The Cultural Healing Cure celebrates 10 years!

20.5.2024 | Events

On the weekend of 24.5. - 26.5. in May, the Švihák Association is preparing the traditional multi-genre festival KOK (Cultural Healing Cure) in the Ferdinand's Spring Colonnade. The first edition of the festival took place 10 years ago, so there will be a reason to celebrate. It will include Friday's PechaKucha Night Vol.29 - where more than 10 inspiring personalities will perform, including designers Anna Marešová and Michal Strach, photographers Vojtěch Vlk and Viktor Mácha, Markéta Kinterová, and Marienbad native David Černý, who will also screen his independent film Zambi's Sausages on Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon the Puppet Theatre from Karlovy Vary of Jan Kindl will come with the Tibetan fairy tale The Beggar and the Princess. Children and parents can also enjoy the Indian trail on Sunday. There will also be an art workshop for children.

A traditional part of KOK is slam poetry, this time performed by Hanky Nguyen aka. Evening, Robert Netuka, known as Tukan and Jan Rosenthaler , who goes by Lef L'Leviathan.

You can also look forward to various musical performances, the young promising singer DASA will come to Mariánské Lázně for the first time. Various sports and leisure activities will also be arranged, the main aim of the whole weekend is to offer both local and spa guests a cultural experience, to spend time together in a nice environment, to create a meeting place and to inspire each other.

"Since the beginning of our existence, we have been trying to involve as many local associations, entrepreneurs and other active people as possible in the organisation, giving them the space to show what they can do. At the same time, we try to inspire those who are still gathering courage. We try to put together a programme to appeal to all ages and we believe that everyone who wants to will find their cup of coffee. And speaking of coffee, quality is also important. That's why this year refreshments will be provided by Kavárna 18g, and Cheb's Skaut beer will be on tap." said the chairman of the association Tomáš Prinz.

The Švihák Society was founded in September 2013 by a group of Mariánské Lázně friends, some returning from study abroad, others working in local services, all with the same vision - to create an alternative cultural offer in Mariánské Lázně primarily for younger audiences and to build on the glorious era when Mariánské Lázně was an important meeting and creative place.

The founding of the association was preceded by the Containers to the World festival - one of the largest cultural events in a public space ever. Two weeks, seven cities, dozens of containers offering cultural background and countless diverse activities designed to turn the everyday grey hectic life of the city streets into an unforgettable cultural event. Despite the inclement weather, the event was positively received by the city and this was the main trigger for further activities.

In addition to establishing a partnership and obtaining a license from the global PechaKucha Night organization and launching these inspiring evenings in Mariánské Lázně, Švihák organized several workshops for children and parents, a drakiada, a Christmas gathering and a bike ride in its first year.

The first big event, however, was the Cultural and Healing Cure in the colonnade of Ferdinand's Spring. After an agreement with Léčebné Lázně Mariánské Lázně, the company that owns the colonnade, the members of the association cleaned up the messy space (a warehouse of mostly unnecessary building materials), built a temporary floor, swept out the cobwebs, built a bar and opened the space to the public after more than 30 years. They put together a month-long program that started on 6.6.2014 and by 07.07.2014 they had created a rich cultural offer and a unique meeting place. The space functioned as a gallery, café, music hall, cinema, theatre, clubhouse.

"After the festival ended, based on the positive reactions of the public, we operated Ferdinandka until the end of September. The programme took place mainly on weekends, but there was also a lot to offer during the week. Dramaturgy, production, running the café, all this was provided by volunteers from the association, mostly without remuneration. I still remember the incredible euphoria, but it was not sustainable. I consider it a natural phenomenon that after 10 years the association still operates on a volunteer basis and has managed to organise dozens of events, many with a supra-regional reach. We are now faced with the decision of what to do next. We would therefore be delighted if the public could give us a hint during the weekend as to which direction to take. Without the participation and involvement of the locals, our association could not function" said Markéta Monsportová, founding member of the Švihák association.

The programme will include an interactive sound piece "vox populi" by Barbara Burianová, where the festival participants will have the opportunity to share their ideas about the future of culture in Mariánské Lázně and also decide on the future direction of the Švihák association. These visions will be recorded during the weekend, and as they are gradually added to, they will be connected in a common soundscape in an audio installation.

The KOK Festival will be held with the financial support of the town of Mariánské Lázně.
Admission to PechaKucha Night Vol. 29 is 200,- (students and pensioners 100,-) the rest of the weekend program is free.

The Cultural Healing Cure celebrates 10 years!

Next news