X Apartments: Košice – Staré mesto

• Xapartments are performances happening in private flats,00:00:04.508
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• the experience cannot be fully mediated by other way00:00:10.346
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• than talking about what we have experienced there.00:00:14.454
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• This is the tour of old town in Košice.00:00:18.685
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• We were given a map and we set out.00:00:21.530
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• Another couple started00:00:24.312
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• and after us there was another couple starting.00:00:27.923
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• It was fabulously mysterious, it was happening at night,00:00:31.108
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• and we didn´t know whether we find the way,00:00:34.568
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• whether we ring the right bell and what will they do with us in.00:00:36.865
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• First stop was in cubist flats of 1920s and I often pass by them,00:00:40.352
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• but I never thought they might be so nice inside,00:00:45.486
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• and that they might have such a cool courtyard.00:00:50.311
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• We were welcomed by their guide on the courtyard,00:00:52.615
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• and she sent us to the flat -00:00:55.322
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• there was a coordinative assistant for each flat that opened the door.00:00:56.780
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• In the first flat the cultural diversity of Košice was shown00:01:02.312
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• in many various ways - the artist Ilona Németh00:01:07.762
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• seated us in living room herself, and the householder screened the film,00:01:10.767
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• showed the photographs and talked.00:01:11.768
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• He switched from Hungarian to Slovak language talking00:01:16.003
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• about his native village divided by the border00:01:20.966
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• between Ukraine and Slovakia.00:01:23.421
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• The border at that time looked this way.00:01:29.361
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• Between two fences there were Soviet soldiers standing guards00:01:35.911
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• driving UAZ cars and riding horses.00:01:45.071
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• We were throwing them the cheapest cigarettes Detva,00:01:52.853
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• and they were throwing us badges.00:02:00.431
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• My wife also comes from Velké Slemence, she lived her childhood in this village.00:02:11.917
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• Our people go there to buy candies, alcohol,00:02:22.915
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• cigarettes are very cheap there.00:02:27.727
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• Here we can see evening and wedding dress.00:02:30.349
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• This is for you, keep it for the memory.00:02:35.092
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• Thank you for visit.00:02:39.778
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• We got the photograph of the border and Ukrainian sweets,00:02:43.104
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• then we went to another flat.00:02:47.419
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• It was in the courtyard, behind the old synagogue,00:02:49.580
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• in the renovated flat of rabbi, we were accompanied by a student00:02:52.267
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• from Israel and we walked through the empty flat,00:02:55.873
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• he had a documentary talk about how it used to be there:00:02:59.875
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• where they prayed, ate, and where was the kitchen.00:03:03.594
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• The director was Anja Salomonowitz from Austria, a film director00:03:06.831
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• she has chosen the form of live and charismatic guide.00:03:12.534
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• From the old city we can walk to the block of flats around.00:03:22.095
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• We didn´t know how to behave, so we expected a performing person00:03:28.751
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• and there was one woman eating her dinner in the kitchen.00:03:36.567
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• But that wasn´t the part of our program,00:03:40.374
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• we were supposed to go to the living room,00:03:42.553
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• we sat there in the dark, lamp, sofa, TV -00:03:45.367
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• the only odd thing was strange book on the table and a mobile.00:03:50.369
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• We were supposed to choose a song from the book and00:03:55.154
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• use the mobile phone to say our wish song and00:03:59.148
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• the voice on the phone sang it for us.00:04:00.899
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• On our way we have noticed lightened kiosk, from where00:04:20.547
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• the phone singer waved his hand for us, surrounded by00:04:23.704
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• notes he was sitting and waiting for another call.00:04:28.254
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• In the centre of town there was an object00:04:34.425
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• looking like a storehouse of building material,00:04:36.270
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• the assistant explained us that the architects from Stuttgart00:04:40.186
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• do temporary architecture there - they didn't even unpacked the material00:04:45.526
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• so it can get back after the happening.00:04:51.446
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• There were openings in the middle, so behind it we could see00:04:55.900
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• things like the picture of St Mary, doily or a chair.00:04:59.441
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• These particular things were chosen by people00:05:05.949
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• that were supposed to chose the dearest thing and talk about it00:05:11.313
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• - we could listen to the talk from the sound record.00:05:13.944
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• In the next flat we were having very nice time.00:05:24.052
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• We really didn't want leave the place and00:07:33.482
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• we envied them that they enjoy the life there even if00:07:35.655
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• from outside it look like an ordinary street.00:07:38.077
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• Then we were walking in the dark with a torch in empty barracks,00:07:53.834
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• there were some writings that reminded me how lucky00:07:56.716
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• I was not to had served in the army.00:08:01.287
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• There were some dark sounds, then we saw two men00:08:04.283
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• reading a dialogue, probably about the war - it was frightening,00:08:08.176
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• mainly after our meeting by the fireplace.00:08:09.177
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• We returned to the start, to the old cinema Úsmev,00:08:29.953
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• where everything is as it used to be before,00:08:32.716
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• also the woman at the counter.00:08:35.508
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• We walked to the bar, where we got wine,00:08:37.587
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• they looked very conspirational, and led us to the cinema auditorium00:08:41.696
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• and convinced us to sit upstairs, at the projectionist.00:08:47.758
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• We watched a piece of film there, then they sent us down00:09:03.379
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• to watch all the screening of unfinished underground film from Košice,00:09:08.540
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• made based on the character of Marcel Strýko.00:09:14.419
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• That was the end, we entered the ordinary streets -00:09:19.526
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• where they will not let us come in so easily.00:09:24.106

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