public art, Ostrava, art after 1989, contemporary art

The study focuses on the development of art in public space in Ostrava after 1989 and relates it to the demographic, social and cultural development of the city. It postulates that there is a direct link between the fragile and unstable local identity of the city and the emphasis on temporary and ephemeral artistic interventions in public space. At the same time, the text challenges the established notion of the role of art in public space by rejecting a purely aesthetic criterion and instead foregrounding its transformative potential. In this light, art does not necessarily eliminate the problems and conflicts that inevitably occur in shared urban space, but rather seeks them out and exposes them.