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A photo exhibition titled “Brno View” in the New Town Hall Gallery and an architectural pop-up exhibition titled “Modern Brno” in the “Szárító” Workshop (a community and incubator house in Debrecen) will present Debrecen’s twin city, Brno.
Deputy Mayor István Puskás highlighted that Brno is one of our twin cities, and we have particularly lively relations there. He said, “The two settlements have been twin cities since 2017, and Debrecen was already present in several programmes in Brno’s life last year.” He recalled that in 2024, the István Sajó exhibition was held at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Brno, and a residency session has also started, thanks to which one of Brno’s firewalls is decorated with a painting made by a Debrecen artist. As a continuation, the next Debrecen artist will travel to Brno next week, and Debrecen will welcome the resident from there.
As he said, “In the New Town Hall Gallery, we show an exciting face of Debrecenism, our foreign relations, in this case the thread that connects Debrecen to the wider world through the Czech twin city. In the community space called ‘Szárító’ operated by the university, you can discover the exciting treasures of Brno’s classic modern architectural soul.”
Brno is not primarily about its monuments but about the people living there. Thanks to the people of Brno, it was recently included in the list of the most livable places in The New York Times, where renowned baristas and gastronomy lovers can prepare coffee and dine in one of the trendy bistros that use local ingredients. Beer and wine lovers will also find something they like, as the city is in the heart of the largest wine region in the Czech Republic, South Moravia. Its location makes it an ideal starting point for exploring the area; seven UNESCO heritage sites are within a 100 km radius of Brno.
Brno is a member of the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities of Music due to the city’s vibrant music scene and festivals, such as prestigious events like the Music Marathon, JazzFest Brno, Moravian Autumn, or Janáček Brno. The International Opera Awards also prove the importance of this latter festival.
In addition to its culture, Brno has a thriving business life, often referred to as the “Moravian Silicon Valley.” The city has many international and Czech companies, successful startups, research centers, and universities. This contributes to Brno’s youthful atmosphere, where around 80,000 students start their studies yearly.
Brno is often called the Mecca of modern architecture due to its world-class buildings. In addition to villas and city public buildings built at the turn of the century, Brno has several modernist buildings of which the city is proud. One of its most notable houses is the functionalist Villa Tugendhat, designed by the world-famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It is the only modern architectural work in the Czech Republic and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can see the buildings, carefully preserved and renovated by the people of Brno, in photos and models in the university’s architecture student incubator, the “Szárító” Workshop.
“I hope that both exhibitions will inspire the people of Debrecen to visit this wonderful Czech city, which offers an enjoyable experience for tourists,” the Deputy Mayor underlined. He added that our Czech twin city will also be represented at the Made in Debrecen festival at the end of March, with three bands from Brno and the city of Brno as the guest of honour this year.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
