Community (Un)Conference 2024

A gathering for everyone who cares about their community

The Community (Un)Conference is a space for regular gatherings, offering opportunities for sharing, inspiration, and motivation.
It is open to individuals, groups, and organizations who actively care about the places where they live or work.

This event is also a chance to thank those who dedicate their time and passion to supporting their neighbors, neighborhoods, villages, or cities — and an opportunity to celebrate these efforts together!

Opening Round Table: A Shared Lending Library for the City

The program began with a morning round table discussion on introducing a shared lending library in the city to support community and cultural life.
The library would offer furniture, equipment, and small tools for loan, helping to save costs and resources while promoting the sustainability of cultural events.
Primarily serving communities, organizations, and small-scale organizers of cultural and neighborhood events, the lending library aims to foster collaboration and accessibility.

The discussion featured representatives from the municipal office, local initiatives, and other organizations, including Kristýna Koutská from the České Budějovice city administration and Dana Kalistová from the social enterprise Kabinet CB.

Main Program: Stories and Inspiration

The afternoon session of the (Un)conference opened with the Communities to Communities block, where inspiring stories from four active associations were shared. Three of them were part of the year-long Kul.turista program, having completed their projects and been supported by this year’s Open Call. The fourth was invited to meet and inspire the others.

• Sousedé z Havlindy (Neighbors from Havlinda) shared their work on community development in their neighborhood, presented by Petr Bublík.
• Cyklo Budějovice demonstrated how they are changing the perception of cycling as urban transportation.
• Women from Třebotovice-Kaliště shared their over twenty years of work focused on the history and landscape of the two neighboring villages.
• Naplaveno presented a perspective on the connection between art, nature, and their significance in rural areas.

The subsequent discussion revealed interesting insights into the transformation of life in communities, their impact on the surrounding environment, and the challenges they face.

The Inspiration block then offered experiences from the energetic and captivating Michaela Valášková of the Ustí-based initiative Promyky, and Ondřej Horák, curator of the Kul.turista project, who presented examples of successful participatory art projects.

Premiere of the Film Ode to my city

The highlight of the (Un)conference program was the screening of the short film about the summer Óda na naše město (Ode to Our City), which took place at the end of June in Palackého Square. It brought together more than 170 musicians and performers. We were part of the largest concert in the history of České Budějovice. It was beautiful! During the screening, we were moved along with several participants of the Ode, who came to reminisce about the event.

Exhibition of Photographs of City Communities

We concluded the program with the opening of an exhibition of photographs by Roman France, Komunity & Město (Communities & The City), which captured the stories of seven local communities. The portraits were taken at the end of spring, and both the performers and some of those depicted came to Žižkárna to see the exhibition.

We eagerly exchanged memories and experiences from the photo sessions, as Roman had photographed all of us – nearly sixty (Un)conference guests – again on-site!

At the end, we gifted the portraits from the exhibition to the captured communities.

Everyone left the (Un)conference happily into the night, carrying a large photograph tucked under their arm.

We thank all the participants for their energy and dedication. We look forward to the next edition of the Community (Un)conference and the new stories it will bring!

Thank you all!

Lucie Boušková, Project Coordinator of Kul.turista