This Czech artist is hiring families to bring ‘normal life’ back to tourist hotspots

A Czech artist is hiring families to spend the summer in one of the country’s busiest tourist destinations as part of a new project exploring displacement and the changing face of mass tourism.

Brno-based artist Kateřina Šedá is searching for “normal people” to spend three months living rent-free in the centre of Český Krumlov, a Bohemian world heritage site and popular day trip destination. Participants will be paid to carry out their everyday activities in the historic city centre, which has seen many residents forced out to the suburbs amid growing waves of visitors.

Šedá says that the project — titled UNES-CO — doesn’t criticise the tourism industry, but seeks solutions to calm tensions between locals and visitors by inviting tourists to pause and experience the town like a native.

The project will form part of the Czech and Slovak pavilion at this year’s International Biennale of Architecture in Venice — a city which has also seen many locals excluded from more tourist-friendly central neighbourhoods. Visitors at the pavillion will be given the chance to leaf through catalogues offering normal, everyday activities and watch a live stream from Český Krumlov itself.