Lyon and Košice Supported Close Cooperation

On April 30, 2008, František Knapík, the Mayor of Košice and Hubert Julien-Laferriere, the Vice-president of the Agglomeration of Lyon acting for the mayor of Lyon, gave their voice again to the mutual cooperation between the two cities in the fields of art and culture in the meeting attended by the representatives of both Košice 2013 and Lyon 2013 project teams.

Both teams met on the occasion of the “Something is Red” performance, the joint project of IC Culture Train (Košice) and Lá Hors de (Lyon) under the Days of French Culture events in Košice.

The collaboration between the cities of Košice and Lyon was launched in 2007 while preparing their applications for nomination as the European Capital of Culture 2013 and is now a very tangible and fine example of open and mutually beneficial cooperating. The two cities so different in size and cultural background wish to take part in developing the European ideas and, in doing so, become laboratories of art and culture.

“Convinced of the benefit of the stable and sustained partnership to the nominations of both cities, the cities wish to submit to the international jury the applications of these two partner and befriended cities to reflect the will of both cities to carry out joint art and cultural projects in the future. This wish of both cities has already been fulfilled when taking shape of some specific art and cultural projects. Some of them were put in life in 2007–2008, others are to be carried out in the months and years to come regardless of the results of the European Capital of Culture 2013 selection process,“ says the Memorandum of Cooperation, which both city representatives supported.

Alena Vachnová