FESTIVAL OF ART AND LIFE / 5. 6. — 15. 6. 2025 / ZÁMEK VELESLAVÍN, PRAGUE 6
WELL-BEING
The well-being theme intends to address the imbalance between life and work, the need for rest, self-care activities and the care for the immaterial values. Through artistic interventions we will respond to the history and the present of the site - the Veleslavín castle and its gardens. Multimedia installations, live performances and participatory programs for children and adults will try to rediscover Art that helps our need to find understanding, satisfaction, bring awareness to issues and problems that are not sufficiently visible in the media space, create an alternative to the current trend of commodification of life and offer the possibility of active participation in the public sphere. An important mission of the project is to raise the visibility of the need to restore respect for physical and mental health, self-care and care for community life, which we perceive as an urgent issue.
ABOUT PRAGUE BIENNALE
A globally acclaimed contemporary art event, the Prague Biennale was founded in 2003 by Helena Kontova and Giancarlo Politi and is organised by the Nadace Prague Biennale Foundation (established in 2004).
After the pioneering first edition, organised along with the National Gallery in 2003, three successful editions followed in the grandiose industrial space of Karlin Hall, in the futuristic Microna skyscraper and at the Žižkov Freight Station, finally revitalising the vibrant district of Žižkov. The principal goal of the event in all its previous editions was to explore and capture the current trends on the contemporary art scene in the Central and Eastern European Region and present the best artists and curators to experts as well as to the general public.
The objective of the Prague Biennale Foundation is to support artistic and authorial creation that contributes towards the enhancement and development of the cultural heritage in society, fosters the principles of democracy, humanism, ethics, and freedom of artistic expression, and contributes towards the shaping of awareness of democratic values. Such values include the freedom of speech, equality, diversity, tolerance to differences, mutual inter-gender and inter-species respect, and support for inclusion.
Unfortunately, the current economic crisis, political shocks and the long-lasting processes of cultural globalization have also resulted in the aggressive polarization of society. In times of cultural boycotts and a plethora of hate speech, we must pay maximum attention to correctness and mutual respect between everybody involved and safeguard an inclusive and safe environment during our program.
This is why we have decided to invite two external ‘confidants’ to take part in Re-connect Art and guarantee the transparency and coherence of our inclusive strategy and oversee the observance of ethics principles during festival activities.
Participants in the programs will have the option to approach Barbora Trnková and Michal Kučerák with their issues related to inclusion, discrimination or misuse of the position of power in cultural institutions either via telephone or e-mail, should they prefer written communication.
We believe that this option will contribute towards fostering the rise of diverse communities of artists, researchers and viewers willing co-create an atmosphere of safety and acceptance that will enhance mutual enrichment through an exchange of knowledge and experience.