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  Could you briefly introduce the White Book of Ostrava Culture? How is it conceived and who is its audience – professionals or the general public?

The book makes no pretence of being a text for professionals! That should be obvious from its appearance. It is a popularizing book that has the task of presenting the history of culture in Ostrava to the European public, assuming no previous knowledge of or experience with our city. At the same time, we wanted to put forth a text that would also be interesting for local readers who are well versed in Ostrava life and institutions. The book isn’t concerned only with traditional spheres of culture such as visual art, music, literature, theatre and architecture, but also with themes that can be more loosely classified as culture and yet have shaped this city and played a role in its current form. The White Book is divided into 17 chapters, which are introduced by texts by personalities who have a strong relationship to Ostrava and who through their subjective commentary help to explain the phenomenon of Ostrava from a different perspective.

As you already mentioned, in addition to chapters on classic spheres of culture we also find themes in the book such as religiosity, ecology, sport and community life. What all does the notion of “culture” embrace in the White Book?

At the beginning we had the task of defining what is culture. Each of us participating in the project brought a longer or shorter list of what we consider to be part of culture. From discussions it emerged that what we categorize as culture is a matter of context, changeable with the times, and therefore we decided to put on the list that which in an essential way has influenced the shape of Ostrava. Also, due to time constraints, we were unable to address a number of themes that were interesting for us (dance, typography, fashion, industrial design, transportation and many others). Because we weren’t writing a history of the city – that already exists – we didn’t concern ourselves with areas such as industry and sociology. On the other hand, we included chapters such as minorities, sport and nature. We tried to choose themes in such a way that after reading the book even the hypothetical reader lounging in Lisbon would be able to “see” Ostrava.

What criteria were used to select authors for the White Book?

In the majority of cases it was from personal experience with people who have been involved with the themes covered in the book for a long time, thus we already had a clear idea about the quality of their work. In other cases we went on the recommendations of acknowledged experts, and we also contacted professional historians, journalists, columnists, theoreticians and others.

What is specific to Ostrava culture compared with the culture of other cities?

Perhaps in its uncertainty, in that it’s somehow rebellious in ways that no one would expect and maybe not even consider necessary. Its functioning and character have always differed from that of Prague art salons – which is obvious to anyone who has ever experienced it. An unequivocal definition for something so changeable and alive as culture is not possible; it always comes down to a shorthand that necessarily provokes doubt and disagreement due to its limitations. If something appropriate comes to mind, please bring it on.

What stumbling blocks did you run into in the creation of the White Book? What presented the most work?

Even though it isn’t an anthology, it was necessary to contact many authors, all with their own personal styles, approaches, priorities and limitations. Some would rather recount stories, for others factual material is more important, others have a knack for interpretation, and so on. Trying to accommodate the approaches of different authors in a prescribed, very limited format without denying their personal styles wasn’t easy. Far worse, however, was that even though we overshot the planned scale of the book, we had to pass over a large number of authors, events and art works that are inherent to Ostrava culture. Luckily there is the Ostrava internet cultural encyclopaedia project, which won’t have the same restrictions, and so whatever didn’t make it into the White Book can find a home in virtual space that will correspond to the needs of the authors on different topics. And finally, time was a problem – the book originated as part of Ostrava’s application for the title of European Capital of Culture. Compared with the standard time needed to prepare a publication of this scope, we had only a fraction of that. I would like to sincerely thank all the authors, translators, consultants and co-workers for the work that they did in rather unusual circumstances.

Was there something that literally took you by surprise during work on the White Book?

On the one hand, it was the number of blank spaces in Ostrava’s cultural history, both on a factual level and also, for instance, in the collection of pictorial material. Of course I believe that this is one of the most important triumphs of the project, as well as being a call for further phases of work on the electronic encyclopaedia, which should gradually fill in these blank spaces.

The White Book is meant to be the basis for an internet encyclopaedia. In what way will the general public be able to contribute to this encyclopaedia?

The Encyclopaedia project is in the very beginning stages. In the current phase we are really considering some form of Ostrava cultural wiki that would be open to all interested parties, professionals as well as the lay public. The only limiting factors are adequate editorial staff to process all the contributions and technical resources for the project. We are planning to discuss viable solutions that would be suitable both for the city and also for the encyclopaedia.