The ‘Garden of Stories’ is now open!
20 May 2026 | University of Silesia in Cieszyn
About
The symbolic opening of the ‘Garden of Stories’ – a place where people, history and nature come together – took place on 20 May 2026 on the campus of the University of Silesia in Cieszyn. The garden was created within the framework of Transform4Europe due to the need to return to local traditions and knowledge that formed part of the daily lives of many generations of the region’s inhabitants. We created it together – through the joint efforts of students from the Faculty of Arts and Educational Science of the University of Silesia, lecturers and researchers, and the local community.
The inspiration for the creation of the ‘Garden of Stories’ is the idea of the ‘borderland’ – a space where different worlds intertwine and complement one another. Just as diverse ecosystems meet in nature, so here the past and the present, academic knowledge and the experience of the local community, nature and culture come together.
The stage of planting and creating the art installations was the result of a process lasting almost two semesters, involving students of ethnology and art education. The process included, amongst other things, an ethnobotanical walk, a workshop on the region’s herbal heritage, and a garden co-design workshop combined with an inspirational lecture led by a PhD student from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. A group of ethnology students also conducted interviews with residents of Cieszyn about gardens, whilst art education students prepared artworks inspired by the Garden space.
The opening of the ‘Garden of Stories’ was accompanied by music workshops with Zbigniew Wałach, a promoter of Carpathian highlanders’ music and a maker of traditional musical instruments. The Garden also hosted a discussion among participants of the 8th Academic Debate, held under the theme: (Dis)obedience in science and art. The event concluded with the ‘Garden of Sound’, a musical meditation on memory, nature and inner balance. This was an original presentation of compositions by Adrian Robak, PhD, Associate Professor from the University of Silesia. More than 100 people visited the garden on 20 May.
The discoveries made by students of art education while walking around Cieszyn and observing domestic gardens, squares and other green spaces served as an additional source of inspiration. They created artistic works, presented in the form of an exhibition entitled ‘On the Threshold’ [pol. Na Progu]. The exhibition is open to visitors at the Cross-Border Tourist Information Centre in Cieszyn (ul. Zamkowa 1) until the end of June.
The symbolic opening of the garden marks the completion of the project, but the ‘Garden of Stories’ is only just beginning to grow, blossom and flourish.
The garden has been created thanks to the ‘Garden of Shared Memories’ project, implemented as part of the Transform4Europe Alliance and co-financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme.
