OPEN CALL (Women 55+ from UA and the CZ): Stories Carried by Old Waters

Dates

14.08.2026 /

Information

Did you ever wish to be a river? Looking for Ukrainian an Czech woman (55+) to take part in an art project about rivers!

Register through this form HERE or send us an email with a short introduction of you to feminicrew@gmail.com

Deadline for application: 14th August

What is it about?

Stories carried by old waters is a creative community process, which discovers the connection between humans and rivers, and offers an experience to (re)connect to nature through water. Water is always changing, and always the same, flowing through borders, changing form and connecting every living being on our planet. What can we learn about ourselves if we imagine ourselves as a river? What moments of our lives were we overflowing, or almost drying out? What makes our life polluted and gray and when are we the most sparkling blue, peacefully sliding down the hills? How does water connect us to communities and landscapes, to the ones that we live in, and to the ones that might be far away?

While exploring our water identities we also look at the springs, brooks, rivers that accompanied us in our lives. If rivers could speak, what stories would they tell?

How will we work?

The process consists of seven workshops and one ending performance. At the workshops we explore the topic we write, we move, we create- no prior experience is needed. We create new stories and scenes based on your experience and skills, partly personal, partly fictional. The process is designed to offer a community experience and is filled with exercises to spend time with yourself, others, water and nature. Workshops are held both indoors and outdoors in and around Studio Alta (U Českých loděnic 2158/4, 180 00 Praha 8-Libeň). You can always write, create and share in your own language.

The process includes a special watsu session offered for each participant, which is a gentle form of aquatic bodywork in warm water. The date and location of this session is to be confirmed later, but will be scheduled for the first half of september.

The creative journey ends with a performance, where we present the product of the workshops in a form of an artistic walk alongside the river in the neighborhood of Studio Alta. The performance is presented both by the facilitators, and by the participants. The final event is shaped by your creative inputs, your skills and you decide how you wish to to take part in the performance. You will not need to learn and recite text, but can perform choreography, song, texts or present visual artworks.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for Ukrainian and Czech women living in Prague over the age 55, who are interested in sharing their ideas and thoughts, wish to think about the environment, and are willing to take part in a creative process. We also need people who are able to attend all workshops (or at least 5) and the ending performance.

Participating in the process is free of charge and for taking part in the performance we provide a honorarium of 2400 CZK/ person (100 eur).

Who are we?

The project is led by the members of the Hungarian FEMINI duo, Eszter Dobos and Napsugár Trömböczky. The focus of our work is socially engaged projects, community theater and participatory performances. We always work with people who are not professional artists, exploring together through a shared creative journey.” For the past 3 years we are working with rivers and thermal waters, with various communities and agegroups. This is the 3rd version of Stories carried by old waters. We had a performance in Olomouc and in Budapest, Hungary, with local seniors.

For this project we will be joined by Olesia Usata, Ukrainian theater maker living in Prague, who will help with translation and the creative process.

Studio ALTA is a Prague-based cultural centre with long-standing experience in contemporary performance, community-based art, and socially engaged cultural programming.