Get involved in the creation of the City Diary

The CITY DIARY project is part of the winning concept of České Budějovice - European Capital of Culture 2028. The project is an artistic chronicle of the city, in which inhabitants of different origins and from different districts of the city and region will record observations from everyday life from 2024.

What's it about?

The project functions as a chronicle of the town, written by the residents themselves. Each month two writers write about their life in the town. It is up to the writer to choose the topic, whether to write about one locality or to take a more global approach to their writing. The power of writing is in the variety, so it's great to explore new avenues and approaches. Two illustrations will be created each month to accompany the entries that month. Above all, the notes aim for conscious reflection on the place around us - writers are encouraged to record what is changing in the city, what remains the same, their memories or their wishes for the future.  

The project connects different perspectives and at the same time captures the changing face of České Budějovice over several years. The project should show how the city is perceived by the people who live there, and at the same time capture the changes that are taking place. At the same time it is essential to show one city from several perspectives of people of different age, gender, class....               

How do you do that?

What does the neighborhood look like, the street where you live, work? What is changing in it? What do you imagine it might look like in ten, twenty, a hundred years? How do you perceive the city you live in? What would you like to see, what do you encounter, what annoys you? Or maybe you watch one place over and over again and are fascinated by how it changes? We are interested in the macro view and the complete microsituation. If you want to write about squirrels running in the park, that's up to you, if you have an idea for how to improve the city's infrastructure, share it. Nothing is wrong, no problem or observation is unimportant. Before your month starts, we'll discuss together what you want to write about - if writing isn't your thing, you can use the project curator to write up your insights for you - and send them to you for approval. We want to avoid expressions of intolerance in the final outputs - see the writer's code of conduct, otherwise the field is open.

How will it be practically?

At the end of each week the "chronicler*" makes a record of what happened in the city during the week, what they noticed, what annoys them, what pleases them + most importantly how it affects their lives, how it affects them... 
All the time the project curator will be available to answer any questions, address any creative crisis and offer solutions.

Are you in? We are happy! Email us at katerina.korychova@budejovice2028.cz and we'll get back to you.

České Budějovice - Evropské hlavní město kultury 2028

The International Commission has chosen České Budějovice as the European Capital of Culture for 2028. This prestigious title is a great chance for the development of the cultural environment of the city and the region and for connecting České Budějovice with partners from all over Europe. At the same time, after thirteen years, it is a strong impulse for culture in the whole Czech Republic.

In the following years, České Budějovice will gradually launch projects that will enrich the city and our region. Gradually, projects already underway will continue, others will start and everything will culminate in 2028, when the attention of the whole of Europe will be focused on us. 

Since 1985, the title of European Capital of Culture has been awarded by the European Union to one or more European cities for one year, giving them the opportunity to present their cultural life and development to Europe throughout the year. More than 60 European cities, ranging from metropolises to towns of ten thousand people, have been awarded the title of ECC. Prague (2000), Pilsen (2015) and our partner city Linz (2009) have also been awarded the title.