Institute of Proximity - Experience Care Up Close

The first Czech interactive exhibition about care. Six beds, six artistic installations by set designer Marek Cpina. Come find your way to care.

Forty percent of Czechs do not believe they can do anything to improve their relationships with their loved ones. Three-quarters of us are convinced that people cannot be trusted. We are a society rooted in distrust and a sense of helplessness. Our relationships are often formal, and we feel lonely. Yet, we rank among the twenty happiest countries in the world. We have learned to measure satisfaction by material security and connections with our immediate family circle. Even though every second marriage ends in divorce, we always seek help and support from our closest ones. We also take care of them right after Poland more than anyone else in the European Union. We know how to bring groceries, change bed linens, take our parents to the doctor, and cook lunch for our grandparents. But do we know how to hug? To listen? To stop and be present? To see care not just as a burden, but also as something that can enrich us? When we talk about care, we rarely mention that it brings us closeness, even though closeness is one of our most basic human needs. People who do not feel closeness to others have a risk of premature death that is up to a quarter higher.