Gray will offer people in Český Krumlov to bring life back to the center

Prague - The absence of everyday life in the centers of tourist-exploited cities will be addressed by Czech artist Kateřina Šedá in one of her projects. She won a competition organized by the National Gallery in Prague and will prepare it for the Czechoslovak exhibition pavilion at this year's 16th International Architecture Biennale in Venice. The project is named in reference to the well-known organization UNES-CO, and its main actors are Venice and Český Krumlov - cities that are directly affected by the depopulation of city centers and the relocation of residents to their outskirts.

Šedá presented her upcoming project to journalists today. While contemplating it, she realized that the most touristically exploited places seem somewhat similar to so-called excluded locations.

"Houses where no one lives. Stores that no one needs. Streets where people do not meet but avoid each other. This could characterize socially excluded areas, as well as the most beautiful cities in the world listed as UNESCO cultural heritage. The similarity of these seemingly diametrically different places inspired me to create a project that highlights the growth of tourism and the associated problems," she says.

The fictitious company UNES-CO, created by the author, will attempt to reverse this trend. In Krumlov, residents are expected to return to several houses. They will be made available to them as starter apartments and they will receive a salary for living in them regularly. In the pavilion in Venice, a headquarters for the company UNES-CO will be established, where visitors will be able to watch a live broadcast from Krumlov.

"My aim is not just to criticize tourism but to find a way to stop foreigners and give them a chance to become locals for a moment. A face-to-face view - that’s the key to transforming an excluded area into a shared space," added Kateřina Šedá.

The theme of this year's biennale is Freespace, an accessible space expressing the generosity of spirit and the sense of humanity as a central function of architecture. Adam Budak, the commissioner of the Czechoslovak pavilion in Venice and curator of the National Gallery, stated that Šedá approaches the theme subversively, as she shows where free space does not exist. Coincidentally, the project for the biennale was preceded by an initiative from people in Krumlov who live with tourists. "We are all more or less happy with tourists, but in recent years we see a problem. Tourists arrive in such numbers that they hardly see anything and flow through the city from one side to the other," said Hana Jirmusová Lazarowitz from the local Egon Schiele Art Center today.

Last year, residents of some European capitals began to raise awareness about the problem of cities overrun by tourists. The criticism was particularly loud from Barcelona and Venice. Spain, which has about 46 million residents, was visited by 75.3 million tourists in 2016.