Grey in Český Krumlov in the UNES-CO project will accommodate up to 15 families

Český Krumlov - The deserted center of Český Krumlov has become the focus of a new project UNES-CO by artist Kateřina Šedá. She is preparing it for the Czech-Slovak exhibition pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. From June to August, she will accommodate 12 to 15 families in six apartments in the city center; so far, she has received about 800 motivational letters from people. Their task, for which they will be paid, will be to engage in everyday activities in the center, such as taking walks with strollers or airing out blankets in windows. Šedá said this to reporters today. She secured 1.95 million CZK for the project funded by the Ministry of Culture.

People can apply for the project, which has received criticism on social networks, until April 20. The city has also supported Šedá, providing her with apartments; one apartment will also be made available by the Egon Schiele Art Center, which is participating in the project. Councilors will vote in April on whether Šedá will receive a grant of 100,000 CZK from the city, which the council recommended.

"Normal life is vanishing from the center, residents are bothered by it, and the city hall is interested in changing that. The goal is for people from the city to engage as much as possible and help reflect on the problem," said Šedá, a 40-year-old holder of the Chalupecký Prize. She has conducted interviews with many locals - with tourist guides, people from the center and the outskirts of the city, with the current city administration as well as former politicians. She was struck by the boarded-up windows and the people who do not greet each other on the street.

"Krumlov may exhibit characteristics of an open-air museum, but it is not one. For 15 years, the city has been aware of what is happening in the center, tourism has gained great intensity. Kateřina Šedá is opening a topic that pains us - the depopulated center and what to do about it. The city welcomes the creation of space for debate," said Deputy Mayor Josef Hermann (KDU-ČSL). The city has a cooperation agreement with Šedá.

The Brno-born Šedá compared the city center, with a touch of exaggeration, to a neighborhood in Brno referred to as the Bronx. She found several similarities. She tried to determine what the most needed job position in Krumlov is. "I heard that it’s awful to live in the center, that people should be paid for it. I came up with the idea that the new job would be that of normal life in the center," said the artist.

The city provided five apartments that are ready for renovation. According to Miroslav Reitinger from the Český Krumlov Development Fund, they cannot currently be used year-round. The artist and her team would paint and clean the apartments.

Šedá believes that Krumlov needs tourists. She will accommodate people from the outskirts of Krumlov as well as from elsewhere in the apartments. She wants families to keep a diary and be willing to talk about the matters. "An interesting candidate might be someone whose house was demolished in the center, who lives on the outskirts and comes to the center to look around," said Šedá.

According to city hall estimates, 1.5 to 2 million tourists arrive in Český Krumlov each year. The city's net income from tourism is 12 million CZK.

Šedá and the Egon Schiele Art Center are receiving critical emails, with some people urging her to arrange for a parking lot below the square instead of the project. "There are people who believe that when an artist steps in here, they have that kind of power. The number of critical emails is minimal compared to the hundreds that are exceptionally beautiful and touching," said the director of the Schiele Center, Hana Jirmusová Lazarowitz.

Šedá has long focused on socially conceived actions, often employing dozens or hundreds of people who have no connection to art. She works in villages and on the periphery, outside of galleries. At the Venice Pavilion, she will create the headquarters of a fictional company UNES-CO with a reception area, flags of member states, and will also broadcast live from the streets of Krumlov.