Good market marks its 10th anniversary with exhibition

The Covid pandemic scrapped the Christmas edition of Dobrý Trh.

Dobrý Trh (Good Market)Dobrý Trh (Good Market) (Source: Marek Jančúch)

Instead of strolling amongst stands with quality and handmade products and food, passers-by on Panenská and Podjavorinská Streets can see photos, videos and information mapping 10 years of Dobrý Trh, Good Market in English. Its organisers scrapped the Christmas edition of the popular event due to anti-pandemic measures and replaced it with an exhibition lasting until the end of January 2022.

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“Thanks to our neighbours and outlets, we were given the opportunity to revive Panenská Street and remember the event, which is currently impossible to organise,” said organisers Illah van Oijen and Barbara Zavarská from the non-profit and non-governmental organisation Punkt, as cited in the press release. “However, we still hope the situation will improve and we will return to face-to-face meetings. In the past, 15,000-20,000 visitors visited the Good Market in one day.”

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The idea to hold the Good Market originated 10 years ago during a neighbourhood barbecue in the garden of the Great Evangelical Church on Panenská Street. The aim was to connect neighbourhoods, make them accessible to the public and experience a car-free street. Later the event was extended by stalls, a rich programme and the presentations of local communities.

The Good Market motivated a number of creative people who started selling their products at the event and now have successful brands. The organisers are currently encouraging people, through social networks, to support local production during Christmas and to donate products originating from Slovakia.

The outdoor exhibition also presents the results of research on the economic, cultural and social impacts of the Good Market carried out by Punkt, the Budapest centre of contemporary architecture KÉK and sociologist Ivana Rapoš Božič in the fall of 2021.

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The exhibition includes a collection of photo portraits created in cooperation with the VÚB Foundation, which has long supported the Good Market. It draws attention to the value not only of the Good Market but also of everything that surrounds us and what we live with.

“During the pandemic, we became even more aware of the value of the event - whether it is connecting neighbourhoods, communities, sellers and pointing to quality local production,” said the organisers. “We, therefore, call on others to notice the value in their surroundings.”

On the occasion of the exhibition, the organisers also approached neighbours with a request to hang Christmas lights on the windows so that they would always light up after dark. Donated lights can be used in the following years as well, so Christmas street lighting becomes a neighbourhood tradition.

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