Project Description

Skateholders is an ongoing cultural project based in České Budějovice and the South Bohemian region (it is part of the European Capital of Culture 2028 programme in České Budějovice), aiming to support the development of skateboarding by strengthening community activities and activating public space. Together with skateboarders, architects, and local stakeholders, we work to expand skateboarding infrastructure in the city through small-scale architectural interventions.

At the same time, Skateholders uses skateboarding as a platform for international and local networking, education, and youth activation. As part of the sub-project Skateholders Forum, we organise a multi-day festival that includes performances, workshops, exhibitions, talks, and screenings with international guests. Connections established during the festival help us further develop social and cultural networks within the city and the region. We also seek to collaborate with local educational institutions and NGOs and to create an inclusive, low-threshold skate school with overlap into other creative and community activities.

One of our biggest achievements so far has been two successful editions of Skateholders Forum (2024 and 2025), an international event hosting workshops, screenings, talks, exhibitions, and skate sessions.
 

2024 report

For the next edition (1st week of July 2026), we are preparing an interdisciplinary programme exploring DIY skateboarding from perspectives of craft, art, urbanism, community, and resistance. The festival will host the premiere of a documentary on Czech DIY skateparks by Javier Varillas, and an exhibition featuring photography, visual art, and artefacts related to DIY scenes and guerrilla interventions in urban space. In collaboration with several Czech DIY collectives, we will also build a new skate spot in České Budějovice.

 

Who Are We Looking For?

We are seeking one artist of younger generation (born, resident or domiciled) from one of the cities of the CreArt 3.0 network: Kaunas (Lithuania), Liepaja (Latvia), Skopje (Northern Macedonia), Aveiro (Portugal), Valladolid (Spain), Venice (Italy), Clermont-Ferrand and Rouen (France), České Budějovice (Czech Republic), Oulu (Finland), Regensburg (Germany), members of HDLU (Croatian Association of Fine Artists), Ukrainian artists through collaboration with Dialog from Lviv.

We are looking for an artist who:

• has a background in skateboarding, DIY culture, street culture, urban practices or adjacent fields;
• is interested in exploring DIY skateboarding as craft, art form, philosophy, lifestyle, grassroots urbanism, or civic resistance;
• is available for an approx. 5-week residency in České Budějovice in summer 2026, with mandatory presence during the Skateholders Forum (first week of July 2026).

 

Expected artistic outcome

Possible formats include:

• photographic series / photo exhibition / printed zine / drawings, illustration, comics / painting / sculpture or small artistic objects related to skateboarding
• spatial or site-specific installation / short film or video work
• Other formats are welcome if they conceptually fit the theme.

 

What We Offer

During your residency, we will welcome you into the České Budějovice skate community and introduce you to its history, key places, and active members. You will be connected with Javier Varillas, whose ongoing video project maps DIY skate communities across the entire Czech Republic, as well as with a local Czech artist currently developing an artistic video work about the skate scene in České Budějovice. These connections will provide a deeper insight into both the local and national DIY culture and will enrich your artistic research

• travel costs within CreArt network cities
• accommodation for the full residency period
• material budget: 1,000 EUR
• artist fee: 1,000 EUR (including food expenses)
• working space arranged individually based on medium/needs

 

Schedule & Selection Process

Application period:– 28 February 2026

Selection by: 31 March 2026

Residency duration: approx. 5 weeks 1. 6. – 5. 7 2026  (can be split into two periods If it is necessary for the project) – mandatory presence during Skateholders Forum: first week of July 2026
The selection will be carried out by a committee of experts in skateboarding, DIY culture, public space, and contemporary art.
A short online interview with the selected artist will take place by the end of March.
Residency logistics (travel, accommodation, timeline) will be confirmed in the first week of April.

 

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted via the CreArt platform

Your application must include:

• Portfolio (optional but strongly recommended) relevant to the project focus
• CV (curriculum vitae)
• Motivation letter (max. 1000 words) describing your artistic concept for the residency
• the materials/media you plan to work with
• your connection to skateboarding, DIY practice, or street culture
• why you want to work in České Budějovice and how you engage with skate communities

 

For inquiries about the Open Call – contact project coordinator of the project Skateholders

martin.kalensky@budejovice2028.cz 

 

Within the project:

Partners:

Co-funded by:

   

Co-funded by the European Union – CREA-CULT-2023-COOP. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them. [Project number: 101128499]

Project is co-financed by the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

The views expressed in this announcement are the sole responsibility of HDLU and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.