The latest culture tips from around Slovakia.
Bratislava Design Week 2025
The main theme of the biggest festival of contemporary design in Slovakia that opened on Tuesday this week is "Premena" ("Transformation"). Running through Sunday, September 28, this international event showcases work and projects by established artists, design students and independent brands – each presenting their own vision of hope through creativity.
The honorary guest of this year’s edition is Parentesi Cinema, an international platform of designers, architects and artists from Italy, renowned for their innovative approach to moving images. The main exhibition is housed in the hotel section of the student dormitory on Svoradova Street in Bratislava, with additional installations spread across various venues throughout the city.
This year’s festival is represented by the 2024 Bratislava Design Week Award laureates: Adam Kuruc, Klára Valušková and Sylvia Ciulis.
Swarm Theory in Trnava
Running until the end of November, the latest exhibition at the Ján Koniarek Gallery in Trnava, which opened on Thursday, September 25, invites visitors to reflect on the concept of Swarm Theory—an exploration of complex problems through the collective behaviour of swarm animals such as ants, bees, and birds.
Curated by Lýdia Pribišová, the show brings together Slovak and international visual artists including Tilman Aumüller & Zuzana Žabková, Linda Boļšakova, Félix Blume, Petra Feriancová, Matej Gavula, Cao Guimarães & Rivane Neuenschwander, and Svätopluk Mikyta, among others.
The exhibition, located at Koppelova vila, delves into systems of self-organizing communal interactions.
European Researchers' Night
On September 26, Slovakia joins the pan-European celebration of science and innovation with the European Researchers’ Night.
Cities including Bratislava, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Poprad, and others will host presentations, discussions, hands-on experiments, workshops, and more.
This year’s theme is Chaos: Seeking Order in an Unpredictable World. As the organisers put it:
“This edition aims to show that uncertainty and complexity — often associated with chaos — are not obstacles for science, but powerful tools for discovery and engines of technological progress.”
Slovak Literature in London
On September 29, a discussion on the literary portrayal of the Slovak National Uprising will be held at Hatchards Piccadilly in London. Entitled "Fiction from Wartime Slovakia", the event marks the anniversary of the uprising and highlights two significant Slovak works recently translated into English:
- "The Last Thing" – a short story collection by Leopold Lahola
- "Hours and Minutes" – a key novel by Alfonz Bednár
Central European Masculinities Explored in Bratislava
From September 29 to October 1, the University Library in Bratislava will host the international symposium “Central European Masculinities: Norms and Transgressions”, organised by the Institute of Slovak Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV).
More than 30 speakers from prestigious institutions—including the Sorbonne University, Charles University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Sapienza University of Rome, among others—will present their research.
Ivana Taranenková, head of the SAV Institute, adds:
“Anne Tomiche from the Sorbonne will deliver the keynote on dandyism in the early 20th-century avant-garde. Panels will cover themes such as nationalist masculinity, Jewish male identity in the modern era, depictions of the male body, 20th-century masculinity, desire and non-normativity, borderlands, and contemporary global challenges.”
The conference will be held in English and is open to the public.
Architecture Day in Slovakia
From October 2-7, the Architecture Day Festival will span over 130 cities and towns across Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
This 15th edition focuses on the role of female architects—not just within the profession, but within society at large. The program highlights the work of young and mid-career architects, overlooked pioneers, and prominent women in the field.
More than 500 public events will take place in Slovak cities such as Banská Bystrica, Košice, Jelšava, Levice, Martin, Rajec, Ružomberok, Trenčín, and Žilina.
Highlights include:
- Jelšava: An interactive tour of Coburg Castle, showcasing 12 stages of its architectural evolution into a “micro-hotel in time.” The "Bunky Jelšava" project won the CE-ZA-AR 2022 award.
- Košice: An international forum featuring talks on modern timber architecture and the sustainable renovation of historical buildings using natural materials like straw and clay.
- Levice: A guided walk through the life and works of Rudolf Karol Czibulka, the architect behind the town’s core, known for his Classicist Art Nouveau and Neo-Renaissance influences.
- Martin: An open studio in the Turiec Cultural Center will offer new views on the city through the lens of architecture, community, and daily life.
- Ružomberok: A trail exploring the work of M.M. Scheer, a key figure in Slovak functionalism, known for projects such as the Financial Palace in Žilina and wartime industrial designs in Ružomberok.
- Žilina: A guided tour of the Church of the Conversion of St. Paul and its monastery will uncover the story of the local orphanage and recent restoration work. The city will also host an exhibition of children’s architectural artwork from the "Children and Architecture Biennial".
On October 2, the community culture hub Koľaj 22 in Poprad will open an international cartoon exhibition titled “Mozgopranie” ("Brainwashing").
The exhibition focuses on how public opinion is manipulated and how disinformation shapes individual thinking and behaviour. Works by 25 cartoonists from around the world critique propaganda and expose the causes and consequences of distorted perception.
