For centuries, the City Tower has silently watched over Trenčín. For four evenings in August, it will find its voice.
From 17 to 20 August, every evening at 8:30 pm, the façade of the City Tower will come alive with a large-scale video projection created for Trenčín by Polish-American artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. It features authentic testimonies from people who live here, sharing what they fear, what they hope for, what has shaped them, and what kind of future they wish for their city. Admission is free.
What you will see
The tower will become the face and voice of the people of Trenčín – young people and seniors, artists, students and volunteers. A man who found a new home here after fleeing the war in Ukraine. A woman who brings people of different generations together through community embroidery. Volunteers working with Roma children. Each of them offers a unique perspective on life in the city, together creating a portrait of Trenčín that cannot be seen from the street.
Wodiczko asks questions that most of us answer only to ourselves. Their responses are then projected onto the very building they pass every day. The projection is different every evening. Testimonies recorded during the day are edited and incorporated into the following evening’s projection, allowing the tower to gather more and more voices over the course of four days.
The testimonies will be presented in Slovak with English subtitles.
“We wanted to create a work in which Trenčín itself speaks through the people who live here, work here, help others or have brought their life stories to this city. Each of them represents a different experience, but together they create the image of a city shaped by its people,” says Trenčín-based architect Alexander Topilin, who has worked closely with Krzysztof Wodiczko on the project.
Add your voice
Anyone can become part of the artwork. Meetings with the artist take place individually, in front of the camera and without an audience. Wodiczko will ask you a few questions, and your responses may appear on the City Tower as early as the following evening.
Filming takes place every day from 17 to 20 August between 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm. As the number of participants is limited, advance registration is required. After registering, we will contact you to arrange the exact time of your interview.
Participation is voluntary and unpaid. Before filming, you will be asked to sign a consent form authorising the recording and public presentation of your interview. The interview lasts up to 60 minutes.
Who is Krzysztof Wodiczko
Krzysztof Wodiczko is one of the world’s leading artists working in public space. Since the 1980s, he has created more than 90 large-scale projections and installations on buildings and monuments around the world, from the United States to Japan, Israel and Poland. His works give a public voice to people who are rarely heard in public spaces: immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, war veterans and survivors of violence.
In 1998, he received the Hiroshima Art Prize for his contribution to world peace, and in 2009 he represented Poland at the Venice Biennale. He is Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
His work for Trenčín was created specifically for the Trenčín 2026 European Capital of Culture programme as a direct response to the local community and its stories.
Why we are doing this
The work is part of the New Peace project. Wodiczko has long explored the idea of peace not simply as the absence of war, but as an active process of speaking publicly and listening publicly to things that are difficult to say. “The City Tower Speaks” brings this idea into the heart of Trenčín and places it in the hands of the people who live here.
