Civil society

The civil society as a place of discussion

Civil society can be understood also as a space for a public discussion and for execution of active citizenship when achieving common goals. In this public space there are elaborated and discussed the public issues, public policy, the government activities and the community affairs and the cultural identity concerns. This public space can by physical, represented by e.g. community or cultural centers, ot virtual, for example blogs or social media.

Stanica Cultural Centre has occupied the old station building of the still operating, Zilina-Zariecie train station in Slovakia since 2003, combining the roles of independent venue, artistic laboratory and activists’ collective. It is a culture node - creative, educative and critical. Truc sphérique, a non-governmental organization for contemporary arts and culture was founded in 1998 in Zilina. The organisation opened Stanica in 2003, where there is a gallery, workshop and artists residence space, a cafe, a waiting-room, and a multifunctional presentation venue for theatre, dance, concerts, discussions and screenings. Besides that, there is also huge outer space open to the public with a garden, park, summer stage, and a children’s playground. Each week there are several different workshops for children, and two or three artistic events. In 2009, they also launched the venue S2, an alternative construction of beer crates and straw bales. Stanica is not just the next cultural center in the town or region, but a platform for information, research, and realization of experimental art, cultural and community projects and international and inter-sector communication that lead activities to other institutions and across our European networks, including Trans Europe Halles.