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What is the White Book of Ostrava Culture?

The goal of the White Book of Ostrava Culture is to provide a clear overview of information about the history and current state of culture in Ostrava as well as its place on the cultural map of Europe. It is not a professional work but a popularizing one in which, for the first time, topics that had never before been addressed in one place are placed together in a wider context. At the same time, the White Book will be the basis for an open internet encyclopaedia that will encompass encyclopaedic entries, discussions on various topics, continuous updating of information, and the dissemination of information for professional, personal and promotional needs.

How did it originate?

Even though much had already been written about Ostrava’s cultural history and even though some individual areas have been intensively explored, especially since the beginning of the 1990s, the fact remains that the broader picture is still incomplete. An intelligible map of Ostrava’s cultural history still awaits the explorers and cartographers who will probe and map often completely uncharted or only sketchily drawn territory, such as industrial design, dance, typography and applied graphics, fashion, transportation, the Ostrava underground, rock music, the club scene, film, various aspects of everyday life such as local customs, cuisine, fairs, circuses, and countless other areas, or will flesh out or elucidate episodes of well-documented areas of cultural history, such as theatre, music, architecture, literature and fine arts.

What is included in the White Book?

From the foregoing it is clear that our conception of Ostrava’s cultural history also includes things that aren’t part of “high” culture and yet fundamentally shape the city and its character, colouring the everyday face of the streets and leaving a memorable impression on those who come into contact with Ostrava that goes far beyond a collection of geographic coordinates, photographic moments, a hotel receipt and an exotic train ticket. Indeed, we are trying to explain a city that we understand only with difficulty, and if we do succeed (in these uncertain flashes), it is not on the basis of official historical studies but from direct experience and because the city has inscribed itself into the genetic code so that it never will abandon its host. We read the culture of Ostrava as the misgivings of a poet whose verse is mocked by the city, as the kaleidoscopic impression of a tourist, as the view of a passenger through the window of a night tram, as an image – full of promises and pitfalls – in the eyes of a child. The culture of the city is a public affair for us and is rather unclearly defined.

How was the White Book conceived?

A picture of the city is presented on two levels: The first level gives an objective, factual, standard narrative chain of historical events (in some cases a perspective or collage is used to explain a topic more intelligibly or vividly); the second level is purely personal, with contributions by people who clearly have Ostrava embedded in their souls. By connecting the two approaches, we hopefully are creating a tangible image of this place for those unable to personally experience Ostrava’s spellbinding power.

The White Book of Ostrava Culture originated as part of Ostrava’s candidacy for the title of European Capital of Culture 2015. It is part of the Ostrava 2009 project, which has the subtitle “We won’t draw a thick line under the past.”

The book itself claimed more than one authorial sacrifice as numerous contributions were not used in the final version, many serving as factual sources or as guides for what to emphasize during the creation of entries for the internet encyclopedia. Forty-two authors worked for five months to create the book.