Children's newspaper – Tohle nejsou blbosti

The newspaper Tohle nejsou blbosti (This is not baloney) is the result of the intensive work of the children's editorial team, which met from June to August 2024. The interviews and drawings were created in Prague during the suburban camp and workshops The Great Land of Small at the Trade Fair Palace, nearby and in the Old Town, as part of the exhibition project of the Biennale Matter of Art 2024. During the joint programme, children became actors in the editorial office and tried out different ways to capture and share their thoughts, opinions, dreams and ideas - from audio recordings to newspaper contributions to drawings.

What is it like to be a ghost for a while? Why do we sometimes want to dance in a glittery costume and other times dream of becoming invisible or even turning into a horse at night? Why is it important to stand up for someone, and why is it just as important to have your safe place? How do we notice the inequalities in our immediate surroundings, and how do we break out of our bubbles and learn about others through games like Mafia or soccer with people instead of a ball? Why is it sometimes good to break the rules and play hide and seek in an exhibition? What does it take to make Spider-Man a profession in the modern world, and why does the sea we’ve never been to have a salty color? How does the river react when we play it a tune on whatever we have nearby at the moment? Will our message in a bottle find someone in the world for whom it will be important? What can we do about the wars we know about, even though they are happening far away? What about the things that appear in our dreams?

Children’s newspapers give a voice to those we often think we know well and feel the need to control. They disrupt traditional hierarchies about who should listen to whom and who should learn from whom and whether the only goal for a child should be to become a normalized adult as soon as possible. They suggest that we should listen to children, take their suggestions, visions, and feelings seriously, and not artificially isolate them from the problems and challenges of the contemporary world – because we can only face them together. Recommended for children and adults.

Authors of contributions: Stanislava Arlova, Marek Barták, Václav Barták, Naďa Bělíčková, Nina Bělíčková, Rozalinda Bledá, Anička Brabcová, Kateřina Brabcová, Brigit, Sebastian Connelly, William Connelly, Laura Čapková, Nikol Žofie Čechová, Vanda Anna Čechová, Marie Čtveráčková, Ema Doležalová, Daniel Dostál, Max Dvořák, Brenda Gašparová, Ester Grohová, Maya Hašková, Irvine Hill, Ladislav Híra, Melisa Hírová, Nikol Holubová, Emilie Honkova, Antonie Horáčková, Viola Horvathová, Damián Hrábek, Delie Hrábková, Olena Hrudzynska, Klára Jiránková, Adam Jurečko, Medard Klodner, Eva Koťátková, Eliška Landová, Anna Žofie Langová, Mája Frida Langová, Melina Lazaridisová, Patricie Lešková, Antonie Macúchová, Michael McCollum, Stanislav Miliaiev, Evelina Miliaieva, Nela Pietrová, Tadeáš Polák, Sofie Primusová, Kevin Pulko, Jakob Schubert, Ondřej Schut, Kateřina Schutová, Tereza Stejskalová, Magda Stojowska, Vincent Šimek, Barbora Šimková, Stela Švecová, Isabel Tkáčová, Tyger, Marie Zachová, Honza Žiga, Julie Žigová

The newspaper is published by the tranzit.cz initiative as part of the Art Space Unlimited project, co-financed by the European Union and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.