Despite the opening of borders between the Czech Repuplic and Austria 13 years ago Czech art is still largely unknown in the Linz area. We therefore invite Czech artists - in four blocks until the fall of the borders in April 2004 - to present current new works respectively to develop new works on site. To give those works the publicity they deserve the Linz centres for art, like OK. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Kunstraum, transpublic and Stadtwerkstatt, as well as Backwood Association (pioneer in the east west integration) have resolved to jointly present Czech art for four days.

Through interdisciplinary co-operation, confrontation and comparison the works are made accessible to the public of Linz. The Czech artists will have the possibility to establish contact to the Upper Austrian arts and culture scene as well as to individuals, vice versa.

The title “czech_in“ includes the preparation for the various visits and the advertising related to it, in the form of invitation cards in Linz and its surroundings, as well as a homepage, arrival and departure of the artist, setting up the exhibition, presence of the artists during their brief visits, for which an exhibition time of four days is scheduled.

During the Czech artists' stay accompanying interviews with the guests will be aired on the radio station FRO in their show FROzine. It is intended to have local artists and persons engaged in the cultural sector initiate those talks to make those visits encounters of intense examination and reflection on the works.

The quality, total and variety of the works will be made accessible for a longer term through the czech_in homepage which will be updated regularly.
Currently the roll of cultures is about to undergo a change in the current global basic conditions.
A great number of artistic and cultural confrontation of the past years concerned reference values like national identity / cultural identity / what is native or alien.

czech_in takes position in these questions and works together with various Czech centres for culture, galleries and collectives of artists on transcultural intersections.
The preparation of the czech_in project involved visits to Czechia as well as counter-visits to Linz.
Getting to know each other provides a good basis for a continual development of a network between arts institutions, artists and curators in both countries.
Miloš Vojtechovský, Center for Contemporary Arts - Prague (CCA)
Ivan Mecl, publisher of the magazie Umelec, Prague
Harald Liehmann / Agentur Contract, Cesky Krumlov
Marek Borsany / Artist, Cesky Krumlov

Starting from those four people contact was established to the artists who will develop and present works in the four blocks that have been arranged.