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Photos from Monika Vrancová from her residency in AIR Krems.

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How to Build a Submarine in 90 Days

 Peter Cabocky on his Leipzig residency expereince:

  During the period of June and August 2013 I was given the opportunity to go on an artist residency in Leipzig, Germany. It happened in collaboration with Kosice Artists in Residence and the host organisation Halle 14. 

I was the fourth artist at Halle 14 from Kosice and the first painter. The studio allocated to me was a lot bigger than I anticipated. I work usually in small scale, so I was curious to see how this will affect my work.

  I arrived early June 2013 when most of Germany was hit by torrential rain and then by floods. The Saxony Bridge, a famous pedestrian bridge in Leipzig (favoured mostly by the hipster population who sit around in the evenings just to watch the passer-bys), was full of ‘flood tourists’ taking pictures of the rising river and making bets whether it will spill or not. While there was no imminent danger in Leipzig, the dangerous level of the river and the situation of ‘too much water’ made me want to build (or paint) a vessel of escape, - a submarine, among others.

  I spent almost three months preparing for the final presentation. In the end I showed eight small scale oil paintings and a wall painting.

 A small Berlin? Nein.

I lived in the area of Plagwitz / Lindenau, in a place called Fugitif which is an artist collective and residency aimed at German and French artists. It was an interesting place where always something happened; from ad-hoc screenings to makeshift talent shows or just spontaneous chats over coffee in the garden.

  There is a trend in describing Leipzig as the new or small Berlin, however there is still a very long way for Leipzig to go. Berlin is reaching its limits in how many artists it can accommodate and the rents are getting higher and higher. Leipzig, on the other hand has a lot of potential. The city is full of older empty houses with very low rent which attracts a lot of artists from all over the world. During the last couple of years the number of artists’ collectives and off spaces (a term that was invented in Leipzig and doesn’t have a particular meaning in English, - it is used to describe derelict spaces converted into exhibition or project spaces) operating on non commercial basis has risen. These circumstances make Leipzig a very attractive place to be if one is an artist. The only down side is that jobs are scarce.

  The three months flew very quickly and I had to be back in Kosice in September.

I have been on a few artists’ residencies before, but I can say that this so far was the best one. It was a full and very round experience which gave me space and time to develop my work a little bit further.

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Little introduction to the slang of Košice

When I was searching for some typical local expressions used in the everyday life in Košice, all my friends recommended unanimously the alternative city guide KSC. It is written and published by the local NGO „Východné pobrežie“ (English: Eastside) and includes a little dictionary of the local colloquial language, which is used here in town.

Unfortunately, I had to find out, that the book KSC is completely sold out and therefore guarded as a treasure by the few who could have caught one.

It was kind of an odyssey until I had the book in my hands. Thanks to the support of Juliana Sokolová and the help of Igor Kupec, the result is an overview of the most commonly used expressions. Enjoy!

  Košice slang      English                               

ara!                    watch out!                                                                       

barz                    very                                                                    

Bazmeg City       place name Košíce                                                 

bitang                 a mischievous person                                                 

brika                   a tram                                                 

čaja                    girl, young woman, girlfriend                   

čávo                    young man with relaxed way of walking

                            and a massive self-esteem     

das                      approximately                                                

dakus                  a bit              

deges                  idiot                                                    

dig                       highlighting the information that follows            

dzivý/fasa            cool, crazy, weird, amazing                                       

flipovať                 to have fun, to hang out                                            

gádžo                  a villager, a non-Roma

geňo                   very offensive                                                    

hej ne?                isn’t it? (lit. Yes, no?)                                                   

het                      away, there

koňar                  citizen of Prešov                            

lámať čaje           to woo (women)                                           

lignúť                   to loose very heavily    

lóve                     money                                                               

mište                   fantastic,awesome                                       

muka                  boredom                                                                      

nožkar                young man interested in women,

                          cars, his muscles and mobile phones

ojeb                    lie, betrayal                                      

pecka                 great, amazing                                                

šrác                    boy, young man, boyfriend                                     

segiň                  poor guy (ironically)                                                      

šupak                 a person who failures                                

šuvix                   nothing in comparison to this

vraňar                a citizen of Košice                                          

VKV                    abbreviation for „infamous strong wind

                           attacking Košice“          

zjeb                     something funny, weird

And last but not least, the most important expression:

Add to every beginning of your sentence the word „ta“

ta                       well, so

                          often used to highlight the start of a new sentence  

Examples :

Ako sa máš? – Ale, ta!         How are you? - Oh well... don’t ask.

Ta de                                    No, in no way.                 

Ta ne?                                  Yes, of course                  

Ta jak!                                  Of course it is

Ta hej, ne?                           Well, of course                               

Ta…                                     Well (shrugging shoulders)                       

Ta ty tu?                               You here?                                         

  Inspired by the texts of Viktor Hvižďák und Juliana Sokolová in the dictionary of the alternative city guide of Košice KSC 2010, published by „Východné pobrežie“ (Mišo Hudák und Lucia Jarošová).

Text and photo by Kristina Forbat

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Mathijs Lieshout - the Dutch neighbor of KVP

The visual artist Mathijs Lieshout from Utrecht, the Netherlands, creates large installations often made of wood. For Mathijs the building process of his installation is art work as such. He lives intensively this process while finding solutions, changing the composition of the individual parts. His artwork is never finished. The artist wants to create installations people will transform themselves for their own purposes.

Mathijs passed three months in Kosice between August and October 2012. During this time, he installed his wooden artwork in the spaces of a former tobacco factory in Kosice called “Tabacka Kulturfabrik” being located in the North of the city center. The heavy wood is more than one hundred years old and was recycled from a roof construction from an old military complex in Kosice.

Now Mathijs came back to Kosice, nearly one year after his first residency, to replace his art work into a public garden space in one of the panel housing estate called KVP.

Within two weeks in July, with the extensive help of local people, Mathijs installed the heavy wood into the garden belonging to the former heat exchanger station “Výmenník Štítová “. This place has also been reconstructed recently. Together with a couple of other stations it was transformed into cultural public centers, the so called SPOTS.

  “I feel today like being already a neighbor of these people. I really hope to become a part of this neighborhood of KVP also in future,” says Mathijs. He is looking over the grassy soccer field surrounded by the panel block buildings.

Working with wood, as a natural living material, Mathijs considers his installations always as temporary. His artwork should keep its dynamic trait, too. Mathijs’ only wish is that the inhabitants of KVP will dare to work with his installation to transform it for own purposes.

Text and photos by Kristina Forbat

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Tonight it's movie time!

The cinema "Kino Usmev" in Kosice will present tonight the Slovak and Czech co-production "Môj pes Killer" (My dog killer) with English subtitles.

The screening starts tonight at 19:19 h at Kasárenské námestie 1.

The story is about the 18-years old boy Marek and his best friends, his dog. The film shows one day in Slovakia in a town near to the Slovak-Moravian border. Marek lives alone with his father spends his free time with his racist friends.

It is a very authentic film,none of the actors are professionals. There have been chosen out of intensive castings and workshops.

Go for more information to:http://www.csfd.cz/film/22711-moj-pes-killer/

(Only in Czech language)

If you want to see more about the cinema program in July Kosice, go for:

https://www.facebook.com/usmevkino/info

(Only in Slovak language)

Text by Kristina Forbat

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Trip to Medzilaborce, the Rusyn's region in Slovakia

Two young Ruthenian students from Kosice called Natália and L'udmila invited me to their hometown Mezdilaborce. Once a year the Ruthenian Festival of Culture and Sports takes place in Medzilaborce, a little town of 6800 souls in the Northeast of Slovakia. During these days numerous dance troupes and choirs in traditional folk costumes act on the stage of Medzilaborce.

One of the „main act“ was the dancing group FS Šarišan:

  In this region, Ruthenians, Russians and Ukrainians constitute about 25-33 percent of the population. The 1.5 million-strong population of the former so called “Eastern Slavs” live within countries of the historic Caparthian Ruthenia, what is today Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland. About 34.000 Ruthenians live in Slovakia. They are mostly located in the Northeast of the country.

I stayed at Natália’s house in Medzilaborce. During the festival weekend I discovered not only the rich folklore culture of this Slovak minority but also the delicious home-made pasta, the so-called “pirogy” with dark buckwheat flour.

Having been surrounded by an excessively hospitable people who is spontaneous, funny and enjoys singing, the weekend in Medzilaborce will stay in my mind….

  The tour in images

  The orthodox church on a hill in Medzilaborce

a traditional stone house in a village near to Medzilaborce

stork's nests in nearly every village

The Greek Catholic Church and Russian Orthodox Church face each other in nealy every village in the northeastern part of Slovakia

My hosts in one of the panel house flats in Medzilaborce

the stage

Smiling before the show - the smart guys of the FS Šarišan

Interested in this topic? Find more background information in the German and Slovak version on my City Writer blog. Enjoy!

Text and photos by Kristina Forbat

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An update from Leipzig from Peter Cabocky. Check his work in progress and studio at Halle14. 

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Cuba Flair in Kosice

  With its warm glow of stone walls in terracotta tone, the slightly morbid charm of flaking plaster walls, whitewashed churches, Kosice creates in some of its corners the image of an old fishing village...

The breath of Cuba or the touch of Mediterranean? - The inhabitants of Kosice only smile about that...

  Text and photos Kristina Forbat

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Our resident József Tamás Balázs will have his exhibition during Leto v parku festival. 

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International film night at Tabacka Studios

Current foreign artists in residence, former Slovak artists in residence and friends living in Kosice presented their favorite films during that film night.

We installed a film screening in one of the halls in the former tobacco factory. Today it can be used for very various types of events, such as flea markets or even exhibitions of our own artists in residence.

On the pictures you can see the installation of Juka Araikawa's exhibition "Meet me in the middle" which took place in Mai 2013.

We'll never forget the very best burrito Juka prepared on camping stoves during that film night. Thank you Juka! ;-)

Photos and Text Kristina Forbat

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Austronautalis discovers traditional Slovak Drinks

  Video and Photo by Kristina Forbat

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Photos from Juka Araikawa.

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„Why does Julia Mensch need 20 kilos of apples?“

This weird question lures me to Vítez‘ gate into a hidden courtyard next to the main street of Kosice. I am curious to see the vernissage of an Argentinian artist, called Julia Mensch. 

Opening the small wooden door I enter the Pyecka Studio, a young gallery focused on street art and newcomer artists. My eyes catch two net sacs lying on the floor with red apples inside, obviously belonging to the exhibition “Salashe” of Julia Mensch.

The exhibition tells the story of Julia’s journey travelling on the footsteps of her grandfather Rafael Mensch. Eight years ago Julia started her trip in her hometown Buenos Aires taking her through several European countries, at least to the Ukrainian village of Salashe. The village of 800 souls is a few kilometers close to Poland and the Schengen-border. Being the birthplace of her grandfather, the artist was searching for the house where he was born.

Julia’s Jewish great-grandfather left their Ukrainian homeland out of great poverty in the 1920ies; his wife as well as his four little sons followed him in the late 1930ies. None of them ever came back to Salashe. The 33-year-old artist is the first family member, traveling to the birthplace of her ancestors.

Julia did not only find the house where her grandfather Rafael was born, but also some former friends of Rafael. They all invited her and her entourage for lunch. Julia Mensch discovers the hospitality of the Ukrainian people and all sorts of local food and liquor.

The inhabitants of Salashe live in very humble rural conditions. They do not have much to offer, but they would share everything they have. No one wanted her to leave the village empty-handed. In the end, Julia returns to Kosice heavily packed, but luckily, as a child, with two bags full of apples.

Further Information

The photographs on her trips to Salashe are exhibited until the end of April in Pyecka Studio. The book about her trip is available at the gallery in Spanish with English, Slovak and Ukrainian translations.

Julia Mensch belongs to one of the former „Artists in Residence“, who passed their three-months-residency within the K-A-I-R program last year in Kosice.

Text: Kristina Forbat

Pictures: Michaela Bottková

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Michaela Knížová will have exhibition 17th of April in Kharkov. If you want to know more follow her on facebook.

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Through a stranger’s eyes

I have to admit, besides my anticipation about my new activity as a city writer in Kosice; there arose also a kind of fear: I was afraid of not noticing details in my birthplace that seem to me too ordinary. However, after a few days only, I note with some relief, that I found myself a stranger in my hometown.

One of my new discoveries is the East Slovakia Museum at the Kosice Peace Marathon’s Place. The new-Renaissance building exhibitsthe golden treasure of Kosice. Furthermore, over several floors you will discover the city’s history, as well as cultural and traditional objects of the eastern Slovak region. – Honestly, I never set foot in the building for fear of outsized crucifixes and woodworm riddled statues of the Virgin Mary.

Attracted by photographs on Kosice taken by French artists living in Marseille, I visited the exhibition „Un petit Journal“(A little diary) which runs until 30th of April. It is the fruit of cooperation between the non-profit organization PhotoART Centrum in Kosice, as well as Les Ateliers de l’Images, the cultural and educative center of contemporary art in Marseille.

The photographs of the Suzanne Hetzel, Anne Laubet and Flore Gaulmier being exposed in this museum give the viewers a glance behind the scenes, besides the touristic paved roads of the old town of Kosice. Another part of the exhibition including photographs of Pascal Grimaud and Erick Gudimard are shown at Galéria Bašta (Address: Hrnčiarská 7, Kosice).

The stranger view of the town throughout the eyes of these five French photographers has apparently a magnetic attraction force, as an unusually large number of visitors came to the opening events on 4th of April, being introduced by its curator Pavel Maria Smejkal. – The secret behind its attraction? - Maybe some kind of inner voyeurism… What do these foreign artists see in my hometown, which often seems to me so dreary and trivial?

During her nocturnal tours through the shopping streets, Flore Gaulmier was attracted by the display cases with lingerie fashion. By night, the easily dressed mannequins come to life in shop windows and stage themselves on their illuminated scenes.

In the suburbs of Kosice, Miss Gaulmier noticed furthermore single-family-houses, painted in bright pastel shades, which she has never seen elsewhere in Europe.

The photographer Anne Laubet, however, was inspired by the numerous tower block housing estates surrounding the historical city center. In contrast to the French city metropolis Marseille, the majority of the population of Kosice lives in tower blocks.  „Whereas in Marseille nothing reveals more about your origin than your neighborhood, in Kosice it is not possible to draw any conclusions about it from your residence,“ states Anne Laubet.

She affirms that the simultaneity of communist heritage and capitalist knee-jerk decisions is what strikes her the most. Glassy shopping malls such as Optima and Aupark sprout up like mushrooms in the last few years, while many tower block housing estates remain in their original state, with some of them being built in the early 1950ies.

The external view of foreign artists on Kosice and their exchange with local community can help to rediscover or to question one’s perspective on presumably common and ordinary things. Sometimes, it helps seeing through “a stranger’s eyes”.  – So I will try to do my very best.

Pictures and Text by Kristina Forbat

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Night train to Kosice

In the novel by Pascal Mercier the Swiss teacher Raimund Gregorius takes the night train to Lisbon – my train goes to Kosice. Gregorius, the traveller, faces the question “Given that we live only a small part of what there is in us – what happens with the rest?”

I also want to discover the other part, dare my little Slovak adventure. So I'll go pack my bags, take the train from Hamburg towards Eastern Slovakia. My roots go back to Kosice, to this city of some 240.000 people, the second biggest of the Slovak Republic. I was born here in 1986. It is the home country of my family. Somehow, it is also mine. At least, it could have become mine, if my parents did not turn their back on the socialist system. They put my elder sister and me in the backseats of our Skoda and we headed off to the West.  

We live only a small part of what there is in us. Now, I am glad to have the chance to discover for five months this unknown part in me, as one of the Artists in Residence in Kosice.

After a 20 hours long trip, a distance of over 1,200 kilometers, I arrive in my new-old homeland. My little Slovak adventure may begin.

Night train to Kosice - in pictures

The trip begins in Prague at night

in sleeping carriages

Hundreds of kilometers the train rattles through the darkness

A new morning day in the fog

Sudden arrival at the train station Kosice

Stranded at my destination: Terminal Station Kosice

Welcome to the European Capital of Culture

  Pictures and Text by Kristina Forbat