Landscape festival will offer 30 installations in Ostrava

Ostrava - The Landscape Festival Ostrava 2019 focused on landscape and public space starts today in Ostrava and will last for four months. The goal of the seventh year of the festival is to connect the historical center of the city with the Lower Vítkovice area. Interested parties will be able to see 30 installations at various locations in the city, created not only by Czech and regional architects and artists but also by foreign authors and students from local universities. This was stated by the spokesperson of the magistrate, Andrea Vojkovská.

According to her, the festival aims to draw attention to certain problematic areas in the city that are worth cultivating, enhancing, and finding new solutions for. Ostrava contributed 2.5 million korunas to the event.

"We have routes designed by the organizing team that highlight the current barriers in the city, and the goal now is to check their possible connections. From our experience in other cities, we know that some proposed installations have become part of their public space, and the same can happen in Ostrava. Whether it will be playgrounds, greenery, or unconventional furnishings, we will find out in a few weeks," said Deputy Mayor Kateřina Šebestová (ANO).

The Landscape Festival has been held regularly since 2014. Ostrava took over the baton after six editions held in Prague, Plzeň, and Opava. The attendance of the event in previous years exceeded a total of 500,000 participants from both professional and general public.

"Through architectural interventions and artistic installations, exhibitions, happenings, and a professional program, the festival seeks to emphasize the importance of public space and greenery for the city. It looks for degraded and debatable areas that have the potential to become new centers of cultural and social life. These places are then revitalized, cultivated, and their possible future development is outlined," said the festival director Dan Merta.

This year's edition will feature six exhibitions, starting no later than mid-June and accessible until October 10. The program will also include expert discussions, a conference, and other accompanying programs. The festival will conclude in October with an international landscape conference. A map guide with the program and locations of individual installations is available for free, for example, at the branches of the Ostrava information center or also at www.landscape-festival.cz.