On Sunday, June 23 2013 evening a crowd started to flow into the State Theatre in Košice. Everybody was eager to see a unique musical performance presented by the GuoGuang Opera Company from Taiwan in Košice this year as a part of their European tour. After successful performances in Poland, Hungary and Denmark, also Slovak people had the chance to see, for the first time ever, the unusual performance of traditional art from far Asia – the Monkey King.
The Monkey King opera presented by the Taiwanese ensemble filled the whole theatre. Elaborate make-up and colorful costumes, breathtaking acrobatics, martial arts and exotic music and singing have earned unceasing applause from the audience of Košice theatre at the end of the performance. Enthusiastic theatre-goers were talking in the theatre foyer for a long time after the show: “It was one of the most amazing performances I have seen in my life; great show, I am very glad I could be here; I’ve never seen anything similar before.” Also several members of the Slovak parliament, officials from the Košice region and foreign guests didn’t miss this spectacular performance.
“I am very glad that our art is well received in Slovakia, people really enjoyed it. I am happy that our national opera could present itself as a part of the European Capital of Culture 2013 and give local audience a unique opportunity to see this great performance which was presented in several continents so far,” said the Head of Taipei Representative Office, Bratislava Nan-Yang Lee.
GuoGuang Opera Company, established in 1995 in Taiwan, preserves the traditional Chinese drama for almost 20 years and presents it to the audience home and abroad. In addition to classical plays, their repertoire also includes new plays inspired by current social development, literature, history and folk legends.

YURI Dojc, a renowned SlovakCanadian photographer, has been engaged in a long-term project that delves into the past, bringing to life items that were were abandoned long ago by people who perished. The most recent stage of the project, called Last Folio, focuses on the Jewish community in eastern Slovakia and is installed in a fitting location: the old “Small Synagogue”in Košice. “Košice … is playing host to all aspects of culture in the region – once the far-eastern hub of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where Poles, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Jews co-existed in a truly multicultural space,” a press release accompanying the exhibition states about this eastern-Slovak city. However, time and the changing regimes took their toll on both the people and the cultural heritage. Košice is hosting the 2013 European Capital of Culture (ECOC), and has been known for its multiculturalism and wide range of ethnic, social and cultural influences for centuries. Dojc, born in eastern Slovakia, emigrated after the suppression of the “Prague Spring” in 1968, and settled in Toronto, where he has since become an internationally acclaimed photographer, exhibiting in numerous countries worldwide, and publishing his photos in books. His current exhibition depicts Jews, the victims of another totalitarian regime, and the unspeakable tragedy which swept across almost all of Europe, the Holocaust. The photographs show disintegrating books in Hebrew, silent relics of what was once a thriving community in Slovakia. By coincidence, Dojc and a documentary film crew came across an abandoned Jewish school in eastern Slovakia, “where time had stood still since the day in 1942 when all those attending it were taken away to the [concentration] camps…”, the catalogue says. “These decaying books lying on dusty shelves; the last witnesses of a once thriving culture, are treated by Yuri Dojc as the individual survivors that they are – each book captured as in a portrait, preserved in their final beauty, pictures speaking a thousand words.” Among these books and fragments photographed by Dojc, one in particular stands out: a book that miraculously found its way from a dusty pile to its rightful heir – it was once owned by Dojc’s grandfather Jakub. “And so a journey which began with the portrait of his father came full circle”, reads the catalogue. This project, which has lasted for more than a decade, was first presented in the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava in 2009. In 2011, it opened in New York, and later other cities in the US and Canada followed. The exhibition Last Folio – The Tales of Yuri’s Pictures opened in Košice’s oldest synagogue, at Zvonárska 7, on June 11 and can be seen until August 28.

Compiled by Spectator staff

(The Slovak Spectator; 22/2013; 10/06/2013; s.: 13; Redakcia ; Zaradenie: CULTURE)

THE EUROPEAN Capital of Culture (ECOC) is a title awarded each year to two European cities. This year Košice and Marseilles have the honour of hosting the event. Košice secured its ECOC 2013 title in September 2008, representing the ‘new’ EU member countries, while Marseilles represents the established EU member states (the EU15). At the end of May, Košice representatives offered a taste of Slovak culture to their French counterparts. The Days of Slovak Culture in Marseilles opened on May 14 and presented many Slovak artists to the French city. “During the following days, many Slovak artists will introduce themselves here – not only from Košice, but also from Bratislava, Banská Bystrica, and Martin: musicians, film-makers, photographers and visual artists,” Košice Mayor Richard Raši said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. It is crucial that we perceive 2013 as the beginning of a new era, as a long-term project and not a product lasting just one year,” he added. Marseilles’ Mayor Daniel Herrmann pointed out that both cities have a lot in common – they serve as entrances to Europe, be it from the Mediterranean and Africa, or from the east into the Schengen zone. Raši stressed that both cities are multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-national. He also praised the ECOC event for boosting tourism in both cities and bringing a new impetus for local culture and activism. Both mayors also exchanged their differing experiences with financing the project and using resources. The first Slovak events in Marseilles were a presentation of Slovak gastronomic delicacies and a jazz concert. The art director for the ECOC Košice 2013, Vladimír Beskid, praised the French event as one of the first results of the cooperation of both cities. Slovak Ambassador to France Marek Eštok appreciated the fact that the project has fostered the mutual enrichment of both cultural capitals, and is making Košice and Slovakia – better known. “If not for the ECOC, the region of Provence would know little about Košice,” Eštok summed up. He added, however, that the promotion of Slovakia would continue in the future, and in other French regions too. The Days of Slovak Culture lasted for a week and in return, French artists participated in the Use the City festival in Košice, starting on May 23. Olivier Grossetete was the first artist to participate in the event, building a Marseilles lighthouse from cardboard. The Košice-based Na Peróne theatre showed the results of a joint five-year project called Step by Step with the Lyons troupe La Hors De, in addition to other events.

Compiled by Spectator staff

KOŠICE, which is one of two holders of the title European City of Culture 2013, wants to be connected by air with London in order to attract more foreign tourists. Košice Turizmus, the local destination management company, is offering subsidies to stimulate air carriers to open the line, the local Korzár daily wrote on April 9. Košice Turizmus, an organisation which groups local administration offices, hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and other tourismrelated organisations, is offering the local airport support of up to eur445,000 from August 2013 until the end of 2014 in return for finding an air carrier. This means the airport should get eur25 for each person arriving from London to Košice by plane. If the contract is extended for 2015, the incentive would be over eur9 per passenger. According Tomáš Jančuš, a member of Košice Airport’s board of directors, there is huge competition in the air business. “Lesser known airports do not even get a chance to present themselves to air companies without [subsidies],” Jančuš told the daily. The destination management organisation would like to see a low-cost air carrier run the line. Based on the planned contract, the air carrier should fly between Košice and London at least twice a week and the capacity of the planes used would allow for at least 200 incoming passengers per week. Iveta Niňajová, the head of Košice Turizmus, sees an air connection with London as of strategic importance. “London is a base for tour operators bringing to Europe visitors from Asia as well as South America and these make up the biggest share of visit rates in European cities,” Niňajová told Korzár, adding that surveys indicate that a line to London has the best precondition for being used by travelling businesspeople, travellers spending extended weekends in the city and holidaymakers. The price of flights remains to be decided, but the new air carrier would be cheaper than the current London-Vienna-Košice air connection, on which tickets costs about eur400. Košice citizens are reckoned to be willing to pay eur100-eur300 for a flight to London. For now, the only direct flights to and from Košice are to Prague, Bratislava and Vienna. Košice Turizmus also would like to see a direct flight to Germany.

Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports

The National Bank of Slovakia have issued (25^th February) a new collector’s coin which marks both the appointment of a Slovakian city as European Culture Capital for 2013 as well as highlights the historical city as a world recognized preservation site.

Košice, the second largest city of Slovakia, developed into a chartered town in the 13th century owing to its location as the crossroads of trade routes in the Hornád river basin. By the end of the century, Košice was an established medieval town surrounded by stone walls. In the 14th century the town was granted a royal charter and saw work begin on St Elisabeth’s Cathedral, the huge Gothic landmark that would come to dominate its extended lenticular square. The cathedral dates back to the last quarter of the 15th century and is among the largest of its type in Europe. Standing next to the cathedral is a separate bell tower (Urban’s tower) and St Michael’s chapel, which was originally a charnel house (a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored).

The size and importance of the medieval town is evident from the local monastic buildings. Indeed the oldest preserved church in the city was established as part of a Dominican monastery. The town is home to numerous baroque and classical palaces as well as Burg houses, many of which still have their original medieval cellars. At the end of the 19th century the spectacular Reduta building and theatre was built in the main square. In 1983 the city and its historical core was declared an historical preservation area. As a first for any Slovak city, Košice has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2013 by the European Council.

The silver coin, struck by the Kremnica Mint and designed by Karol Ličko, features a view of the Košice townscape circa 1617 – along with the city’s historic coat of arms on the obverse. The coat of arms of the Slovak Republic appears in the lower part of the design with the year 2013 to its right. The country name “SLOVENSKO” is in the upper part. The stylised initials of the designer are placed next to the left edge, while the mintmark of the Kremnica Mint lies to the right of the Košice coat of arms.

The reverse design depicts some of the architectural landmarks of Košice’s historical preservation area, including St Elisabeth’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Chapel. Situated on the left of the design is a statue of St Elizabeth of Hungary, the town’s patron saint, from the altarpiece of the cathedral’s main altar, shown together with a Gothic arch and stylized lettering. Along the edge of the design, from left to right, is the inscription PAMIATKOVÁ REZERVÁCIA KOŠICE (Historical preservation area of Košice). The denomination 20 EURO appears in the upper part.

For more information on this and other coins struck for the National Bank of Slovakia, please visit the website of the Kremnica Mint at: http://www.mint.sk/nakup_novinky.php Information offered in English – international orders fulfilled.

http://news.coinupdate.com/european-capital-of-culture-celebrated-in-kosice-1878/

http://www.labkultur.tv/en/blog/creative-kosice-part-1

http://www.labkultur.tv/en/blog/kultour-project

More: http://www.labkultur.tv/en/blog/kair-kosice-artist-residence-0

The reconstructed stations will serve as Edge Cultural Points (ECP) and support the process of cultural decentralization from the center to the peripheries. They will complete the lack of cultural infrastructure, emphasizing modernization. Final output of the project will be 7 modern multifunctional cultural objects, with impact on cultural development in the city and in the region. An inside peek on the project was given by its manager, Blanka Berkyová.

Can you tell us what the impetus for the project to origin was?

Blanka Berkyová: The idea to begin a project like this started during the nomination, when the city of Košice was applying for the title European Capital of Culture 2013. The process of mapping had revealed that there are certain heat exchangers in the city which thanks to the advances and changes in heating technology offered free space in the buildings. It also proved to be reasonable to reconstruct these buildings and use them for a different purpose in the future.

Was it tough to bring the project to life?

Blanka Berkyová: I have to admit that the early beginning, before the project developed into a final given form, was really hard. First of all, we had to provide the means and build capacities needed for community development. Everyone thought that the SPOTs project has no results and is just about a reconstruction of some buildings. The project itself was started in the district Košice Západ (West) in 2009. One has to realize that the housing estate we are talking about has approximately 30.000 inhabitants and in the direct neighborhood of the ECP live about 2.000 of them. We had to address these people and start communication. Community workers together with students of social studies did the so-called informational interviews. They visited 1.500 households, interviewed the citizens in person, explained what does it mean that Košice gained the title of European Capital of Culture 2013, how they can get involved in the SPOTs project and that there is going to be a reconstruction of the heat exchanger. We have done some hard field work, where we talked to these people in person, explained the project to them, mention the reconstruction of the heat exchanger station. The key element of the interviews was to find out what kind of activities would citizens prefer to take place in the Edge Cultural Point and whether or not are they willing to participate. This way we have found people who are willing to collaborate and prepare various events for their neighbors nowadays. We are talking about theatre projects, theatre cafes and creative workshops. The basic rule is: reach to the people, attract them, motivate them, spend time together and build a relationship, give them space for their own activities and self-realization. It is a never ending work of a community worker without the SPOTs project would not work.

How did you get involved in the project?

Blanka Berkyová: People in the Košice 2013 team needed to get a “human dimension” in the project, which is how I got in the project. Thanks to a recommendation from Mišo Hudák the team contacted Centre for community development. I worked there as a manager and also as a community worker. At that time was the center focused on Ťahanovce housing estates, where we have implemented various projects on activating youth and other citizens, but we were active also in the local policy making. Therefore I had both theoretical and practical experience in building community and socio-cultural centers, how to create suitable conditions for citizen participation in community building in the housing estates. Already during the candidacy, we have been working with public and other NGOs, so when the evaluation committee came, we were already able to present partial results: that participation in housing estates is possible and that people, who are specifically activated, are able, but moreover interested in the agenda and willing to revitalize the community via the community center. When Košice won the title, Center for community development, where I had previously worked, was the sponsor of the project. We were in charge of its implementation, determining the basic objectives, program structure and building a quality team.

In the previous part, we ended up talking about your personal involvement in the project. Who are the other members of the SPOTs team?

The stable core of the team is 5 people. Christian Potiron had joined us during the first year, he is in charge of the agenda and art projects. In present we have 3 community workers in the team, a cultural mediator and we cooperate with external photographers on an occasional basis. The current development shows that we have a very good team. They overcame the initial problems, stabilized the project as a whole and became its soul.

What parts does the project consist of?

After the first year, the program concept and its structure became final and clear. Currently, the project has 4 operating areas: community development and civic participation, informal learning and volunteering, community and social art, reconstruction of the heat exchanger stations, and development of public space. Based on that, it is divided into 3 basic programs: community development, dialogues and housing estates. Within these, there are several subroutines. When creating the SPOTs’ structure, based on the original concept of INTERFACE Košice 2013 project, we were looking for links between the two projects, therefore there are many common activities such as the inter-generational inter-cultural dialogue.

What do you think was the hardest part of the project?

This project simply can not work otherwise than from the bottom up. Although we have given the project a soul, we can not implement it ourselves. I have to do all I can to establish a connection, a relationship between the citizens and the ECP, without their interest in it, we cannot operate. We can provide support, a guarantee, sponsorship, leadership, but citizens themselves have to be at the core of the project. When once the project ends, we have ensure that in the future there will be active people willing to work in the community, who will continue in the work we are doing today. The purpose of the project is building capacities, including human resources, for the future. One of the elemental sources of a community is a person. We are now trying to mobilize people and teach them to be creative. I look forward to the moment, when each ECP will be managed by an organization, they will continue developing and implementing projects due to the basic program structure. And I will no longer be a manager, but a guest.

How does the public reflect the project?

We had a big problem with communicating the project to the media and thus to the public, explaining it to them. We had to clarify the nature of the project because it was understood as reconstruction of the heat exchanger stations and nothing more. The reconstruction is, of course, important, but it is not the most significant part. I remember a statement of mine during the application for the title of European Capital of Culture 2013, where I said that I don’t want people to watch soap operas. I wanted to revive the community, to offer new possibilities. Now I see happy people, they are happy they can spend their free time in the ECP, they can be creative and participate on projects.

How do you see the future of the project?

The basis of our work, present or future, is in having active partners. Without the interest of citizens, active partners, we cannot implement the project and in particular, it does not make sense, it is not the goal of the project. As I said, I hope we can create a good environment and conditions for our successors. At present, we have reconstructed two heat exchanger stations to ECPs. Further work on the project should proceed more easily and quickly, because we have gained vast experience. Finally, the positive impact of the SPOTs project on the local community motivates us greatly. We are happy to see positive changes as the community progresses and it gives us energy to carry on. I believe that in the future, SPOTs will be seen by people like something their, in cooperation with local governments. The municipality has a key role in creating suitable conditions for community development. It is a challenging and never-ending job, but it is worth it.

http://www.2010lab.tv/en/blog/kosice-2013-spots-project-part-1

http://www.2010lab.tv/en/blog/kosice-pentapolitana-project-part1