In October, two young men were shot outside of bar Tepláreň, which has been a special safe place for queer people in Bratislava for years. The murder driven by hatred for otherness shocked us. Festival Pohoda initiated Slovenská Tepláreň – series of events of all genres happening across Slovakia as a sign of condolences to the families of the murdered Juraj and Matúš and as a sign of support for LGBTI+ people.
We joined the initiative with silent visual act of litting up the old railway bridge with the colours of the rainbow. It gained support of more than 200 subjects from Trenčín region. These were cultural and civic organizations, venues, festivals, artistic groups, companies and individuals who signed the joint memorandum.
You can read the memorandum here:
The murder of Juraj and Matúš affected us deeply. The realisation that Slovakia is a country where LGBTI+ people fear for their lives and have become a target for those who seek reasons for physical and verbal violence should shake our entire society. We consider this state of affairs unacceptable in a free democracy based on respect for everyone's fundamental human rights. We have decided to conclude the Slovenská Tepláreň initiative, organised by the Pohoda festival, with a silent visual act to express our condolences to the loved ones of Juraj and Matúš, our support for LGBTI+ people and our desire for safety, freedom and equality for all.
The main purpose not only of the European Capital of Culture, but also of culture in general, is to create an environment in which everyone is welcome, regardless of nationality, religion, health, socio-economic status or sexual orientation. All artistic genres have the power to reinforce the principles of equality, inclusion, democracy and cohesion.
But an open and accepting city is a task for all of us. We call for all spaces in Trenčín and the Trenčín region to be for everyone. Let us ask ourselves what we can do to make our business, organisation, school, office, café or public space where we meet safe for all? What can we do to make everyone feel accepted and feel that they belong here? The culture can help us to do this through its activities, but we have the power to act through our everyday acts of kindness, concern, acceptance and openness.
We have joined the Slovenská Tepláreň, initiative, organized by the Pohoda festival. It involved more than 600 entities – artists, venues, festivals, organisations and institutions, which organised more than 200 events of various genres across Slovakia, from concerts, discussions, film screenings, readings of literary works, theatre performances and visual arts.
List of signatories:
Trenčín 2026
Klub Lúč
Deadred Records
Vinyl lab
Artkino Metro
Mgr. Zuzana Mišáková DiS.art Mestské divadlo Trenčín
Bez ladu a skladu
Autumnist
Nina Kohout
Captain Slice
Men at sound
Coffee Sheep
Dogma Divadlo
FS Nadšenci
FS Vršatec
Housemusic.sk
Wichitawacs
Film Square Festival
Braňo Jóbus
Abusus
Vrbovskí víťazi
Karpatské chrbáty
Fork Season
Priestor
Hlava 5
Pucle
Boris Vitázek
Bulp
FestArt
Kultúrne centrum Aktivity, o.z.
Světluše Rajnincová
Alena Karasová
Voices
Juraj Benda
Fallgrapp
Experimentálna inštitúcia wash-ed
PhDr Oľga Hodálová predsedníčka ŽNO TN
Synagóga Trenčín OZ
Anna Jančová
TRAKT
CHVM
Gympelrock
Chris Ellys
Veronika Kostková
Rozhranie - acoustic sessions
Mišák Štramák
Uhol dopadu
Klub za rampami
KC Cooltajner
World Wine Gallery
Analogrunner
Random Choices
Čili&cin'cin TN
Ži:va BnB
Trenčianska nadácia
Clicque
Matúš Oravec
Richard Ščepko
Trenčín na korze
Fleck community
HALA
Čierne na bielom
Neformálne združenie vonzoskrine
DASATO Academy (I AMbitious)
Terézia Mihalovič Lukáčová
Petronela Halamová
Radka Nedomová
Elýščitat
Slow.
Martin Petrík
Patrik Žák
Veronika Žák Sučanská
Peter Šurik
Marta Šuriková
Markéta Rajnincová
Valter Rajninec
Eloqua, s.r.o.
Amadeus Music Bar
Matwe
SPFM
Veget
Dokola swap
Zero waste Trenčín
Teleso
Lena Knappová
Boďa tattoo
Spoločnosť Jaromíra Krejcara
HMOTA | Časopis mladých ľudí
Horyzonty
Nuba Gallery, Púchov
Zaži Trenčín OZ
Vlado Kulíšek
Juraj Majerský
Podivný barón
Barbora Kresánková
Lujza Lehocká
Pavol Seriš
Mgr. Richard Medal Centrum environmentálnych aktivít
Soňa Pekarovičová CentrumDys
DIVO občasné združenie o.z.
Hviezdne noci
Adam Babjak
Barbora Babjaková
HTT s.r.o.
Peter Štuller
Viky Štuller
Ján H.Blicha
Vý Stavoprojekt
The Youniverse
Arta Piešťany
FOR MAAT
Bezobalis
Komorný orchester mesta Trenčín
Festival Divné veci
Lash & Grey
Slowlick
Karol Mikloš
Vzdelávacie centrum KRTKO a jeho kamaráti o.z.
Europe Direct Trenčín
Gympelrock
Papuča
Felikana
Byhold s. r. o.
Festival Pohoda
Slovenská Tepláreň
Art Event s.r.o.
Kancelária Európskeho parlamentu na Slovensku
TRYES, a.s.
Beatmedia SK
Blackout o.z.
ooo
Bc. et Bc. Diana Gerbocová
Viera Balkova
Ivan Rybanský
Eva Gugova
Juraj Čičo fotograf
Miroslava Galasová
Andrea Pernicová
Lenka Mrlinka
Andrea Vrtelová
Alex Pavlac
Ladislav Dudor
Ľubica Ščambová
Lenka Štefánková
Jozefína Senešiová
Dušan Frisík
Svetlana Chudá
Štefan Oliš
Erika Briedikova
Katarína Panáková
Ondrej Holíček
Peter Polakovič
Lucia Misikova
Rado Fabus
Dana Jamborová
Andrej Gondár
Erika Topilinová
Mária Tichá
Emma Kraus
Matthias Arnould
Juraj Hunák
Tomáš Tvrdoň
Michaela Chochlíková
Eliška Krištofová
Ondrej Horák
Andrea Kohoutová
Alena Breznická
Júlia Gavačová
Zuzana Vladárová
Miroslav Guga
Martina Bednárová
Michal Mazánik
Monika Mrazikova
Petra Steinemannová
Jana Fukalová
Miroslava Londáková
Sára Králová
Tatiana Králiková
Lenka Rountree
Marek Kravjar
Michal Bystrický
Amy van Brecht
Timotej Kováčik
Iva Sopková
Matus Misik
Martin Potočný
Michaela Kosikova
Natália Ambrosová
Paulína Šávoltová
Filip Kňažek
Žofia Vladárová
Dominika Dubačová
Eva Mišovičová
Peter Krecháč
Jana Kukuckova
Martin Šidlo
Veronika Závodská
Jozef Feťko
Richard Berith
Zuzana Ivaničová
Radoslav Jánoš
Jana Sedláčková
Andrej Jurčí
Ľubica Hanulíková
Natália Záleská
Anna Pyšná
Roman Hromník
Janka Hromníková
Nikola Sedláčková
Martin Sedláček
Samuel Hrádel
Katka Makara
Peter Špirko
Jan Glovičko
Vladimír Laššo
Pavol Čižmár
Pavlína Gunárová
Martina Bartošíková
Foto: Juraj Majerský
Zábery z dronu: Patrik Žák