Visual Stories 2025: Future Heritage
Opening: Tuesday, May 5 at 5:00 PM at the Kancelář architekta města
Exhibition: You can visit the exhibition at Kancelář architekta města until May 29.
The Visual Stories 2025 exhibition presents a selection of works created as part of the international Open House Europe open call on the theme Future Heritage. It showcases work by artists from sixteen European countries who visually interpret this theme through photography and other visual media.
The theme raises questions about how we perceive the value of architecture and public space today, and how these values shape the future form of our surroundings. The works capture the transformation of cities, the tension between past and future, and what we consider worth preserving—or, on the contrary, changing.
At the same time, they invite visitors to reflect on the stories our cities carry and what speaks to us within them.
KINO Open House Brno at Co.Labs
Brutalism, Directed and produced by Milos Jakovic and Hossein Fani, Friday, May 15 at 17:00
The festival weekend exceptionally kicks off already on Friday evening. At Co.Labs, we will screen a documentary on the influential architectural style of Brutalism. A twenty-minute film on a topic that resonates strongly in Brno—one that won second place in 2025 at the 19th Istanbul Architecture and Urban Films Festival, where 650 documentaries competed. The film will be screened in English.
After the screening, a discussion on Brno’s Brutalist architecture will follow, moderated by Šárka Bahounková.
Advance booking required.
Villa and Its Ornaments
Saturday, May 16 at 14:00 or 16:00
Arnold Villa, Drobného 26, Černá Pole
Come and discover how your perception of architecture changes when you focus on detail. This workshop invites you to Arnold Villa and offers a different way of reading a building. Participants will learn about the builder Josef Arnold, the history of the villa district, and the ornamental motifs that give the house its character.
The workshop also includes a creative component: photographing ornaments, drawing inspiration from historic tiles, and creating your own ornamental design that blends historical references with your imagination.
No advance booking required.
Screen Printing with Screeno: Take a Piece of the Festival Home
Saturday, May 16, 14:00–18:00
Pekařská 78, Staré Brno
Screeno celebrates its first anniversary by opening its creative studio to the public. Under the guidance of professional printers, you can create your own printed T-shirt featuring a special design made exclusively for this year’s Open House Brno by architect Zdeněk Daniel.
T-shirts and tote bags will be available for purchase on site—some created in collaboration with the charity shop Šuplig, which supports the League of Human Rights. You’re also welcome to bring your own garment and give it a new life. Prefer something brand new? You can order via Screeno’s e-shop.
KINO Open House at Clubco
Moravian Manchester: The Story That Shaped Brno
Documentary film directed by Pavel Jirásek
Saturday
What shaped Brno into the city we know today? Why does it have its distinctive structure, atmosphere, and historical memory? And what connects architecture, industry, and everyday life?
This new documentary by Pavel Jirásek offers answers—and goes far beyond the story of the textile industry alone.
Dance Performance: Giving Back the Blessings
Saturday, May 16 at 17:00
Co.Labs, Kounicova 22
From the Arnold Villa workshop, you can seamlessly continue to this dance performance by choreographer Alina Belyagina. Her work unfolds somewhere between a club rave, a folk ritual, and an industrial landscape. In hazy light, individual bodies dissolve as performers merge with the audience. It’s hard to describe—and that’s a good sign.
Belyagina is based in Munich, and her work has been presented at festivals from Taiwan to Leipzig. Her artistic approach draws on themes of movement between environments, multilingualism, and feminist dramaturgy.
Advance booking required.
Drawing Workshop with Zdeněk Daniel
Sunday, May 17 from 10:00
Trade Fair Theatre
Start the final day of the festival with a morning drawing session led by architect and designer Zdeněk Daniel. Over two hours, you’ll work with pencil, dry pastel, and charcoal in the functionalist setting of the Trade Fair Theatre. Drawing will take place both indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather.
The workshop is open to everyone, regardless of experience. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, you’re welcome to pause for a moment and try capturing space through your own hand.
Advance booking required.
Lecture and Tour of St. James Parish House
Sunday, May 17 at 15:00
Jakubská 11
Wrap up the festival with a visit to the Parish of St. James, one of Brno’s oldest institutions, continuously active since the 13th century. The tour will be led by emeritus parish priest Václav Slouk, who will guide you through the library with 17th-century portraits of parish priests, the lounge, and the main hall—sharing personal memories along the way.
After the tour, Ing. Aleš Taufar will give a lecture on the recent comprehensive renovation of the church, awarded Building of the Year by the Ministry of Culture. Expect not only insights into the demanding restoration process, but also behind-the-scenes stories and reflections on the future of church heritage in the Czech Republic. A discussion will follow.
No advance booking required.
KINO Open House Brno at Urban Centrum: Czech Television Screenings, the festival’s main media partner
Saturday 16/5/2026 10:00–18:00, Urban Centrum Brno, Mečová 5
A loop of short documentary films by Czech Television, total runtime 127 minutes
A curated loop of short documentary films from the 1970s to the 1990s from the Czech Television archive, produced by the Brno studio, focusing on the transformation of the city’s built environment in the modern era. You’ll see historical footage of Brno’s ring road, as well as interwar and postwar architecture.
The nearly two-hour loop will be repeated. You can visit the screenings free of charge at any time during the festival opening hours of Urban Centrum Brno.
You can watch:
- The City in the Mirror of Time, 1986, Czech Television documentary, 29´
- Bergl Palace, 2011, part of the Czech Television documentary series Stories of Houses, 26´
- 90 Years of Zábrdovice Spa, 2022, Czech Television report, 2´
- Zábrdovice Spa, 1971, Czech Television report, 45 s
- Avant-Garde Architecture of Brno, 1984, Czech Television documentary, 26´
- Brno Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, 1985, Czech Television documentary, 25´
- The Scarred Face of Cities, Episode 3, 1994, part of a Czech Television documentary series, 19´
KINO Open House Brno at Clubco: Czech Television Screening, the festival’s main media partner: Brno – The Moravian Manchester
Directed by: Pavel Jirásek
Documentary film, Czech Republic 2023, 53´
Language: Czech
Saturday 16/5 at 15:00, Clubco – coworking, Vlněna 5, Brno – Trnitá
The documentary presents Brno’s textile industry (wool production) and the phenomenon that earned the city the nickname the Moravian (or Austrian) Manchester. This important Moravian textile heritage has not only shaped the city’s identity, but has also become part of European and global cultural heritage. The film’s core focus is not only the textile industry itself, but above all the economic, cultural, and social history of Brno. The narrative traces the emergence of a modern European city, along with the lives of internationally successful textile barons from the Moravian Manchester era between 1780 and 1945 — Köffiler, Salm, Offermann, Löw-Beer, Tugendhat, and other prominent magnates. (Czech Television)
The screening will be followed by a short discussion with the film’s director, Pavel Jirásek.
Additional short archival TV footage will also be presented during guided tours at the Velodrome and at St. Anne’s University Hospital.