Venues

Telocvičňa – Dance Residency Center is a former gym that contains the basic facilities and equipment necessary for dance and movement. It has served as a non-commercial, residential space for professional dance makers since 2016 in the preparation phase of works and for their day to day training. It is integrated into the premises of Nová Cvernovka, a prominent cultural hub (with ateliers and theatre/concert space) in Bratislava, but operates independently. Since 2018, PlaST has been coordinating its functioning, residency activities, international cooperation, research, and at the same time striving to improve its facilities as well as providing educational programmes aimed at the wider public. Despite its makeshift nature (a need to undergo larger renovation works), Telocvičňa has quickly become an important hub in Slovakia and the wider region for dozens of dance and performance artists. It strives to support established artists as well as the younger generation, and underlines the importance of intergenerational cooperation. Currently it contributes to the strengthening of the dance community, it is an important continuity protecter in the time of pandemics as well as financial crisis. A tool for strengthening the links between the different actors, but it is also a space for dance educational activities for the wider public. 

In 2021, thanks to the support of the Slovak Arts Council and the support of the Cultural Fund of City of Bratislava as well as the efforts of the dance artists themselves, the adjacent space underwent a basic renovation, giving the space the facilities for an office, 2 storage rooms, a shower room, and a kitchen/brainstorming area. It is collaborating with the Bratislava self-governing region on a project aiming to bring contemporary dance to elementary and high school students and seniors in the Bratislava region. Since 2021, it has been running a Residency programme, which includes supporting progressive work by local and international teams, and is also running a regional research project with partners from Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, focusing on the link between art and science in the climate change issue Nature of Us.

Slovak Dance Platform Main Venue / Accreditation Centre

A4 is an independent cultural centre focusing on contemporary forms of professional theatre, dance, music, film, visual art and new media.
Established in 2004, it became one of the first cultural centres in Slovakia founded by a bottom-up initiative.

Since its beginning, A4 has been a vivid and active location on the Central European cultural scene, an open field for creative experimentation as well as a home for fresh and unique experiences.

Besides presenting innovative contemporary art, it actively supports new creative activities and education. A4 engages in public debate on important social issues, and attempts to foster conditions for non-commercial cultural activities.

The Studio 12 is a unique multimedia space designed for presentation of new drama and contemporary art. The dramaturgy focuses mostly on residential and visiting theatre activities. The space presents the art of various Slovak and international theatre companies and ensembles, with a particular focus on original and contemporary drama, and new production approaches. It also supports the making of devised theatre projects by young artists. Besides theatre projects, Studio 12 offers space for all kinds of open discussions and seminars, workshops and book presentations, festivals, projections, multi-genre events, music concerts as well as other cultural and social activities.

We are three cultural institutions that have decided to build a space where even marginal and minority artists have their place – P*AKT. We strive to push the boundaries of art towards more inclusive and progressive forms. We don’t limit ourselves thematically or by genre, we look at content, quality and added value.

Nomantinels Theatre is the only LGBTI+ theatre in the Slovak theatre context and the only theatre that deals with the themes of gender, gender identity, gender equality, suppression of gender stereotypes and the fight against discrimination and violence against women.

Gaffa is a professional theatre group that combines an experimental and authorial approach.
An interdisciplinary crossing of theatre, performativity and physical theatre. The principle of creation is working with physicality, which becomes an apparatus of contradiction and synthesis at the same time. Since 2016, she has created seven original productions.

Batyskaf is a cultural multi-genre platform that has been active since 2015 and supports the emergence of young and progressive art in Bratislava. It currently operates as a virtual platform that organizes site-specific events and operates in other cultural spaces.

Kunsthalle Bratislava is a state-funded cultural institution without a permanent collection, focused on presenting a wide range of contemporary art approaches. It is situated in the historic House of Arts building, established in 1958, located in the most vivid part of the city center. Kunsthalle Bratislava strives to formulate new dialogical trajectories among various geographies or political positions; its goal is to function as an inclusive communal space of immersion and engagement between (non)professionals. The institution’s cultural path, besides the temporal exhibition dramaturgy, focuses on collaborations with other institutions, cross-disciplinary relationships and mediation of discursive and learning exchange.

The architectural project of the House of Art in Bratislava dates back to 1958 and its realisation and completion took place in 1965. The first excavation works on the building started on 8 August on Stalin Square (the former name of today’s SNP Square). The author of the construction is the Slovak architect Miloš Chorvát. In the case of the House of Art in Bratislava, it is one of the few architectural objects that were built exclusively for the function of presenting visual arts (many galleries in Slovakia are housed in spaces that were designed with a different intention). This design orientation predetermined its architectural features in terms of the contemporary character of art and exhibition practices (e.g. the element of the ring/gallery around the central hall), today’s exhibition space A RING. The building has the shape of an elongated hexagon and a lower height character. The function of the building also determined the use of natural light, which enters the building from the ceiling of the central hall (A HALL), the ceiling of the perimeter exhibition hall on the second floor and the side windows. The natural light on the first floor could be regulated by the side slats, which form its most prominent architectural element from the outside. The main entrance is from SNP Square and leads to the social area and exhibition spaces. The first and second floors of the House of Art are the venue for a wide range of exhibition projects, dominated by a central hall allowing the presentation of large-scale works. Today, part of the exhibition space is also A WINDOW gallery.

The richly decorated Art Nouveau Moyzes Hall is located in the main building of the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University near the Danube River. The address of the building is Gondova Street, but Moyzes Hall is actually accessed from around the corner from Vajanského Street. Moyzes Hall is named after the Slovak composer Alexander Moyzes (1906–1984).

Designed by Vienna architect Josef Rittner in the early 20th century, the representative hall is nowadays used for classical music concerts, various academic purposes and other public events.

It is possible to rent this venue for different events. The Moyzes Hall can accommodate ca. 220 persons.

Nová Cvernovka is a cultural and creative center located in the former chemical school in the suburbs of Bratislava, Slovakia. Founded by the creative community in 2016, that moved in after being pushed out from a gentrifying area.
Laid out on 18 000 m2 it operates a multifunctional venue, an outdoor terrace and a podium, community garden, playground and houses co-working space, public library and 76 art and creative studios. It provides broad-spectrum of cultural and educational programs in music, visual arts, literature, film, performing arts and multi-genre activities that enrich the palette of Bratislava’s cultural scene with different formats of events.

The center aims to function not only as a free space for people from the creative industry but also as an entity that plays an active role in civic society. We are searching for innovative collaboration models between non-profit organizations and the public sector and bringing new life into abandoned places by transforming them into centers of culture and creativity.

Nová Cvernovka brings a dramatically diverse mix of functions to the boundary between two zones, a low-density residential neighborhood, and an industrial zone. It is a place for broad local use that has enliven the neighborhood.

The Old Market Hall is a historical building from 1910. In its over a 100 years long history, it served many purposes; it was a market space as well as warehouse and studios for the Slovak National Television. Since 2013 a civic association The Alliance Old Market Hall (Aliancia Stará Tržnica) takes care of this building owned by the City of Bratislava. Since then, the Alliance revitalizes this before abandoned market hall with the aim to turn it into a marketplace as well as a cultural event venue.

Divadlo Štúdio tanca has been operating since 1998 in Banská Bystrica. Unique in its artistic focus, it follows the path of original creation, which respects artists in their creative expression and opinion and continuously supports the creation of original dance productions and their regular performance.

Authenticity, timeliness and a strong international artistic ensemble in the common denominator of contemporary dance, this is the Dance Studio Theatre. As part of its mission, it has premiered 55 full-length productions, including 5 performances for children and many outdoor and educational dance projects. In its 22 years on the Slovak theatre scene, it has staged more than 1400 performances, including 350 on visiting domestic and international stages, and presented its work to more than 120,000 spectators. Since 2010, it has been the only established entity in Slovakia operating on its own permanent stage.

Reflecting the current socio-political situation of 2014-2017, the Divadlo Štúdio tanca has also become a civically active entity – as a direct opponent of opinions questioning the need for contemporary art. It remains in this position to this day, aware of the need to guard the values of democracy and humanity.

Divadlo Štúdio tanca productions are regularly performed on several domestic stages and Slovakia has been represented at prestigious international festivals in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Egypt, Japan, India, Panama and the Dominican Republic. His distinctive artistic attributes have earned him numerous awards, including the Mayor’s Award of the City of B. Bystrica and the Award of the Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic.

As an organization and facility, the Záhrada Cultural Centre (Záhrada) was preceded by the Ivan Palúch Theatre, where we all met and became enthusiastic about one idea introduced by Viera Dubačová and a few other cultural enthusiasts, who later teamed up with us. We began to run this space as an open platform for art and the home stage of Theatre from the Passage. In October 2010, we relocated from the former pancake house in the Arcade Passage to our present location in the courtyard of the Beniczký Passage. In November 2010, we hosted the first concert of the DVA Czech group in the then abandoned building that housed our cultural center.

Years of renovation, organizing small and modest events followed. The initial youthful enthusiasm and idealism made us believe that quite soon, we would be able to find sponsors, patrons, and otherwise enlightened people and complete the basic renovation within a year. It’s been ten years, and only now are we slowly becoming economically sustainable, with the community center building largely renovated. We renovated on our own with the support of our families, friends, people from the Pasáž Theatre, and local volunteers. We replaced the roof, built a sewage system, installed electricity, cleaned up a building with several tons of garbage, rehabilitated the garden park, and gradually transformed the building into a facility for the arts. Thanks to Norway Grants, we installed heating, insulated the building, built sanitary facilities, and carried out other necessary interventions. 

We managed to create a permanent working team and professionalize it into the current form. The physical appearance of the Záhrada building is different every year, as we revamp it according to financial possibilities.

The Záhrada Cultural Centre is currently a fully established organization in Slovakia and abroad. In addition to creative and artistic activities, the Záhrada is an island of positive deviance and a platform for many human rights events and civic activism. 

So far, more than 50 artistic productions (theatre, dance, performance art) have been created in the Záhrada. It is also the home stage of Theatre from the Passage – a municipal theatre established in 1995 as the only professional community theatre in Slovakia working with people with special needs. The Záhrada is also home to the SKOK! Civic Association, founded by Jaro Viňarský, which serves as an information and residential center for contemporary dance and physical theatre.