The cultural centre Záhrada (“Garden”)

The cultural centre Záhrada (“Garden”) was founded in 2010, and is located in the historical city centre of Banská Bystrica, an old mining town. It has a venue, where concerts, theatre and dance performances, discussions, workshops, art residencies and festivals are organised (200 events/year). The volunteers are free to contribute to its daily operation, enjoy the program and/or initiate projects on their own. It also runs space for relaxation and free time activities in the adjacent garden (e.g. frisbee, slackline). The mission of the cultural centre is to promote contemporary artists and their work, and create opportunities for engaging them in educational activities and social life. The European Solidarity corps projects offer learning opportunities and experience for volunteers who are interested in cultural management, technical aspects of event organisation, and the topics of arts, culture and youth work. The organisation hosts Theatre from the Passage (www.divadlozpasaze.sk), community-based theatre employing people with special needs. Association SKOK! for contemporary dance and physical theatre is also based here (physicalarts-sk.com). It has managed several artistic and cultural exchange projects and cooperated with a range of Slovak and international artists and institutions. It is a regular member of Anténa Association – Network for Independent Culture (www.antenanet.sk). Zahrada's mission is to: - provide space for presentation of contemporary art productions (theatre, dance performances, concerts, visual arts, multimedia), - support creation of new artistic works (artistic residencies, coproductions), - teach young people and adults in non-formal educational settings (workshops, seminars), - promote principles of civil society, and democracy, and raise environmental awareness (public discussions, events), - cooperate on projects with other Slovak and international artists, cultural managers and institutions, - revitalize and maintain public space for relaxation and free time activities in the adjacent garden. Target groups: -general public (visiting café and cultural events, festivals, joining free time outdoor activities), -young people / secondary school and university students (visiting cultural events, festivals, workshops, volunteering, doing seasonal work in the garden), -artists (performing, leading workshops), -disadvantaged communities / Roma, immigrants, people with special needs (volunteering, visiting cultural events), -seniors (visiting cultural events, community development projects).