28 / 03 / 2023

Discussion: Our Environment, Our Common Concern

Tranzit.sk, Beskydská 12, Bratislava
Participants: Andrea Froncová, Jozef Pecho, Bohdan Smieška, Ján Skaličan

We are witnessing several concurrent crises, and the global and local socio-political situation is changing dramatically. We haven’t had time to recover from the pandemic and we’re already witnessing a drastic, senseless and unjust war. Addressing the climate crisis has been shunted to the side.

We will (probably) face its destructive consequences later. We are looking (with great difficulty) for brighter days in the future; temporality rising above the horizon brings along many challenges with the necessity to change the way we think and work. It will require active co-participation in public matters. 
Is it possible to find a solution in the mutual sharing of our abilities and skills in an open intersectoral space? Will we succeed by initiating further cooperation with organizations and experts and providing our knowledge? Deliberations on post-artistic practice in which we might help with our work to achieve a real solution of established issues have surfaced. All of us, together. 

The discussion is organized within the exhibition Ján Skaličan: Eyewitness.


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ERSTE Foundation is main partner of tranzit.

Project was supported using public funding by the Slovak Arts Council in the form of scholarship.

Media partners: 
Artalk.skFlash Art CZ & SKKapitálGoOut.net

Andrea Froncová, environmentalist
Andrea graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University with a degree in environmental studies. During her studies she participated in an enviro-educational project in the Spanish biotopes at the Universidad de Granada.
She has been working for the past ten years at BROZ (Bratislava Regional Association for Nature Conservation). Initially she was involved in a project regarding the protection of common swifts and bats in buildings throughout Slovakia. Later she managed the Danubeparks project which connected all of the national parks on the Danube River from Germany to Romania. Nowadays she is BROZ’s PR and communication manager.

Mgr. Jozef Pecho graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava with a degree in physical geography and geoecology and specializations in meteorology and climatology. From 2005 to 2011 he worked as a climatologist at the Department of Climatological Services of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute in Bratislava. He returned to this position in 2016 and has been there ever since. From 2011 to 2016 he worked as specialist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Currently he is working on his
doctorate at the Department of Astronomy, Geophysics and Meteorology of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of Comenius University in Bratislava; the theme of his dissertation is “Dynamic ERA-Interim data downscaling for the territory of Slovakia
(by using ALADIN regional climate model). He is also involved in the statistical modeling of extreme precipitation (and extreme weather in general), climate instability and climate change research and the evaluation of its regional impacts, primarily in Slovakia. He has recently been examining issues related to climate modeling by using global and regional climate models. He is also involved in the popularization of meteorology and climatology.


Bohdan Smieška has been working in the civic and non-profit sector in Central Europe since 1996. He is involved in analyses, consultations and facilitation in designing participatively-created public policies, the strategic and organizational development of NGOs and public institutions and the management of community development processes. He moderates and prepares the dramaturgy of conferences, seminars and public discussions in culture, art and social inclusion. Bohdan is a co-founder of the open platform KU.BA - Kultúrna Bratislava (Cultural Bratislava), which links civic, cultural and artistic initiatives and independent professionals from live culture in Bratislava. In the past he worked for the National Democratic Institute, and founded and managed Centrum komunitného rozvoja (Community Development Center). He has also worked as the program director of the Intenda Foundation and as a consultant and project manager at PDCS. He is also a co-founder of the Local Act civic initiative, in which he is primarily involved in organizing the series of critical discussions concerning city management entitled Mesto ako politikum (The City as Politicum). 


Ján Skaličan (*1989) is a graduate of the Department of Photography and New Media of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (AFAD). During his studies he also took part in an internship at the University of Arts in Belgrade. He was a co-founder of the Žumpa Gallery and worked there as a curator and event organizer from 2014 to 2017. Currently he is a doctoral student at AFAD. In 2022 he was a finalist in the Oskár Čepan Award competition. He actively exhibits in Slovakia as well as abroad. Most recently, he has participated in the following group exhibitions: Inspiration Forum LAB 2021/22 Meze růstu (2022) at the Display Gallery in Prague; and dsk.: GIMMICK (2022) at the Koloman Sokol Gallery in Liptovský Mikuláš; and individually at Stream / Screening (2021) at the SODA Gallery in Bratislava.