Košice

Published July, 2010
by Easterndaze

Boris, Jozef and Lukáš Berberich from Tabačka (more on this later) kindly gave us a ride to the nearby Košice, Slovakia‘s second biggest city afer Bratislava. The city is currently in the midst of a cultural rennaisance concerning the 2013 European Culture Capital.

The city has two large culture venues  – the city-run Kasárne Kulturpark and the independent Tabačka Kulturfabrik (both of which hopefully will keep operating after 2013). Lucia spent several nights in Tabačka (sleeping in the backstage), a former tobacco manufacturing plant, a beautiful industrial venue that hosts concerts, theatre shows, exhibitions and workshops.

Speaking with the local creative community, there is a sense of neglectment of the eastern metropolis as compared to the capital Bratislava. Even though its evident that not enough western capital is good for the culture. Compared to Bratislava, Košice still has lots of unused industrial buildings, many of which are being used by the local cultural initiatives. In Bratislava, even the largest ones (like A4) have problems to find spaces in the commercially-driven city centre.