We Are the Culture. České Budějovice: European Capital of (Non)Culture 2028

Filip Landa

You are what you eat. This motto from an early-2000s reality TV show can be rephrased into something even more telling: you are the culture you consume. But can culture really be consumed? Misunderstanding culture as an object of consumption leads to its degradation into mere leisure entertainment—and misses the meaning of the word, which comes from the Latin ‘colere.’ This conflict of interpretation has recently surfaced in České Budějovice, as the city prepares for its European Capital of Culture (ECoC) term in 2028. The political leadership and the cultural public clearly subscribe to very different definitions. And it’s becoming clear that when culture is approached the wrong way, the ECoC title might end up doing more harm than good. The effects are most visible in architecture and in how public space is managed. In short, České Budějovice seems to be headed toward international embarrassment.