Klub Lúč
The Lúč Club in Trenčín celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023.
In a country as changeable as Slovakia, that is a remarkable age. Few clubs have survived that long. If there’s something this country lacks, it’s continuity and stability.
A club is, above all, a space. People pass through it – they enter, stay for a while, and leave. If it’s a good one, they often return. If it has the strength to endure, generations pass through it. If it’s lucky, it weathers changes in regimes, ownership, and cultural policies.
Lúč Club had both the strength and the luck. It lasted five decades, each different from the other, each bringing its own pressures (from above) and challenges (from below). It became a cult cultural venue in Trenčín.
Its best periods came when it managed to withstand the pressure of politics and official culture, as well as resist the dictates of the market, which saw art only as a commodity to be sold. During those times, it became an oasis of independent culture and an island where people came to seek and discover different, unconventional forms of art.
The Lúč Club embarked on this difficult yet successful journey particularly in the past two decades. It truly embodied what its logo says: an open cultural space. Thanks to this, it attracted numerous performers from the fields of music, theatre, performance, and more — not only from Slovakia and Central Europe but from all corners of the world. Most importantly, it also found its loyal audience.
And we were there. Since 2004, our civic association Kolomaž has organized over 3,500 cultural events at Lúč Club. Since 2002, we’ve been running the popular Children’s Theatre Club; since 2005, the international theatre festival Alone on Stage; and the local-patriotic Frog Jam Festival. We are also a founding member of Anténa, the nationwide network of independent cultural centers.
Kolomaž is not a municipal, regional, or state-funded organization — every year we must secure funding for our activities through grants. In 2013, using our own resources and a public fundraiser — but without interest or support from the property owner, the City of Trenčín — we completely renovated the premises of Lúč Club. It became home to a modern, well-equipped First Chamber Theatre Stage (PKDS).
The year 2020 brought a turning point. The COVID-19 pandemic struck a heavy blow to us and to the entire cultural sphere. Although we couldn’t hold live events, we didn’t stand still. As the first cultural center in Slovakia, we began streaming staged performances online in a “cube.” The club temporarily transformed into The Cube, giving a platform to artists who had lost the chance to perform live during lockdown.
In this bleak and frustrating situation, another blow came — an order to vacate Hviezda by the end of 2020. The semi-derelict Hviezda Cinema building, which had housed the Lúč Club, was finally set for complete reconstruction. It began in 2021 and ended in the autumn of 2023. As it turned out, it became one of the most pivotal moments in the club’s history.
With the city’s promise that we could return to our original space after Hviezda’s renovation, we moved into a temporary home. We found substitute premises in the Vážka Gallery in the Zlatá Fatima Passage and continued our work.
At the end of May this year, we were shocked to learn that our return to Hviezda was no longer part of the plan. Our trust did not pay off. After 50 years of existence and a forced exile, Lúč Club never returned home.
Despite everything, we decided to continue our efforts. The years of uncertainty and ambiguity are over. We moved into new premises on Mierové námestie (Peace Square), which we renovated thanks to a successful fundraiser and support from the City of Trenčín. There, we began writing a new chapter in the history of Lúč Club. So, if you’re looking for Lúč Club, you’ll now find it in the former House of Footwear on Mierové námestie.
