The Brno Cultural Parliament is releasing another issue of the Coronewsletter. You can discover in this article how cultural institutions are doing, where to search for culture online and what to look forward to in the coming days.
IN THE SUMMER, THE CITY WILL BE ENLIVENED BY ADDITIONAL RESTAURANT GARDENS AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION
On Wednesday 6 May, the Council of the City of Brno recommended that the Assembly of the City of Brno amend the generally binding ordinances forbidding alcohol consumption in public spaces – parks and forest parks in the territory of the Statutory City of Brno, Jakubské and Dominikánské Squares, the Cabbage Market and the part of Františkánská Street called Římské Square will be exempted. The new version of the ordinance could be approved by the Assembly of the City of Brno on 16 June.
The working group led by the mayor also proposes further expansion of the use of public space for citizens, organisers of cultural events and entrepreneurs in the field of gastronomy – such as new relaxation and gastronomy zones on Dominikánské Square and the Cabbage Market, the Gastro Chairs for Brno project or the possibility to delimit outdoor open areas close to bars and eateries in a similar regime as restaurant gardens.
Together with organisers of cultural events and music clubs, the city is also looking for ways to make the city centre more lively over the summer. Assistance from the city may consist of simplification of administration, provision of technical support, promotion and provision of outdoor areas (such as the Old and New Town Halls, the House of the Lords of Kunštát, Pohořelec, Jakubské and Moravské Squares), all in compliance with currently applicable regulations or recommendations regarding visitor capacity, hygiene and other rules.
The city also wants to focus on expanding zones and areas for recreational sports, such as opening some parts of the Brno Exhibition Centre, where three basketball courts, two streetball courts, ten ping pong and six teqball tables should be available for use by the public. Read more details in the press release HERE.
SUPPORTIVE MEASURES AT THE LEVEL OF THE CITY OF BRNO
May we remind you that on Tuesday 21 April 2020, the Assembly of the City of Brno approved the Subsidy Programme for the Provision of Subsidies in the Field of Culture to Mitigate the Consequences Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic. The purpose of this subsidy programme is to help cover essential costs associated with the restriction of cultural activities, especially for those entities that are not covered by programmes prepared by ministries and the central government of the Czech Republic related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsidy applications can be submitted in the period from 26 May 2020 to 31 July 2020. The subsidy will be provided in an amount ranging from CZK 20 thousand up to CZK 50 thousand inclusive, and the period for drawing funds by the applicant is set from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. Detailed information, including the wording of the subsidy programme together with the conditions for submitting an application for a subsidy under this programme and the application form can be found HERE. We will keep you informed about additional upcoming support tools aimed at helping larger independent cultural organisations that do not receive support from the state, and should you need an individual solution, do not hesitate to contact the staff of the Department of Culture.
On 17 April 2020, the Council of the City of Brno approved a package of measures to help mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic:
-> in order to assist tenants in municipal buildings, a rent waiver was approved for the duration of the emergency. In this matter, it is necessary to contact the relevant department of the City of Brno with which the contract was concluded; the tenants will not be called individually. At present, the Council of the City of Brno has instructed the Property Management Department of the Brno City Municipality to submit to the Council of the City of Brno for approval the procedure for submitting applications for the waiver of rent or part thereof, and a methodology and a single application form are being prepared. The submitting of applications for waiver of full or partial rent and their processing will take place during May.
-> in order to help restaurant facilities, a request was approved for city districts to waive fees for restaurant gardens this year, and the city is ready to compensate city districts for this amount.
BRNO CULTURAL PARLIAMENT
For the beginning of June we are preparing for you the first online meeting of the Brno Cultural Parliament. Instead of the originally planned topic "Culture in the Public Space," we will focus on opportunities for culture in (post-) pandemic times. You can find out the exact date of the meeting, among other things, via the new Facebook page of the Brno Cultural Parliament (BKP). Add it to your favourites on this link.
VOTE ON EXPERT MEMBERS OF THE EVALUATION COMMISSIONS
Thank you for all nominations received for external expert members of the evaluation commissions. In the period from 15 May 2020 to 15 June 2020, all Brno iD users who have a verified Brno iD full account and permanent residence in Brno can vote and select one member of the evaluation committee for the provision of subsidies in the field of culture in nine areas: audiovision; theatre, performance and circus; music; year-round activities of music clubs; cultural, educational and hobby activities; literature; support for arts and crafts and folk traditions; dance; fine arts, photography, design and architecture. You can find additional steadily updated information HERE, where you can now open a Brno iD full account without the need for a personal visit to a DPMB branch.
MEASURES TAKEN AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
The government has decided on the possibility of holding events for up to 100 people from 11 May. The measure concerns, for example, the operation of cinemas, theatres, concert halls and circuses. Large cultural events, especially music festivals with thousands of participants, will not take place in the Czech Republic until 31 October due to the coronavirus. On Thursday 30 April, the government also approved a bill stating that instead of refunding the entrance fee, organisers of cultural events will be allowed to give customers vouchers for the next cultural event; more information can be found HERE.
May we remind you that the Ministry of Culture has published the first rescue package in the amount of CZK 1.07 billion – further details can be found in the press release HERE. Please follow our website HERE, where we again bring you the latest information on support provided by ministries for the self-employed and for legal entities. We also recommend subscribing to the newsletter of the Institute of Arts “Culture in Quarantine” - HERE, which provides the latest information on culture at the state level.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU
WE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU – submit your project to the Participatory Budget "Do you have an idea that would help enliven our city (not only) through culture? Register it via a simple form HERE. The sooner you start, the sooner your idea can obtain support from others. Submit your suggestions by 15 June 2020.
ÉTA programme: Announcement of the 4th public tender
On 29 April 2020, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) announced the fourth public tender under its ÉTA Programme for the Support of Applied Social Science and Humanities Research, Experimental Development and Innovation (hereinafter referred to as the ÉTA Programme). The public tender is aimed at supporting project proposals with the theme of mitigating negative society-wide impacts and the use of new opportunities as a result of the crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the social, educational, economic, legislative, technological, cultural, ethical, psychological or media areas. Projects must use knowledge, experience or data from the ongoing crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition period starts on 30 April 2020 and ends on 15 June 2020. More information can be found HERE.
News from the Káznice LIVE project
At a time when we can go out only in the most urgent cases, the new Brno broadcasting studio brings live concerts, theatre performances, lectures, discussions and even church masses directly to your home. All this in the setting of a former Brno penitentiary on Cejl Street – a place with an unmistakable atmosphere. In the coming days, you can look forward to, for example, a concert by the Czech Ensemble Baroque (14 May).
Behind Káznice LIVE stands the Tripitaka association, the film production company GNOMON in cooperation with the student media projects Studex.tv and Radio R, the companies Tech-Pro and Michal Gazdag, and with the support of TIC BRNO, JIC and Creative Brno. The aim is to provide viewers with a quality cultural experience and enable them to make contact with Brno's cultural scene. At the same time, they will also support Brno's artists who currently find themselves without the opportunity to perform live. If you want to organise your own online concert or performance in Káznice, please get in touch with David Oplatek (david@tripitaka.cz, +420 725 741 376).
The city is preparing an individual subsidy for further functioning of the Káznice LIVE project; this support will enable the project to continue also in the coming months.
Brno Cultural Calendar
We would like to thank all cultural event organisers for their use of the KalTic city planning calendar when planning and postponing events in 2020 and 2021, in order to avoid unwanted clashes.
A VISIT TO YOUR PLACE
On these days, difficult not only for Brno culture, my colleague Kryštof Trávníček will bring you short reports directly from places such as clubs, theatres, galleries or newsrooms, studios and other cultural venues of the city of Brno:
Today's trip to the Brno cultural landscape will be about dancing, which is currently not permitted to be performed on stages due to pandemic restrictions and regulations. Perhaps only on the stairs in the currently reconstructed and always beautiful building in Řeznická Street 2, it was necessary to dance among the tiles just being laid. I'm heading for a business meeting with the owner of the Balladine Dance School, Petra Chaloupková. We want to inform each other about culture during the pandemic, each of us our own way and from our own positions.
The Balladine Dance School, in which Petra Chaloupková focuses on classical ballet and contemporary dance for children and adults, was also closed unwillingly a week ago. Even today, the question remains whether, after the re-opening of fitness centres and a slight relaxation of government regulations, the owner can completely open her dance studio entirely to the public, while adhering to stricter hygienic conditions. Maybe she can. We will see how the whole situation will develop, although the owner and her team of lecturers plan to resume operations as early as 4 May 2020.
Just like any other self-employed person, the owner of the dance school is monitoring all government support measures. However, auxiliary mitigation measures taken by the city of Brno do not pass unnoticed to her. As with most smaller entities providing cultural services, she intends to use the city's Subsidy Programme for the Provision of Subsidies in the Field of Culture to Mitigate the Consequences Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic. She has taken notice of all the supportive measures. Some form of support, she said, is also provided by those clients and students who have already subscribed to dance courses for this teaching cycle and have not yet demanded their funds back. A little thing that is not a matter of course and will help.
Currently, she shares tutorial videos for her students and clients in the online space, and she is not the only one who does so. However, as she states, it is not quite the right thing – personal contact and interaction must not be missing in dance and the performing arts. She also came up with the idea of the so-called Photo Class, in which individuals and interested students will be given professional makeup, dressed in dance costumes or attire and professionally photographed on the dance floor of the dance studio. This unusual service, which will take place in the autumn, can be subscribed to now and thus help the school. There are no limits to innovation and imagination. It is also possible to rent the dance floor for physical and creative activities. The Balladine Dance School questionnaire suggests that most clients and students intend to return to dance in their studio.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN BRNO'S CULTURE
Thank you for the stories you share with us. If you want to tell something to each other, write to kultura@brno.cz, and we will publish selected contributions!
Big May Opening
After long weeks of forced silence, the streets of Brno are coming to life and cultural institutions are gradually reopening not only in the city, but also throughout the whole region. TIC BRNO brings you summary information HERE on when and where you can go and what you can look forward to.
The Museum of the City of Brno has published a video viewing of its so far unopened exhibition Chrám kamene (The Temple of the Stone) HERE in the lapidarium at the recently renovated water reservoirs at the Špilberk Castle. The staff of the lecturing department have prepared a website called Horaher (A Mountain of Games), which features educational activities for children and young people. As part of the programme "Za markraběte Jošta" ("In the Times of Margrave Jošt"), you will also find an online game that will introduce children to the craftsmen of medieval Brno. The museum also gives information about the dates of opening of its premises:
11 May: opening of the outdoor area and refreshments at Špilberk Castle
12 May: opening of permanent expositions and exhibitions at Špilberk Castle
25 May: opening of historical basement prison cells ("kazematy"), lookout tower and south-western bastion of Špilberk Castle
2 June: Opening of the Tugendhat Villa
3 June: opening of the new exhibition "Temple of the Stone" (lapidarium in the water reservoirs at Špilberk Castle)
10 June: opening of this year's largest exhibition "European Adolf Loos. (Not only) Brno footprints of Adolf Loos"
17 June: opening of the children's exhibition "Kostkohrádky" (about the LEGO kit)
The Jiří Mahen Library is gradually renewing the operation of its branches and the Central Library in the following order:
- in the week from 4 May 2020, all branches (except Chrlice) will re-open, including the Mahen Memorial, with limited opening hours
- the Central Library in Kobližná will re-open from 11 May 2020, with limited opening hours. You can read more detailed information HERE
The Brno Music Marathon responds to the coronavirus crisis in its own way. It helps through music! In one of the original festival street rooms created by Kateřina Šedá, the festival set out to please the inhabitants of Brno's homes for the elderly, specifically in their kitchens. The event takes place this week in selected homes for the elderly and the musicians will receive a fee for their performance thanks to the cooperation with Brno, a UNESCO City of Music. The Brno Music Marathon thus helps twice with its prologue – seniors and musicians. Follow the festival's Facebook page .
Department of Culture MMB 2020 contact: kultura@brno.cz If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, write to us. If, on the other hand, you know about someone who doesn't but should receive it, write to us. Articles are edited and shortened. Rewriting, copying, visualisation and using the content and its derivatives is allowed with reference to the source.
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