The goal of the founders is to popularize scientific disciplines and technical schools among young people in a creative form. A unique exhibition, intended for children aged seven and over, includes over 50 exhibits on three floors with a total exhibition area of 800 m2. In the factory environment, the visitors will not only learn the “steel story”, but they can also experience a number of physical processes, including mining raw materials in an interactive sand-pit, using a geological drill, walking on a footbridge in magnetic shoes, separating scrap metal by controlling an electromagnetic crane, or climbing a vertical pole with the use of their own strength. They can enjoy robotic football, speaking handles, a 3D cinema, and a lot of other original exhibits stimulating creativity and deepening knowledge, as well as responsibility for their own safety and protection of the environment.

The symbolic key to the creative factory was handed over to the City Mayor Richard Raši by the President of the Company George F. Babcoke, who said on this occasion: “The steel story can only take place in a city whose identity is linked with the manufacture of steel products. Today, the Steel Park is ready for life as a developing organism whose future form will be based on how Košice citizens respond to this story. The Steel Park is a display-window of the creativity and ability of people from Košice. It will never be completed, since there will always be something to add, because there will always be something we do not know today which will be invented in the arts and in technology in the future.” The hand-over of the exhibition to the City of Košice took place in the presence of the Vice Chairman of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič, the Chief Executive of the Košice Self-Governing Region Zdenko Trebuľa, and representatives of the academic institutions and the European Capital of Culture.

The creative factory called Steel Park in the premises of Kasárne/Kulturpark on Kukučínova Street in Košice is open to the public every day from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., although schools and other larger groups can also arrange a visit between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The admission of children aged below 15 years is only possible when they are accompanied by an adult person. Current information is available at www.steelpark.sk.

Three days long meeting is mainly focused on people of from 15 to 30. There will be 12 organizations offering opportunities and programs to work and study across EU. Among those there institutions such as Slovak Youth institute, Ministry of Education, Research, Science and Sport, Thematic Youth Centre, Kosice, Europe Direct Kosice, EURES – The European Job Mobility Portal, Eurodesk Slovakia, SAIA – Slovak Academic Information Agency, ESN- Erasmus Student Network, Directorate- General of Interpretation, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Alliance Française, SAAIC – Slovak Academic Association for International Cooperation.

 „Erodesk is European information network and its main goal is to provide information and advises that concerns young people a all those, who work with them. During the event, all the visitors will have the chance to talk with foreign voluntaries that came and work in Slovakia about possibilities of European voluntary service,“ Izabela Széplaki from Košice Erodesk office explained.

This is also why SAAIC – Slovak Academic Association for International Cooperation became one of the organisations, that are active in the event. Its chief of executive Katarína Košťálová said, that association is dealing with the study and research international programs for students, university teachers and researchers for more than 23 years and therefore aims of EC initiative Youth on the move are vital part of their everyday work. „Our aim is to provide to the widest number of people interested in educational and research opportunities in abroad as well as in Slovakia with all available information. We also in many individual cases provide together with Ministry of education financial support for such stayings,“ said K. Košťálová.

Apart from exhibitors’ visitors may look forward to discussions with vice president of the European Commission Mr. Maroš Ševčovič, Mr. Jan Truszczynski Directorate General for Education, Training and Youth of the European Commission or Samuel Abraham and Katarína Brychtová- European Year of Citizens 2013’ Ambassadors in Slovakia.

Initiative Youth on the move took place for the first time in 2010, since then it visited more than 60 European cities. It came to Slovakia in the past, organizers prepared the event at known musical festival Pohoda in Trenčín in previous year.

Initiative of EU‘s Youth on the move is connected with the programs focused on fields of education and employment of young people in Europe. It is part of EU’s to enhance skills and employment in Europe.

Around a hundred artists from ten countries and three continents will produce unique installations in a record 41 stations in the city centre. The dramaturge and curator of White Night, Zuzana Pacáková, has “mixed” a colourful programme consisting of 16 genres of music and fine arts. There will also be creative workshops for children and for the first time, apart from visual arts, visitors can look forward to concerts. The Barracks/Culture Park will entertain ambient house music enthusiasts with the British group, The Orb, and those who wish to have fun until morning can go to an Afterparty with 14 DJs.

“As always, all artistic installations can be seen free of charge. Tickets will only apply to musical events. Simply, some events can’t take place without an entrance fee being charged. A ticket for The Orb will cost €5, the Afterparty €3, but those who buy a ticket to see The Orb will have free entry to the Afterparty. A new event will also be a silent disco, a party with headphones. People can try this from 7.00pm to 23.00pm in Aupark and from midnight at an ‘afterparty’ in the Barracks/Culture Park,” said Z. Pacáková. As she emphasised, the entrance fee will contribute towards preparations for White Night in 2014.

“New this year will be engaging the public to ensure that an event in this format will remain in Košice and still attract world quality art and remain free of charge. In cooperation with the Košice – Tourism organisation, we have established the White Night Civic Association and we have also organised a public collection. The motto of the campaign is A Dot for White Night, since each visitor will receive an illuminated dot when they make a voluntary contribution. People will therefore become patrons of this event and will show that they are willing to support quality art in this form,” she added.

The collection will start during White Night and the illuminated dots will be available at the seven infopoints marked on the map, as well as from volunteers with special collection boxes who will move around the route. However, it will also be possible to support White Night until September 2014 via a special account, and the public will be able to continuously monitor and check the balance. “I would like to publicly thank the main partners who have supported us to date – The French Institute in Slovakia/Institut Français de Slovaquie, Alliance-Française in Košice, Košice Self-Governing Region, VSE/RWE Group and EU Japan Fest,” reminded Z. Pacáková.

Several personalities and guests who do not miss White Night include the General Director and Chairman of Východoslovenská Energetika a. s. (East Slovakia Energy Company), Thomas Jan Hejcman. “The VSE/RWE Group has been lighting up Košice night for more than 80 years. Therefore, of course, we are also a proud partner in this unique project for the second time. I believe that White Night, as a mega-successful project, also means a new light of hope for blossoming culture in Košice and the whole of Eastern Slovakia,” said the spokesperson for Východoslovenská Energetika a. s., Andrea Danihelová.

According to Z. Pacáková, due to their diversity, all the installations deserve the attention of visitors and she therefore concentrated them into one “line”.  “It starts next to the Tabačka Kulturfabrik and finishes in the Barracks on Kukučínova St. A small diversion is the City Park where, after a year’s break, we have returned with an interesting water-light installation called Drops by the Košice studio, ShowMedia, and Košice native Braňo Bernár. It has been created thanks to support from the VSE/RWE Group and I strongly recommend that you visit since it ranks amongst the top pieces this year,” she said.

Amongst around a hundred artists who will breathe life into the city night will be six artists from France and, for the first time, artists from Australia and Japan. Unique works will also be introduced by artists from England, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain. “I’m extremely happy that for the third time we’ll have the opportunity to adore the fragile art of the French Elise Morin, who will present monumental site specific installations called Golden Age and Ex-Vivo. They are made of 22,000 metres of gold thread, specially woven for us in Lyon,” said Z. Pacáková, who emphasised the fact that this artist preferred White Night in Košice over Paris. “For me, it is a great honour which doesn’t happen often,” she confessed.

The appreciation for Pacáková’s efforts in bringing contemporary art to the city, which was unknown to the city just a few years ago, is also the participation of James Tapscott, the young Australian from Melbourne. He waived his considerable fee for the chance to come to Košice. “For James, this is his first visit to Slovakia and, since last week, he has been creating a site specific light installation in the Barracks/Culture Park, made of optical cables and called Transference Field,” informed the Curator. “A holographic object called Mol by the renowned Japanese artist, Ryoichi Kurokawa, one is one of the top contemporary artists, will be presented in Košice for the first time. It is a piece which is technologically and financial very demanding and we are able to present it thanks to the support of EU Japan Fest,” she explained.

Popular 3D mapping in an innovative form will be introduced in Košice by Italian Luca Pulvirenti, a Professor of New Media from Sicily. He called his work Landmarks of Memory and Signs and will present it on the rear façade of the historic State Theatre. Another untraditional piece will be the interactive, illuminated wall, Water Light Graffiti by French artist, Antonin Fourneau. Visitors can try the very popular interactive painting with water, which triggers light points.

“Thanks to this project, anyone can create graffiti on a wall using LED diodes with a simple environmentally friendly sprayer. Using water which has no shape or colour to create a painting using light is a magical experience regardless of a visitor’s age or artistic perception,” explained Z. Pacáková.

Equally, for the first time since installations were created for White Night, the public will be involved via so-called participatory works, created by people in conjunction with the artist, Mademoiselle Maurice. She is preparing an installation for which she needs over 30,000 pieces of origami and this work will be situated on the wall of the Executioner’s House next to Mikluš Prison. These pieces of origami are currently being produced by clients of social services care homes and students from schools around the Košice Self-Governing Region as well as the wide public, including city management with the Mayor of Košice, Richard Raši.

Mademoiselle Maurice lives in Paris and creates her works mainly using paper and thread. As she says, she loves their malleability and the emotions which these pieces can induce if they are placed in a public area and disturb the city drabness. The old Japanese art of paper folding – origami – attracted her during her stay in Japan. In the country of the rising sun, she experienced earthquakes, a tsunami as well as the explosion of the nuclear power station in Fukushima. These tragic events, together with the story of the little girl called Sadako, who believed the old legend that if she folded a thousand paper cranes (orizuru) she will recover from leukaemia caused by radiation from the atom bomb, led her to create street art works using origami.

It isn’t just people from Košice, but people from the entire region who were given the opportunity to participate in her art.  Almost 20 Košice primary schools, secondary school students, university students accommodated in Košice dormitories, as well as clients from the DOMKO Košice social services home, ANIMA Michalovce and SUBSIDIUM in Rožňava, visitors to the Stonožka Family Centre, students from the School of Applied Arts as well as prisoners from the Institute for Imprisonment and Remand in Košice were involved in the origami. Also taking part were the management and Mayor of Košice, Richard Raši, who, as a former student of the Šrobárova secondary grammar school, went back to his alma mater and on Tuesday, 24 September, together with its current students, will be making origami for White Night.

However, the White Night team from Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013 is inviting everybody who would like to join in, “We really invite everybody. Due to the magnificence of this art piece, on Wednesday, 25 September at 5.00pm in the Barracks/Culture Park, we are preparing a public workshop where we are going to teach people how to create origami with us. Everyone who wishes to join in can do so. You can also apply via the email address alexandra.varcholova@kosice2013.sk and will be sent the necessary instructions,” stressed the Curator of White Night, Zuzana Pacáková.

Mademoiselle Maurice’s installation is being created thanks to the support of the Košice self-governing region within the Terra Incognita programme. “Cooperation with actors in the sphere of culture is very important for us. We don’t want the situation where the existence and development in this area is just in the hands of professionals who work and act in the area of culture,” stated the Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism of KSK, Jana Kovácsová and she clarified that this idea is perceived mainly as an opportunity to involve schools and social services facilities. “Especially if you realise that education via art is meaningful not only for the sick but also for the healthy. It is a tool for lifting the spirit and the mind as well as for developing skills and crafts. In our long term Terra Incognita programme, cooperation with those involved is crucial, including those who haven’t been involved to date. We are really looking forward to the results and we believe that we’ll be able to use this experience elsewhere since this is also a pilot project for us and we would like to build upon it. We are the founders of secondary schools, social services facilities and cultural institutions, and this is the potential which can be built upon,” added J. Kovácsová.

This work will be one of six created by French artists and can be seen during this year’s White Night in Košice also thanks to the fact that the main partner of White Night 2013 is the French Institute in Slovakia/Institut Français de Slovaquie. Alliance Française de Košice will also provide significant partner support as well as VSE RWE Group and EU Japan Fest.

PARTICIPANTS in creating origami for White Night/Nuit Blanche 2013 in Košice:

Primary Schools: ZŠ Gemerská 2, ZŠ Belehradská 21, ZŠ Tomášikova 31, ZŠ Bukovecká 17, ZŠ Kežmarská 30, ZŠ Kežmarská 28, ZŠ Bruselská 18, ZŠ Postupimská 37, ZŠ Krosnianska 2, ZŠ Mateja Lechkého, ZŠ Ľudovíta Fullu, ZŠ Námestie Laca Novomeského, ZŠ Trebišovská 10, ZŠ Spojená škola, Vojenská 13,

Secondary grammar schools: Gymnázium Šrobárova, Gymnázium Milana Rastislava Štefánika, Gymnázium Alejová,

School dormitories: School dormitory at Medická 2, Anton Garban School dormitory, Werferova 10, School dormitory at Považská 7,

Social services homes in Košice self-governing region: DSS DOMKO Košice, DSS ANIMA Michalovce, DSS SUBSIDIUM Rožňava,

Public figures: Mayor of the City of Košice Richard Raši, Deputy Mayoress of Košice Renáta Lenártová,

Others: Stonožka Family Centre Košice, School of Applied Art Košice, Institute for Imprisonment and Remand in Košice.

NOTE: The list of origami creators is not complete as it is gradually growing to include all those to take part and like Košice White Night

For more about Mademoiselle Maurice go to:

http://www.mademoisellemaurice.com/

http://vimeo.com/50287305
http://www.doba.sk/2013/06/13/farebne-origami-street-art-diela-zaplavuju-ulice-francuzska/
http://www.doba.sk/2012/05/26/duhove-origami-z-parizskych-ulic/

Music boom

“I’m very glad that Krzysztof Penderecki is coming to Košice in the year in which he will be celebrating his 80th birthday. He’s one of the brightest stars in contemporary music. At a time when his work calendar is literally packed with concerts all around the world, it’s literally a miracle that he’ll honour the Košice audience with his visit,” said the Director of the non-profit making organisation Košice 2013 – European Capital of Culture, Ján Sudzina, not hiding his excitement.

As he added, the second dimension is slightly personal. “I like listening to Polish contemporary music – by Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Górecki or Witold Lutoslawski. This will also fulfil my personal dream – to see him conduct live in Košice, although I have had the honour of seeing him once in Krakow.”

This year, Košice is enjoying a boom. “What we have achieved within the last decades was performances by composers such as Prokofiev, Bartók and Ysaÿe, which only happened over several years, but now we have several renowned musical personalities in one year. It can be compared to the time when Beethoven and Mozart came to Košice several centuries ago. Apart from the fact that Bent Sorensen has already been here, we will also host Toshio Hosokawa, Krzysztof Penderecki and Michael Jarrel, as well as almost one hundred contemporary composers during the autumn ISCM World New Music Days – the most significant worldwide presentation of contemporary classical music”, said the Director.

He is positive that this year will be written in the city’s history as a year when we had a concentration of excellent and renowned composers. It is almost unbelievable that this has been achieved. “This will certainly be of great significance for the city since composers living in Košice will have the opportunity to be compared with the current stars and have direct contact with them, which accelerates interest in music in Košice. It is an honour to attend such a concert.”

An oasis of freedom in arts

The Artistic Director of the residential ensemble, Barracks/Culture Park Quasars Ensemble, composer and piano virtuoso, Ivan Buffa, considers the arrival of the famous personality as the event of the year: “For me, he is one of the most prominent figures in Polish music, who symbolised an oasis in the freedom of arts to the whole of Europe, mainly via the Warsaw Autumn legendary festival, and was one of the inspirations and a rare opportunity for the whole region to encounter the ‘forbidden fruit’ of the West.”

The Polish composer is coming to St. Elizabeth’s Cathedral on 5th September to present his works personally. He will conduct pieces including Agnus Dei from the “Polish Requiem” (a version for a string orchestra – arr. Boris Pergamenschikow), Viola Concerto (version for the cello – arr. Boris Pergamenschikow), Sinfonietta per archi, Sinfonietta No. 3 (string quartet No. 3 – version for a string orchestra), Serenade for string orchestra, Ciaccona in memoriam John Paul II. for a string orchestra (from the “Polish Requiem”).

To enjoy a live concert from a unique composer, which Krzysztof Penderecki undoubtedly is, is the experience of a lifetime. It will be organised by the European Capital of Culture Košice 2013, which has prepared the concert in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Tickets are available from TICKETPORTAL: http://www.ticketportal.sk/event.aspx?id=18552

http://www.kosice2013.sk

http://www.iam.pl

http://www.culture.pl

http://www.akademiabeethovenowska.pl

http://www.cellist.nl

The rich musical programme is varied; its aim is to cover multiple musical genres: “We have tried to offer interesting artists from different musical styles, which should please the wider public. We would like everyone to be able to find something they like in our musical programme,” says Daniel Franko, who is the main production manager of the festival. The programme of the festival puts rockers from Prague next to the provocative raging IAMX, the ethereal Iva Bittová with the Čikori group, Czech Hip-Hop legend PSH and more. The Slovak musical scene will be represented by famous artists such as Vidiek, Love 4 Money, as well as less well-known names like Purist, Frequency, From our Hands, Slow Flow, Talkshow. “We want to introduce visitors to the lesser well-known names, whose quality deserves space” explains D. Franko.

Entry is free to the initial Saturday triple-bill concert. It will be started off by the young rock ‘n’ roll group Walter Schnitzelsson, in the evening it will continue with a performance by rapper, Vec. The climax of the first day of the festival will be the concert by the group, Hex. Die-hards will be able to continue to the after-party with DJ Tomáš Hafner, which will take place inside the building.

“It is an interesting event because it attracts attention to the space of the Kasárne Kulturpark. We want people to understand its meaning and importance. It isn’t just a narrowly specialized cultural centre. On the contrary, it is a place for fusion and overlapping with all the levels of the Košice 2013 project. It’s exactly that overlapping that, unlike other festivals, shows what the Kasárne Kulturpark should be like in the future. This makes it a key event for future years. I believe that people will accept our invitation and come and look at this new place in the town and at the cultural program of the festival,” says the director of the Košice 2013 non-profit organization Ján Sudzina. This is one of the reasons why the accompanying program of the festival includes a debate on the Kasárne Kulturpark, its architecture and design, as well as its content and vision and cooperation with other projects, under the auspices of Košice 2013.

Even thought more important than the musical programme is the atmosphere of the festival, J. Sudzina has chosen according to his preferences: “I’m looking forward, more than to the actual event, to the whole atmosphere and the concentration of minds. I’m a connoisseur; I like to choose. I’ll definitely find time for the Quasars Ensemble and Dalibor Karvay and Pražský výběr. I’m curious to see them because it’s the music I listened to when I was young.”

Pražský výběr (Prague Selection) is one of the headliners at the festival. Košice will greet the original line-up led by composer, singer and community activist Michal Kocáb. Pražský výběr, which was banned by the communist regime in the years 1983-1986, returned to publishing albums and playing concerts in the second half of the 80s. After 1989, the group performed minimally, and broke up in 2006. As a new project they have been playing since 2012 and offer not only well-known hits, but also a colourful show full of props and costumes. This is confirmed by the words of bass guitarist Vilém Čok:  “We are looking forward to the concert in Košice. We have always had a good fan-base and if I recall, the last time we played there was eight years ago. Thus we expect “hungry” and excited fans. They can enjoy all the main hits from the career of Pražský výběr and some surprises too.” The Pražský výběr concert will be on 16 August at 19:00.

The organizers of the event have also prepared a rich accompanying programme. Visitors can find dance and musical workshops, a summer readings or rental of picnic blankets. There will also be an eye-catching exhibition by contemporary artists Milan Houser and Adam Szentpétery called Geometric Fields, hosted by artistic director of Košice 2013 Vladimír Beskid: “The exhibition opening will be held on Saturday at 17:00 in the Alfa gallery. The focus of the exhibition will also set the artistic direction for creative dramatics in Kasárne Kulturpark. Even the name itself, Alfa (Alfa is the name of the central building where the gallery is located, note. ed.), points to its focus on contemporary art and the emerging generation of artists”. This current artistic geometric dialogue can be viewed during the days of the festival, from Wednesday to Sunday, from 15:00 to 20:00.

More information about the event and the current programme can be found at www.letovparku.sk

Košice is gaining a new place and new possibilities for properly presenting contemporary visual art as is the standard in the rest of the world. The Kunsthalle/Hall of Art, known to Košice people as the old swimming pool hall, is one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the town. It stopped functioning as a swimming pool after structural damage caused by the diversion of the River Hornad, an arm of which had flowed close to the building.

One of the investment projects of European Capital of Culture Košice 2013 was to save this monument and create a multi-cultural area. The original architectural layout make it ideal to use for organizing international exhibitions and workshops. The aim of the project was to maintain a connection of the world of culture with that of water both indoors and outdoors to build on its original historical function, but also to have a significant contribution to building the city. Water will be used in the form of dance and performing arts and new media.

“The refurbished Kunsthalle / Hall of Art is primarily an exhibition hall for contemporary visual arts on the international scale. For this year, we have prepared three presentations. The main exhibition is of British sculptor Tony Cragg, working in Wuppertal, a twin city of Košice. Another will be the exhibition of Constantin Brancusi, a classic in the world of modern sculpture, but whom we present as a photographer. The third exhibition is devoted to one of the key figures of the European Capital of Culture 2013 project, Argentinean multimedia artist Gyula Kosice, a native of Košice. He is generally regarded as a co-founder of op-art and hydrokinetics. He is linked to his hometown not only by his artist-name, but also by a work titled Statue for Košice, which will stand in front of the refurbished Kunsthalle / Hall of Art in Košice,” said artistic director of the Košice 2013 non-profit organization, Vladimír Beskid.

In September, Košice will play host to International Triennial of Contemporary Art, which should impact on the wider cultural infrastructure in the city. The main presentation will be at Kunsthalle / Hall of Art, Kulturpark and the East Slovak Museum in Košice. The accompanying events will be at the DIG gallery, Vojtech Löffler Museum and the ŠUV Rotunda exhibition hall. This should be one of the highlights of creative art for this season. During the Triennial in late September there will be a world congress of AICA – art historians and curators. In November there will be an exhibition of contemporary British art after Warhol, British Express, in partnership with the British Council.

“In the upcoming period, we would like to maintain a similar program and the standard we have set as well as the communication in the international environment. Our ambition is to create a strong new cultural point in Central Europe with a preference for contemporary art trends, but also intermedia and multi-genre events, where there will be periodic activities such as Triennial of Art, Days of Sound (Sound City Days), etc. Kunsthalle / Hall of Art is a very unusually laid out space with the possibility of using water directly in the main hall, therefore, it will require specific approaches and exhibition projects specifically designed for this space. The water level falls into one of the main project lines of Košice ECOC 2013 called the Košice elements – water, light, sound and new media. The main carrier of these will be, for the next three to five years, Kunsthalle / Hall of Art,” said V. Beskid, presenting his vision for the coming years.

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