The series aims to reflect on the social significance of public holidays and to open space for their active, radical, and critical reinterpretation. It offers the public the opportunity to experience a unique year of STÁTKY: hybrid events, mutated celebrations, and subversive provocations.
We are interested in holidays as performances of statehood and of national and civic identities. As rituals of memory and power. As stagings of values. We focus on ceremonies, customs, and traditions; on the mythology and religiosity of individual holidays; on the history of their establishment and on international comparisons. We want to discuss where social consensus may be possible in 2026—and where it is not. We are interested in how tradition becomes institution, how art can intervene in this process, and for whom holidays exist—and for whom they do not.
We will engage with the narratives that seek to confirm and shape state and national identity through a powerful tool: public days off. Today, however, the history and negotiated meanings of many of these holidays remain overshadowed by the need for rest from work and buried beneath layers of cultural, political, and market-driven overlays.
The opening episode of the series, dedicated to January 1, 2026 (New Year’s Day and the Day of the Restoration of the Independent Czech State), will be created by the internal production team consisting of Matyáš Dlab, Anna Prstková, Libor Brzobohatý, and Kristýna Businská. The remaining nine projects will be selected through an Open Call. The Open Call runs from September 28, 2025 to November 17, 2025. More information about whom we are looking for and how to apply can be found here.
OPEN CALL
Call announced: September 28, 2025 (Czech Statehood Day)
Deadline: November 17, 2025 (Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day)
Results announced: December 24, 2025 (Christmas Eve)
🟠🟠To apply, please use the application form here.🟠🟠
The Open Call will be evaluated in cooperation with an expert jury consisting of Milena Bartlová, Marika Kupková, and Vojtěch Novák.
CONSULTATIONS
Consultations with the production team in the form of a group video call will be offered on the following dates:
October 9, 2025 (World Post Day)
October 28, 2025 (Independent Czechoslovak State Day)
November 11, 2025 (Veterans Day)
If you want, I can also prepare a shortened Open Call version, a more institutional grant version, or a sharper, manifesto-like call for wider circulation.
