Hundreds of lonely people came to the exhibition center in Brno, they have a date

Brno - People of various generations, who want to fend off loneliness, headed today to pavilion G2 at the Brno exhibition center. Social artist Kateřina Šedá organized the "largest Czechoslovak date" for them, as part of the Re:publika festival to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia.

The project of the renowned artist, who often works with large communities of people, is based on the assumptions that you cannot celebrate alone and that chronic loneliness represents one of the epidemics of modern times. The Brno date will last until Sunday. Šedá prepared the event for 1918 people, about 650 showed up.

Šedá reached out to potential participants through online dating platforms as well as via the media. Many signed up themselves, citing few opportunities to meet people and repeated failures in finding relationships online as reasons. Among the participants are people looking for partners, as well as those just seeking new friends.

The pavilion doors opened at 9:00. Around 10:00, at the expected start time, a queue formed in front of the entrance, including a wheelchair user and a man with a guide dog. Journalists and the unauthorized are not allowed behind the doors marked "closed society" to avoid stressing the participants unnecessarily. "We didn't want to turn this into a reality show or a peep show," said the creative director of Re:publika, Pavel Anděl.

Each participant was tasked with bringing five items they no longer want or need. Šedá connects people through these items, creating something like a flea market, and in the end, everyone leaves with five different objects than those they arrived with.

"It’s not entertainment or a show; we are trying to provide various opportunities during these two days for people to meet those they wouldn't normally encounter," Šedá told reporters. She did not want to reveal the details of the program, which will conclude on Sunday, insisting that the date should bring surprises.

The event required over four million crowns from the city and state budgets, with funds needed for preparation, as well as for transportation and accommodation for participants. Some politicians criticized the event, but the city leadership supported Šedá.

The Queer Memory Society also protested against the event in an open letter, arguing that the dating service does not create conditions for meetings between people of minority sexual orientations. "The artist ignores the rich history of non-heterosexual people in Czechoslovakia, who have made significant progress in their emancipation despite totalitarian regimes over the last 100 years," stated the society's vice-chairman, Ladislav Zikmund-Lender.

However, on the event's website, Šedá writes that her dating service Ex:po is not limited by age, sexual orientation, or the type of relationship sought.