Klub Lúč > Present
The Klub Lúč in Trencin will turn 50 in 2023. In such a changeable country as Slovakia, this is a respectable age. Few of the clubs lived to see it. If there is anything this country lacks, it is continuity and stability.
The club is mainly a space. People pass through it – they enter, stay and leave. If it is good, many times they will come back. If it has the strength to endure, generations pass through it. If it is lucky, it can withstand changes in regimes, ownership relations and cultural policies.
The Klub Lúč had that strength and luck. It has endured five decades, each of which has been different and each of which has brought different pressures (from above) and challenges (from below). It has become a cult cultural space in Trenčín.
His best periods were when he was able to withstand the pressure of politics and official culture, as well as resist the dictates of the market, which perceived art only as a commodity for sale. At that time, it became an oasis of independent culture and an island where people went to seek and find other, unusual forms of art.
The Klub Lúč has embarked on this difficult but successful journey, especially in the last two decades. It represented in the full sense what it has in its logo: an open cultural space. Thanks to this, it has attracted many performers from the fields of music, theatre, performance, etc. not only from Slovakia or Central Europe, but really from all corners of the world. But most importantly, he also found his loyal audience.
And we were already at it. Since 2004 our o. z. Kolomaž organized over three thousand five hundred cultural events in Club Lúč. Since 2002 we have been organising the popular Children’s Theatre Club, since 2005 the international theatre festival Alone on the Javisko and the locally patriotic festival Frog Jam. We are a founding member of the nationwide network of independent cultural centres Anténa.
Kolomaž is not a budget organization of the city of Trenčín, VUC or the state, it has to secure funding for its activities every year in grant calls. In 2013 we completely reconstructed the premises of Club Lúč from our own resources and thanks to a public collection, but with no interest and zero support from the owner of the property – the city of Trenčín. The modernly equipped First Chamber Theatre Stage (PKDS) was established there.
The year 2020 marked a turning point. The COVID 19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to us and to the entire cultural sphere. Even though we couldn’t do live events, we didn’t stand still. We were the first cultural centres in Slovakia to broadcast staged online streams in a “cube”. The club was temporarily changed to “Kjúb”. In Kyubo we gave space to artists who lost the opportunity to perform live in the lockdown.
In this bleak and frustrating situation came another blow – the call to move out of the Star by the end of 2020. The semi-dilapidated building of the Hviezda cinema, which housed the Lúč Club, has undergone a complete reconstruction. It began in 2021 and has lasted until today. As it turned out, it became one of the most significant milestones in the Club’s history.
With the promise of the city management that we would return to the original premises after the reconstruction of the Star, we went into a makeshift. We found alternative premises in the Vážka gallery in the Zlatá Fatima arcade and continued our work.
At the end of May this year we were surprised by the information that our return to the Star is no longer planned. Trust has not paid off. After 50 years of existence and forced exile, the Beam Club will not be returning home.
Despite everything, we want to continue. The years of provisionality and obfuscation are coming to an end. We are leaving for the new premises in Mierovo Square. If you look for Club Beam, you will find it there – in the former Shoe House.
