Žilina

Published July, 2010
by Easterndaze

The north Slovak town used to be a bastion of Slovak nationalism but currently experiences somewhat of a boom and one of the epitomes of the current development is the independent cultural venue Stanica. Located on the outskirts of the city nestled between a highway and a bridge with a view of Communist concrete block estates, is a cultural gem called after its continuous function of a railway station (stanica in Slovak). Passengers thus freely mingle with staffers of Stanica (the cultural one). Stanica’s boss Marek Adamov has almost single-handedly built (literally) one of the most interesting cultural spaces with a diverse programme (theatre, music, workshops, readings, children’s after school activities) in the whole country that caters to the local community but also attracts visitors from nearby and faraway places.