Through deconcentrating our programme, spreading the events over a large territory and bringing them to remote areas, we will engage natural landscapes and dozens of small towns and villages in the ECoC programme, so that they also can be a part of the European dialogue. We will offer visitors from all over Europe the experience of the wilderness of Beskid forests and mountains, and opportunities to embark on a journey of art and adventure into themselves and the region’s identity. We will explore the traditional culture and inspire its contemporary reinterpretation. We will be as well addressing conflicting environmental and economic interests, and critically reconsider the relationship between humans and nature; the tension between the urges to protect and master it. We will be focusing on the issue of climate change and support adaptation techniques through better care of urban greenery and water management.

 

Living Water

Slovakia is a water power and together with the Czech Republic contains one of Europe’s major drainage divides. With its huge water reserves, wild rivers, and streams shaping the landscape, the struggle between humans and nature has been going on for centuries with the first water dam built in 1510. Nowadays, there are 281 artificial water reservoirs, fifty of which are included in the World Register of Large Dams. However, technocratic approaches have conceived and used water management mainly as a means of supporting economic and urban development at all costs. Rivers and streams were regulated and water’s presence was often made increasingly “invisible” to urban people. In the Living Water program cluster, we will try to create better access to water for the inhabitants of the town and the Beskids region and promote its importance through artistic projects.

Projects related to the project cluster Living Water

⬤ Flow Festival ⬤ Floating Memory Gardens ⬤ Story of the Water Exhibition ⬤ Melting Immersive Exhibition ⬤ River of Pure Becoming ⬤ Hello Raj~čanka ⬤ Water Stream Všivák ⬤ Water from Beskids ⬤ Rainy Days


Water Exhibitions 

The Žilina Beskids 2026 application includes two water museums, one in the Bôrik Environmental Park, next to Žilina’s oldest water reservoir, the other in the Aqua centre, as part of the new swimming pool building in Bielsko-Biała. They will promote a new relationship, a new water ethic, which helps to reconnect people with the tangible and intangible heritage of water, including its social, cultural, ecological, artistic, and spiritual dimensions. The museums will exhibit and interpret artefacts, techniques, and traditional knowledge to preserve and promote water-related values and heritage that have been passed down through civilizations, from generation to generation, and still inform and can influence everyday life today. The Environmental Artistic Center FM will be established in the partner town of Frýdek-Místek, which will focus the concept of the program on the issues of environmental issues and a sustainable city, especially in the years 2025-2026. As part of the Living Water project, several art exhibitions and projects dealing with the environment, climate and water will be presented in the Beskids region. In addition to a number of exhibitions, we also plan a regular annual art-science format, “River of Pure Becoming”, a three-years-long research project on the relationship between the city and the surrounding ecosystem. Project will include local and international artists and creative teams composed of various cultural, educational, and social science professions with the help of water managers, environmentalists, and city officials.

 


Enviromental park Bôrik

The project of the Environmental Park Bôrik will be the outcome of a complex reconstruction of the city’s oldest underground water reservoirs from 1908, currently owned by the private water distribution company SEVAK. The Environmental park Bôrik will consist of an Immersive museum, using cutting-edge technologies to offer a unique cultural experience and reflect current environmental issues in projection-based installations. It will also present, directly on site of the old water tank, permanent exhibitions about the water cycle, intended mainly for children and school trips. It is completed by a nice park, with interactive outdoor water installations, and the construction of a new building offering space for a visitor centre with a café and a workshop space.

Related ECoC events

⬤ Story of Water ⬤ Melting time ⬤ River of Pure Becoming ⬤ Inside Slovak Modernism


AQUA Bielsko-Biała

The Ecological Education Park “AQUA” will become a unique water museum for Bielsko-Biała and its region. It will include four educational rooms and interactive laboratories for organization of educational activities with an exhibition hall dedicated to permanent and temporary exhibitions, in addition to the existing swimming pool complex. The city of Bielsko-Biała has already organised an architectural competition, the winning project has been selected in September 2021. The aim of the AQUA is to promote the relationship and access to water and to connect people with the tangible and intangible heritage of water, including its social, cultural, artistic and spiritual dimensions.

Related ECoC events

⬤ Story of the water



The Environmental Artistic Centre FM

In 2024, the city of Frýdek-Místek will open its new city gallery in the building of the former Moravia Bank (the MoBa City Gallery). The programme of this new exhibition space for the period 2025–2026 will focus on environmental questions and sustainable city. As part of the two-year program, we want to present streams of contemporary visual art that thematize the situation of the climate crisis, look for ways out and offer visions for future development. We will open a debate on changes in the society as a whole, and at the same time will ask the question of what the price of such change would be. The Environmental Artistic Centre FM (EAC) will be the main tool to fulfill these intentions. It will be a platform for contemporary environmental art and a curatorial workspace in MoBa, which will mediate online exhibitions and a live programme in the gallery space. The EAC will collect data, organise debates and develop a ba- sis for art and environment residency programs, and present the outputs of those collaborations in a hybrid format, as well as other environment art projects from Bielsko-Biała and Žilina.

Related ECoC events

⬤ Cyanometer ⬤ City Herbarium ⬤ Future Art Forms ⬤ Invisible Air ⬤ Go Forward… Never Go Back! ⬤ Fresh AIR – Art and Environment Residencies ⬤ Environmental Artistic Centre FM ⬤ Odpoutaná scéna

The post We uncover our final bid book #3 Flow of nature, Living Water, Water Exhibitions and investments projects in Žilina, Bielsko-Biała and Frýdek-Místek appeared first on Žilina Beskids 2026.

]]> We uncover our final bid book! #2 Future’s Factories, Public Subjects, Hangar – Creation Centre for Art in the Public space https://zilina2026.eu/en/odkryvame-nas-finalny-bid-book-2-tovaren-na-buducnost-verejny-subjekt-a-hangar-kreativne-centrum-pre-umenie-vo-verejnom-priestore/ Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:47:31 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4697 In the second article from our series of uncovering the final bid book, we present the programme pilar ≫ Future’s Factories, project cluster ≫  Public Subjects and the investment plan ≫  Hangar – Creation Centre for Art in the Public space. Find out more about the structure and content of the final bid book → in a previous […]

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]]> In the second article from our series of uncovering the final bid book, we present the programme pilar ≫ Future’s Factories, project cluster ≫  Public Subjects and the investment plan ≫  Hangar – Creation Centre for Art in the Public space.

Find out more about the structure and content of the final bid book → in a previous blog post. 

 

Future’s Factories 

Žilina, Bielsko-Biała, and Frýdek-Místek are typical examples of cities that developed along with their respective industries. Industrial production has been a fertile ground for a particular culture, one that consists of both tangible and intangible assets: factories as the foundation of new urban structures; crafts, engineering, and entrepreneurial skills as a source of social and economic capital. Specific mindsets, loyalties, and attitudes co-create the social fabric and everyday life in industrial regions, even if their people are often not aware of it.Žilina and Bielsko-Biała also have a longstanding tradition of being the go-to places for art production. In this program pillar, we develop it further, build new capacities, and as a result, the existing creative and innovation ecosystem in the Beskids region will gain new production facilities, exhibition spaces, ateliers, and workshops. We nevertheless have to be cautious, as the founder of e-flux, An- ton Vidokle, reminds us in his famous essay “Art Without Artists?” wherein he criticizes tendencies to turn artists into mere producers and artworks into products created on-demand from curators and programme managers. This risk surely also applies to developing ECoC’s artistic and cultural programmes, including ours. We will be careful, emphatic, and always work closely with artists; we will prioritize direct investments in the development and production of new artworks. It is also an expression of our concern for artists and the related professions, represented by an effort to improve their working conditions based on the principles of circular and social economy and promotion of fair pay. We believe that collective imagination, empathy, and generosity make up a space where art and culture meet social activism, management, and local networks in the most productive way. Therefore, a big part of the programme in this pillar will be dedicated to citizen participation, sharing, and co-creation of strategies and artistic interventions for public spaces.

 

Public Subjects

After a period of full political and aesthetic control over the public arena in the Communist era, a certain disengagement of the Slovak art scene from the public space took over in the 1990s. Now, with new (crowd-)funding opportunities, artists again look to monumental realizations in public spaces. However, they often lack professional production facilities and support to realize such projects, from performances art to installations and large-scale sculptures. They are therefore forced to curb the ambition and impact of their works. The Public Subjects project cluster is about art going public. We will support local production capacities and introduce new and existing large-scale art productions which we will co-create with a group of local and European artists and performers. It is there, on the streets, squares, parks, by the rivers… that the window of opportunities for contacts with new audiences is fully open. Let us see and meet there in thousands! The project will also present a challenge for artists and creators in the form of reaction to their work by the general public.

 

Projects related to the Public Subject cluster

⬤ Hangar – Creation Centre for Art in the Public Space ⬤ European Puppet Theater Season ⬤ Giant Puppets Parades ⬤ Tanečno ⬤ Akustikon ⬤ Nonument
⬤ NCAF – New Circus Art Fest ⬤ Echoes of the town ⬤ Žilina Žije

 


HANGAR

Starting with artists and their ability to creatively transform places, to mobilize and inspire the inhabitants, we plan to create HANGAR – Creation Centre for Art in the Public space. Creations that will be supported range from visual art, sculpture and installations to performance art, theatre, dance, and new circus, with the ambition to be presented in the public space rather than in dedicated artistic spaces. The idea for a creation center came from the lack of such structure in the larger region. Inspired by models of similar types of infrastructure from various Western European countries, but adapted to the artistic, technical and financial condition of the region. Independent festivals and cities in Central Europe often lack the funds to accept offers from Western Europe and/ or cannot always find suitable offers from local artists, who in turn lack the support and spaces necessary to produce artworks at this scale and under these specific conditions. HANGAR Creation Centre will provide a large hall where companies can test their shows or produce their artworks, in line with the Žilina Beskids priority of producing rather than only programming. The transformed bus depot and garage of the local mass transit company will host the creation centre and offer ideal conditions for art production with: technical equipment, material repository, and resource center, a large hall to rehearse or present productions, a large empty square ideal for outdoor shows, and an artistic makerspace studio to produce artworks or props for shows. There will also be a CC upcycling center with a material bank for artistic creation. HANGAR will also provide space for the production of animated films and occasionally for large events and concerts. At the same time, a new entrance with a reception, a café, and an information center will be created there.

 

Events related to the investment project HANGAR

⬤ Enough is Enough exhibition ⬤ Scale up workshops ⬤ Beskids Sustainable Design week ⬤ European Artistic Crafts Days ⬤ Animators in Residence ⬤ Echoes of the town ⬤ NCAF – New Circus Art Fest ⬤ Beskids Industrial Heritage Route ⬤ CC: Circular Culture 

 

Photos → Ester Mládenková, Peter Kotrha

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]]> We uncover our final bid book! #1 Find out more about content and structure. https://zilina2026.eu/en/odkryvame-nas-finalny-bid-book-1-zistite-viac-o-jeho-strukture-a-obsahu/ Mon, 29 Nov 2021 17:49:36 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4640 This month, we submitted our final bid book to the Ministry of Culture. The bid book is the result of two years of work by our team, dozens of cultural operators in the region on three sides of the border, and hundreds of collaborators from all over Europe.  In the coming days, we will also […]

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]]> This month, we submitted our final bid book to the Ministry of Culture. The bid book is the result of two years of work by our team, dozens of cultural operators in the region on three sides of the border, and hundreds of collaborators from all over Europe.  In the coming days, we will also submit the Slovak version of the bid book, and we will then make both versions available online for the public.  Before that, we decided to publish the basic information and the most interesting projects and ideas that can be found in our bid book!   

⬤ 100 pages ⬤ 3 programme pillars ⬤ 30 project clusters
⬤ 150+ projects ⬤ 500+ partners from all over Europe
⬤ 36 investment plans worth almost 100 million euros

Programme pillars

We have not changed the initial concept which still deals with three main elements: Future’s Factories, Flow of Nature, and Borderless Identities. We understood the decision of the jury shortlisting our bid for the final selection as a signal that our concept is viable, and have further developed it based on the jury’s feedback. → Below, to indicate the advancement of our concept, we briefly introduce some new projects or mention those that have evolved most.

Future’s Factories

Žilina, Bielsko-Biała, and Frýdek-Místek are typical examples of cities that developed along with their respective industries. Industrial production has been a fertile ground for a particular culture, one that consists of both tangible and intangible assets: factories as the foundation of new urban structures; crafts, engineering, and entrepreneurial skills as a source of social and economic capital. Specific mindsets, loyalties, and attitudes co-create the social fabric and everyday life in industrial regions, even if their people are often not aware of it. The Future Factory programme pillar focuses on craft, artistic production, the industrial and technical heritage of the Beskids region and the connection between art and science.

Flow of nature

No matter which direction you take from our cities, you quickly reach nature and beautiful mountains. In this programme pillar, we merge thematic focus on environmental issues with artistic creation and pay cultural tribute to the surrounding Beskids. Through deconcentrating our programme, spreading the events over a large territory and bringing them to remote areas, we will engage natural landscapes and dozens of small towns and villages in the ECoC programme, so that they also can be a part of the European dialogue. We will offer visitors from all over Europe the experience of the wilderness of Beskid forests and mountains, and opportunities to embark on a journey of art and adventure into themselves and the region’s identity. We will explore traditional culture and inspire its contemporary reinterpretation. We will be as well addressing conflicting environmental and economic interests, and critically reconsider the relationship between humans and nature; the tension between the urges to protect and master it. We will be focusing on the issue of climate change and support adaptation techniques through better care of urban greenery and water management.

Borderless Identity

If culture is one of the forming elements of our identities – whether national, regional, or local – the societal role of art is to challenge those identities and to put our history in perspective. We see the ECoC title as an opportunity to better understand that past, to confront the taboos lingering in our collective unconscious, especially those related to the region’s role in WW2 and subsequent nationalisms, and turn them into a force of construction, rather than destruction. Yet, we do not want to get stuck in the past. We see the title, first and foremost, as an opportunity to use art to imagine a different kind of world, through art, challenging established narratives and envisaging new ones. We also want to reflect Žilina’s long-standing identity as a transportation hub, and drive European mobility and intercultural oo dialogue throughout the ECoC process. We think that such dialogue is the essence of all transportation and mobility, not just their accidental byproduct. Our programme is a celebration of that dialogue. In our program, we also focus on these topics, and we feel an urgency to explore this freedom in any artistic or journalistic expression, and to become a European centre for debate on the freedom to speak and create, whether in art or in the media.

 

Project clusters

In addition to the three program pillars, the bid book also contains 30 project clusters → thematic areas, which serve for a clear classification and display of projects. Each program pillar has 10 clusters and each cluster covers several similar related projects. We will gradually publish program clusters and specific projects.

⬤ Interowen cities ⬤ Wires ⬤ Living Water ⬤ Summit of culture ⬤ Windows of Diversity ⬤ Freedom of Expression
⬤ and many more! 

 

 

Other projects

In addition to the 148 projects in the three program pillars, located in the second chapter of the application, there are also projects that are specifically aimed at involving the widest possible population, education and community building. These are part of Chapter 4 – Outreach. Projects focused specifically on cooperation with other European cities are in Chapter 3 – The European Dimension.

 

Investments plans

Winning the title of European Capital of Culture represents a unique opportunity to mobilize resources to build and renew cultural infrastructure in the city and region. As part of the Žilina Beskids 2026 project, 36 investment plans are ready for the entire cross-border region. Many new buildings will be built (museums, galleries, film studio, park, fountains) and a large part will be used for the reconstruction of cultural houses, city cinemas, monuments and also to the restoration of urban and natural spaces (forest park, embankment, squares and courtyards). The total volume of investments is planned at the level of almost 100 million euros. Of this, the Slovak government declared the expected volume of investments in projects within the ECOC 2026 from EU funds at the level of 40 million euros. We will gradually publish investment plans in other articles on our website.

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]]> Beskids Events Advisor – Week 46/2021 https://zilina2026.eu/en/beskids-events-advisor-podujatia-46-tyzden/ Fri, 19 Nov 2021 12:28:49 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4606 19th year of Jazz Autumn in Bielsko-Biała 18th – 20th November 2021 – Bielsko-Biała Three days full of jazz music started yesterday in our partner city Bielsko-Biala at the 19th year of the Jazz Autumn Festival, which continues the legacy and idea of Tomasz Stańko, the legendary Polish composer and trumpeter. Jazz Autumn in Bielsko-Biała […]

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]]> 19th year of Jazz Autumn in Bielsko-Biała

18th – 20th November 2021 – Bielsko-Biała

Three days full of jazz music started yesterday in our partner city Bielsko-Biala at the 19th year of the Jazz Autumn Festival, which continues the legacy and idea of Tomasz Stańko, the legendary Polish composer and trumpeter. Jazz Autumn in Bielsko-Biała was always trying to present sophisticated and unique music by artists who have their own original musical language. This year will be no different!

More info.

 

Night in the Puppet Theatre

20th November 2021 – Žilina

The puppeteer’s foyer will be transformed into a cozy living room for this extraordinary day. A rich programme awaits you there; the Puppet Theatre will perform the popular production of Kozliatka, which you may recognize from the summer theatre garden. But you can also look forward to an extraordinary reading of fairy tales with live music. Old posters and prints from old productions will also come to life, right under your hands; together with the lecturer, you will be able to create beautiful origami. The evening will end with the second premiere of the upcoming production of “Hlava-nehlava”, which is aimed at all children aged 6 and up. 

More info. 

 

Exhibition: SMRK

From 19th November 2021 – Frýdek-Místek 

Visit the Museum of Beskids in Frýdek-Místek and find out more about nature, the history of settlement, but also about the fates of people who fought as partisans in the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains.

More info. 

 

Actions with METOAR

21th November 2021 – Žilina

Do you remember the classic board game Activities, where one of the tasks was to draw and guess the word combination? Young Office in cooperation with Záriečie Station have prepared a modified version of this game for you. We will replace the paper with a meotar! For those who don’t know what a meotar is, it is an older predecessor of the projector, but it works on the principle of light and shadow. 

More info.  

 

Tešín Jazz Festival

19th – 24th November 2021 – Český Tešín / Czieszyn

Since 1973, the Tešín Jazz Festival has been a symbol of quality musical performances, original environment and unforgettable experiences, and despite political upheavals, economic difficulties and civil disagreements, it is a demonstration that culture unites all people and does not make differences. Since the festival’s inception, a plethora of enthusiastic listeners and jazz musicians from all corners of the world have attended the concerts of Czech and foreign bands. Both local and foreign musicians, both young and time-tested talents, have been given space on the stages here. The whole festival thus becomes a unique place to strengthen existing and forge new relationships in an international environment.

More info.

 

Party: PLAY.Hoffmann

19th November 2021 – Žilina

A quality selection of techno and other electronic genres will be heard from the Hoffman Cultural Centre in Žilina this Friday.

More info.

 

Exhibition: the Košice-Bohumín Railway

Till 5th December – Žilina

The exhibition on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railway will present the construction, development and documents related to its history. The railway, originally running through both Austrian and Hungarian territory, was built to improve the transport of agricultural products and raw materials, especially in the iron industry. However, it had a significant impact on the development of towns and villages in northern and eastern Slovakia. It was the only line in Upper Hungary running in an east-west direction, it was always privately owned (until 1942) and was the longest railway line in Slovakia. The exhibition consists of pictorial sources supplemented by three-dimensional exhibits and will be located in the Tinker’s Pavilion in the grounds of Budatín Castle.

More info.

 

+ Trip tip: Tatra Truck Museum

Every day from Tuesday to Sunday – Kopřivnice

Visit the newly opened Tatra Truck Museum near Frýdek-Místek in Kopřivnice, where the Tatra brand originated! The museum was created in the renovated building of the former foundry of the car factory and on an area of more than 5000 m2 presents a unique collection of 80 trucks and chassis of the Tatra brand.

More info.

 

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]]> Beskids Events Advisor – Week 45/2021 https://zilina2026.eu/en/beskids-events-advisor-podujatia-45-tyzden/ Mon, 08 Nov 2021 13:51:23 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4587 Music Without Borders: Kinan Azmeh 11th November 2021 – Žilina The international project Music Without Borders encompasses a wide dose of musical the tolerance that transcends not only the borders of countries and continents but also the imaginary boundaries of musical styles, age, or creed. For the first time in Slovakia, the world-famous Syrian clarinetist […]

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]]> Music Without Borders: Kinan Azmeh

11th November 2021 – Žilina

The international project Music Without Borders encompasses a wide dose of musical
the tolerance that transcends not only the borders of countries and continents but also the
imaginary boundaries of musical styles, age, or creed. For the first time in Slovakia, the
world-famous Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, winner of the 2017 Grammy Award and
the 2019 OPUS Klassik Award, member of the international Silkroad Ensemble from Boston,
founded by the legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

More info.

Development of nature tourism in the Žilina Self-Governing Region: Workshop

10th November 2021 – Žilina

The goal of the workshop is to collect ideas and plans in the field of nature tourism and to
network the actors. The event is organized by Žilina County in cooperation with the
Association of Nature Tourism. The pilot workshop is dedicated to the territory of Kysuce and
Orava in conjunction with the Malá Fatra National Park, which are part of the candidate
programme Žilina Beskydy 2026 for the European Capital of Culture.

More info.

Spectrum Quartett: CUBUS

10th November 2021 – Žilina

​​The musical group active in the sphere of the so-called new classical music presents for the
first time fresh original compositions by four relatively young, but already very well-known
generation of Slovak composers born between 1984 and 1988. The author Lucia Chut'ková
and the composers Vladislav Šarišský, Michal Paľko and Peter Duchnický were already
exceptional during their studies for their distinctive approach to music. Nowadays, their
works constantly appear in the dramaturgy of events and festivals devoted not only to
contemporary classical music but also to other musical genres.

More info.

The Young Art Institute

10th November 2021 – Bielsko-Biała

A great opportunity for students and visual art enthusiasts at our partners at the BWA
Gallery in Bielsko-Biala! The Young Art Institute is a program designed for high school
students and students of all faculties interested in contemporary culture. Free classes will be
held twice a month. Their goal is to broaden the participants' knowledge of contemporary
culture, learn critical thinking, formulate opinions, and interpret artworks based on current
exhibitions at the Bielsko BWA Gallery. In addition, participants of the program will have the
opportunity to participate in the preparation of current events in the gallery.

More info.

Biennial of Painting: Bielsko Autumn

Till 12th January 2022 – Bielsko-Biala

The traditional event of the Bielsko Autumn Biennial is constantly evolving, always open to
new events, the latest trends in art and responding to the needs of artistic circles. The aim of
the Biennial is to present the development and achievements in painting, as well as to
popularize art. The Biennale is accompanied by many events such as speeches by artists
and art critics, competitions, workshops and educational activities organised by the artists
themselves.

More info.

Winter tour of Fryštát Castle

Every weekend until the end of the year – Karviná

Fryštát Castle is the only one of the three splendid castles that were still located in the
territory of Karviná in the 20th century that has been preserved. A tour of the castle offers an
insight into the style of living of the last owners, the Larisch-Mönnich family. Two tours will
take you through the interior with a 19th century atmosphere, the third tour presents an
exposition of 19th century Czech art from the National Gallery in Prague. You can visit
Fryštát Castle every Saturday and Sunday until the end of the year.

More info.

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]]> Beskids Events Advisor – Week 44/2021 https://zilina2026.eu/en/beskids-events-advisor-podujatia-44-tyzden/ Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:07:22 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4580 Voce Magna Žilina 02. – 07. 11. 2021 – Žilina and Martin  The eleventh year of the International Festival of Choral Art Žilina Voce Magna 2021 brings performances of Slovak and foreign art choirs to unique venues in Žilina and its surroundings. Visit the festival and experience a concert of choral music, for example in […]

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]]> Voce Magna Žilina

02. – 07. 11. 2021 – Žilina and Martin 

The eleventh year of the International Festival of Choral Art Žilina Voce Magna 2021 brings performances of Slovak and foreign art choirs to unique venues in Žilina and its surroundings. Visit the festival and experience a concert of choral music, for example in the Evangelical Church in Žilina.

Find out more.


Draw.Eat.Repeat. / Workshop of animation 

03. 11. 2021 – Žilina

We invite you to a joint informal evening with a presentation of the project “Klobúk dolu”, an animation workshop and good food. Hand drawing animation workshop and flipbook animation with artist Tomáš Rybár.

Find out more. 

 

Mint Market 

06. 11. 2021 – Ostrava

The Trojhalí Karolina complex will come to life on Saturday, November 6, with 90 stands by local and independent artists. There you will find fashion not only for winter, stylish clothes for children, toys, jewelry, handbags, belts and shoes, home accessories, organic cosmetics and hundreds of other original design products.

Find out more. 

 

Bielska Jesień

Until 12. January 2021 – Bielsko-Biala

Bielska Jesień, a long-established competition, is continuously modified, always open to new happenings and the latest trends in art, and responsive to the needs of artistic circles. It aims to present the latest developments and achievements in painting, as well as popularizing art. The biennale is accompanied by numerous events, speeches delivered by artists and art critics, contests, workshops and educational activities which are run by artists.

Find out more.

 

Exhibition: Košicko-bohumínska železnica

Until 5th of December 2021

Považské múzeum extends the exposition of the “Cassovia-Bohumín Railway” on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. Visit the exhibition and find out more about the origin, development, and functions of the railway!

Find out more.

 

Photo: Wojciech Wandzel / Kino na Hranici

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]]> Beskids Events Advisor – Week 43/2021 https://zilina2026.eu/en/beskids-events-advisor-podujatia-43-tyzden/ Tue, 26 Oct 2021 22:45:36 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4543 Silvia Rosani: Amotion 29. 10. 2021 – Žilina Amotion connects the visitors’ voices to the acoustic and hybrid electroacoustic instruments involved and shape them all into a unique AI society. The dialogue is based on emotion detection, carried out live by a neural network model. The hybrid instruments imitates, contrasts or ignores the emotion detected […]

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]]> Silvia Rosani: Amotion

29. 10. 2021 – Žilina

Amotion connects the visitors’ voices to the acoustic and hybrid electroacoustic instruments involved and shape them all into a unique AI society. The dialogue is based on emotion detection, carried out live by a neural network model. The hybrid instruments imitates, contrasts or ignores the emotion detected in the sounds they hear. Their actions are determined by the history of the actions selected, like the live performers remember the strategies used during an improvisation. A work in progress was presented at the Werkleitz Festival (Halle, Germany) and its documentation was exhibited at the Ars Electronica Garden 2021, while slightly different versions will be implemented for the Museum of Transitory Art (MoTA) during SONICA Festival (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and the Nova synagoga in Žilina (Slovakia). The final version of the installation will travel to the new media center RIXC (Riga, Latvia) and make use of an app available on any device with an internet connection.

More information.

 

FrickoBrothers Friday

29. 09. 2021 – Žilina

The café in the New Synagogue is launching a new series of small Friday evenings in the café with their residents. Djs FrickoBrothers will take turns behind the dj players and bar. Along with the musical mix of deephouse, afrohouse, chillout and melodic techno, they will also provide a mix of gin drinks for you.

More information.

 

Theatre: Naše fotky

31. 10. 2021 – Žilina

Slovak premiere of the production of Thomas Melle’s play Our Photos, directed by Eduard Kudláč, which will take place on Saturday, October 30, in the Great Hall of the Theater. Thomas Melle’s play Our photos focus on the psychological consequences of the sexual abuse of young boys at a church boarding school. It is fiction, inspired by an event at one of the most prestigious boarding schools in Germany, Aloisiuskolleg in Bad Godesberg, which was unveiled in 2010.

More information.

 

Hviezdoslavov Kubín 2021

27. – 30. 10. 2021 – Dolný Kubín

The 67th year of the competition and exhibition in the artistic presentation of poetry and prose by children, youth and adults Hviezdoslav Kubín will take place from 27th to 30th November 2021 in the Municipal Cultural Center in Dolný Kubín and also will be available online as live stream on YouTube Hviezdoslavov Kubín.

More information.

 

The Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina concert in Bielsko-Biala

31. 10. 2021 – Bielsko Biala

The State Chamber Orchestra Žilina will perform this Sunday in our partner city Bielsko-Biala, with which we are running for the title of European Capital of Culture 2026. The concert will take place as part of the second year of the international festival “Beskid Classics”, which will present exceptional classical music concerts in Bielsko-Biala and Szczyrk.

More information.

 

Bielska Jesień

30. 10. 2021 – Bielsko-Biala

Bielska Jesień, a long-established competition, is continuously modified, always open to new happenings and the latest trends in art, and responsive to the needs of artistic circles. It aims to present the latest  developments and achievements in painting, as well as popularizing art. The biennale is accompanied by numerous events, speeches delivered by artists and art critics, contests, workshops and educational activities which are run by artists.

More information.

 

Art workshop in PLATO 

31. 10. 2021 – Ostrava

​​From 13/10 PLATO exhibits Marek Pražák’s cycle Twelve Commandments. The cycle is designed as a story, a symbol and a metaphor and features many known and invented characters. The workshop offers participants the opportunity to try this classic and immortal discipline with a rich history. Portrait and figure have been a strong movement in art and will continue to be as long as a human will have a face and body. Participants can bring their live model, or they can draw according to a live model in the gallery – literary historian Pavel Hruška.

More information.

 

Tetris: Barbora + ODM 

29. 10. 2021 – Ostrava

Great music experience awaits you in Ostrava this Friday! Barbora, a founder of Prague events Tetris and ODM from music collective Cereal will play a fresh selection of electronic music during Friday’s night in Dock club.

More information.

Autor článku: Filip Kováč

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]]> Silvia Rosani in the New Synagogue Žilina https://zilina2026.eu/en/blog-rosani/ Tue, 26 Oct 2021 22:48:24 +0000 https://zilina2026.eu/?p=4535 Italian artist Silvia Rosani started her artistic residency at the New Synagogue on 16th October and you can see her artistic output in the form of a sound performance this Friday. The two-week residency is also supported by Žilina Beskydy 2026, the New Synagogue and EMAP – The European Media Art Platform.   Žilina > […]

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]]> Italian artist Silvia Rosani started her artistic residency at the New Synagogue on 16th October and you can see her artistic output in the form of a sound performance this Friday. The two-week residency is also supported by Žilina Beskydy 2026, the New Synagogue and EMAP – The European Media Art Platform.

 

Žilina > centre of artistic residences 

Among artists, Žilina is often perceived as an ideal place to create new works of art, both by actors and artists. The Municipal Theatre, the Puppet Theatre, as well as the cultural centres Stanica and Nová synagóga have long been dedicated to co-producing new works and providing space for artists in residence. 

EU mobility is not only about physical mobility, but also about the free movement of ideas and knowledge. One of the ambitions of the Žilina Beskydy 2026 project is to support the production of new works and the international transfer of skills and knowledge through the expansion of the offer of mobility tools and artist in residence programmes (AiR).

The residency is based on an intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge between selected artists, host organisations and various professionals from the fields of science, art and technology who are involved in consulting, supporting or training artists. 

 

Meet Silvia Rosani 

Silvia studied composition first at the Conservatory in Italy, then at the Mozarteum Universität (Austria) and at the same time studied electronic engineering. She has a PhD from the University of London, where she is also a lecturer. Her music is presented internationally, played by ensembles and soloists. She is also involved in performance with electro-acoustic instruments, which she designs and produces herself.


Amotlon

Amotlon combines visitor’s voices with acoustic and hybrid electro-acoustic instruments and transforms them into a unified composition based on emotion detection, realized by a live neutral network model. The hybrid AI instruments mimic, contrast or ignore the emotions detected in the sounds. Just as live performers remember their strategies during improvisation, the algorithm-generated sound is conditioned by prior learned experience. As part of the artist residency at the New Synagogue, the AmotIon system will be adapted to the conditions of Sphere, resulting in a sound performance exploring the relationship between the two ecosystems.

This project was created during an artist residency at the RIXC New Media Centre (Riga, Latvia), presented as a work-in-progress at the Werkleitz Festival (Halle, Germany) and its documentation exhibited at Ars Electronica Gardens 2021. Its adapted version will be presented not only here, but also at the Museum of Transitory Art (MoTA) during the SONICA Festival in Ljubljana. The final version of the installation will travel back to the RIXC New Media Centre (Riga, Latvia).  

 

Learn more about EMAP 

The European Media Art Platform (EMAP) is a consortium of eleven leading European media art organisations specialising in digital and media art, bio art and robotic art. The consortium includes a number of renowned festivals dealing with these interdisciplinary art forms. Through an open call, EMAP members offer two-month residencies to practitioners, building on the legacy of the European Media Artist in Residence Exchange (EMARE), which has been in existence since 1995. 

 

We recommend the sound performance Amotlon and we want to invite you to a unique listening experience at the monumental Sphere in the New Synagogue on 29th October.

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