Kiosk 2026

We conceive the festival as a living platform for contemporary creation — a space that nurtures new artistic voices, presents original, independent, and innovative theatre, and interweaves the festival’s pulse with that of the city in which it unfolds. It extends into public space and public discourse, responding to the challenges of the performing arts scene while supporting new generations of creators — especially emerging women artists, but equally all who experiment, learn, and question. Through a strong curatorial vision, it articulates democratic ideas, facilitates exchange, and serves as a showcase of Slovak performative art. It offers visibility to minority and marginal forms, fosters encounters between artists and critics, and opens new thresholds of theatre and dance. In essence — it cares.The festival seeks to provide a concentrated insight into new perspectives on performative art. We understand it as a framework for reflection — an invitation to think critically about contemporary creation and its place in society. Hence, the program intertwines renowned names and internationally presented productions with new artistic voices exploring the edges of theatricality, hybridity, and social engagement.Kiosk stands as the largest presenter of Slovak women artists living and working abroad. Their presence brings multiplicity — of experiences, perspectives, and aesthetic languages. The Slovak performative scene is not static or monolithic, yet it also needs to breathe, to rest, and to find renewal. This is why we build on fusion: we present sound performances, visual and media art, fragments of literature and video art — works by artists who believe in diversity as a source of vitality. We encourage cross-genre collaborations, intersections, and adaptations of existing pieces, opening new ways of reading and creation.A part of the program is conceived and realized on site, specifically for the festival. Instead of exclusivity, we cultivate a laboratory principle — a defined time and space that allows for experimentation and risk, for gestures impossible within the routine of institutional or even independent theatre. It may appear as a “game,” yet it happens within real urban and social contexts, addressing both initiated and unprepared audiences. Two lines thus coexist and increasingly intertwine: one for the professional community, focused on process and exploration, and another for the wider public — the city’s inhabitants and visitors.Our credo is otherness — and with it, tolerance, openness, and the active support of difference. This applies to creation as much as to ways of living. We support individuality as well as collaborations that surprise through unexpected viewpoints, methodologies, and behaviors. We are driven by the need to search for understanding, to build bridges. At the heart of the festival lies a belief that art can make a difference — that alternative art, precisely because it is adaptable and socially engaged, can reach closer to its audience. It speaks in human language, acts within public space, and invents new forms of encounter. It can inhabit housing estates, awaken imagination in a park, and reshape how we perceive the city itself.