English
Slovenčina
The story of Košice’s new multipurpose project
The European Capital of Culture (ECOC) is a European project, therefore the team of ECOC wanted to present it even further than just in the surrounding region. The need and the idea were there for a long time. The question was how to manage the technical, organizational and visual side of presenting the ECOC project also in places that are not directly affected by it. The aim was not to present the project as such, but to communicate it in an attractive, modern way with some added value. The KulTour stand in Prešov The KULTOUR project has 2 main lines of benefits which emphasize it’s origin. In the first place it provides a background for various cultural events. It offers a helping hand and for the artistic community in the implementation process and realization of cultural events and arts presentation. KULTOUR is actually a mobile stage on wheels with the necessary technical equipment that greatly aids the production of open-air events. It does not matter whether it is a theater, music or some other type of event, the variability of the stage and its equipment offer a wide range of possibilities. In the realization process of the KULTOUR project, sectors like design, architecture and marketing interacted, thus KOULTOUR as well as ECOC interconnects different sectors, branches and approaches. An example of such interaction is also the cooperation of KULTOUR with the SPOTS project, where the intention is to use KULTOUR mobile stage as a touring heat exchanger in those parts of Košice, where the reconstruction of heat exchangers will not take place (the SPOTS project is focused on reconstruction of old and unused buildings of heat exchanger stations to so called Edge cultural points and bring culture from the city centre to the neighborhoods). A blackboard for the public to write feedback on the project In addition to the functionality of the project, KULTOUR also offers a way of communication. It is hard to overlook a mobile stage with all the technical equipment and interesting design. Besides providing technical background, it can be also used for an interactive presentation of the ECOC project. If it is not done by some appearance or arts presentation, KOULTOUR can serve as some kind of meeting point. It is a significant landmark that naturally attracts people, which was the intended goal. KULTOUR is a pilot project launched in 2011. At the end of the year, a short testing tour took place. The project visited 4 Slovak cities, among them Bratislava, as the capital. The team gained the necessary experience to operate, as well as the first feedback from the public, which had been very positive. People liked the interactivity of the project, and the team of ECOC was pleasantly surprised how well the public outside of Košice familiar was with the ECOC project. During the tour, over 1000 respondents were interviewed and a vast majority of them was familiar with the project, even willing to visit Košice because of some of the Interactive presentation of the project across Slovakia venues. 72% knew that Košice is becoming the European Capital of Culture in 2013. The best known events, with almost 70% respondents willing to travel to Košice to attend, were the famous International Peace Marathon, a street festival of contemporary art Nuit Blanche, multi-genre city festival Summer in the park and art festival in public space Use the C!ty. With the positive response from the initial tour KULTOUR will visit more Slovak cities in 2012, but also foreign cities as Budapest, Maribor, Krakow, Linz, but also various festivals, cultural events and fairs. It is the festivals that KULTOUR wants to focus on, because they are visited by people willing to travel to experience culture and Košice can offer a lot of attractive cultural events worth travelling.