Explore Brno: A Week of Stories, Creativity and Discovering the City

From 17 to 21 August 2026, Multicultural Center Brusinka welcomed children from different countries to our Explore Brno day camp. The camp was organised by Asociace Babylon in cooperation with the Bulgarian Sunday School and Multicultural Center Brusinka.

Over the course of the week, we explored Brno from a slightly different perspective — as more than a city we move through every day: a place full of stories, history, architecture, nature, art and hidden connections.

Our inspiration came from Arnošt Goldflam’s book Strašidelné Brno (Haunted Brno). Brno’s legends, mysteries and hidden places became the starting point both for our journeys around the city and for the children’s own creative work. Among the places we visited were the Moravian Library, the Scout Institute, Špilberk Castle, the Palace of Noble Ladies, Lužánky Park, Kraví hora and Wilson Forest.

Each day brought a new story and a new way of looking at the city. The children discovered interesting facts connected with different places, played themed games, worked with stories and searched for details that might easily go unnoticed during an ordinary walk through Brno. For a while, the city itself became our classroom, playground and source of inspiration.

We continuously connected our discoveries with creative work. The children experimented with a range of artistic techniques, from collage and décollage to rollage and linocut printing, looking for their own ways to capture the atmosphere of the places they had explored during the week.

One of the camp’s main projects was creating an original comic. The children invented characters and stories inspired by Brno, drew settings, explored the structure of comics and experimented with ways of combining images and text. Every comic was different, presenting the city from a slightly different point of view. By the end of the week, each child had created their own small Brno adventure to take home.

The programme also included afternoon tutoring in Czech, mathematics and English. Wherever possible, we connected learning with what the children had seen and experienced during the day. New vocabulary therefore came not only from textbooks, but also from exploring the city, working together, having conversations and creating their own stories.

This connection was particularly important to us: we wanted to show the children that discovering, creating and learning do not have to exist as separate worlds. A city can be a place where we learn about history, language and cooperation, while also being a space we can explore, interpret and make our own.

As the camp brought together children from different countries, with different languages and experiences, the whole week also became an opportunity to get to know one another. Shared outings, games and creative activities naturally created space for communication, cooperation and exchange. The children could compare their perspectives on Brno, help one another and gradually build their own relationship with the city they live in.

We ended the week by completing the comics and artworks, presenting certificates — and, of course, having ice cream.

Explore Brno was therefore much more than a day camp. It was a week in which the city itself became a space for discovery, creativity, learning and new friendships. And perhaps that is why, by the end of the week, we all saw Brno a little differently.

We would like to thank all the children, teachers, volunteers, partners and everyone who contributed to the programme. We are already looking forward to exploring Brno together again!