On his travels, Josef Trattner invites writers, visual artists, and musicians to join him for a conversation on his sofa, which is carried to various locations and set up in cities or villages, by rivers, lakes, or in the woods. The mobile sofa, which must always be carried by at least two people, functions as a medium that fosters conversation and dialogue about the nation’s past and present, the state of art, and the experience of being an artist or intellectual in Eastern European countries.
In the collections of texts and images on Slovakia and Hungary—now published as Volumes 9 and 10—Josef Trattner once again brings together highly interesting, well-known, and lesser-known authors whom he invites, following their shared sofa adventure, to write fictional, essayistic, or autobiographical texts that convey historical backgrounds, social and political contexts, and the intertwining of political and personal history. These are often accounts of local conditions and atmospheres, describing places and landscapes that will be largely unfamiliar to German or Austrian readers. They can contribute to a more precise understanding and a broader appreciation of European mentalities and politics.
On his travels, Josef Trattner invites writers, visual artists, and musicians to join him for a conversation on his sofa, which is carried to various locations and set up in cities or villages, by rivers, lakes, or in the woods. The mobile sofa, which must always be carried by at least two people, functions as a medium that fosters conversation and dialogue about the nation’s past and present, the state of art, and the experience of being an artist or intellectual in Eastern European countries.
In the collections of texts and images on Slovakia and Hungary—now published as Volumes 9 and 10—Josef Trattner once again brings together highly interesting, well-known, and lesser-known authors whom he invites, following their shared sofa adventure, to write fictional, essayistic, or autobiographical texts that convey historical backgrounds, social and political contexts, and the intertwining of political and personal history. These are often accounts of local conditions and atmospheres, describing places and landscapes that will be largely unfamiliar to German or Austrian readers. They can contribute to a more precise understanding and a broader appreciation of European mentalities and politics.
