Life flows dynamically and happens through various changes. What period is Ivo Páleník in right now and what is he experiencing? 

At the moment Ivo is a bit tired man in a wheelchair, a bit ufrflan and always facing some new challenges that surprise him despite the fact that he often says to himself that nothing will surprise him anymore.... and yet it does (laughs). 

I'm at a point right now, when I decided a few years ago – just after 40, where I did the right thing and eased out of the job. I'm focusing more on my family, which is very important to me. I've started to devote more time to myself and my dreams. Which has helped me in what I'm doing right now and also in my personal life.

We know you say your disability doesn't define you. What is your uniqueness? 

It happens to me, for example, that I get into a taxi and they forget to load my trolley because my surroundings don't notice it (laughs). 

So people don't always perceive my disability. That's why I came up with the motto for our HendiKup, that "a person is not defined by their disability, but by who they are and what they can do. 

Maybe I am special because when something is not ok, when there is some unfairness, wrongness, I always address it and speak up. So that things are well and rightly dealt with. To make the world work as it should.  

Give me an example where you feel you need to speak up? 

These are mainly official matters and also those in the public space. With the HendiKup project, we are helping disabled artists and therefore need some facilities protected by law. 

We are often in contact with authorities, laws, regulations, which requires a sea of paperwork, certificates, bureaucracy. It is very exhausting even for a person without a wheelchair. It is even impossible to get to some offices with a wheelchair, which is a paradox, because the office wants me to fulfil some conditions, but they do not make them the same for all people.

Disability - accessibility - "unnecessary" bureaucracy - is a subject I am at home in and therefore know my way around. I can see things that should work differently, how they could be improved. That is why I am particularly vocal on these issues. That is why I speak out about things.

I know you're an activist. What was the moment that "activated" you?

It's not really a moment, it's a kind of principle. Situations that one encounters just by doing something different from what one has been doing. He can stop someone at a bus stop, pick up the trash and put it in the trash can, or even say things out loud, even if it puts him at a disadvantage. Zsimply changing something for the better that other people or the authorities don't give a damn about. For me, activism is that one doesn't give a damn what happens in the city, in the country, on Earth. That one does not give a damn about the environment in which the next generations will live and how they will live here. It is a form of empathy and a desire to change things for the better. 

Let's go to the capital. How do you perceive the changes in the city under the new leadership? What can you highlight and what are you still missing?

The changes are undoubtedly visible, even felt in some small improvements, e.g. wheelchair accessible sidewalks, some crosswalks, I really perceive better movement around the city, but I still don't see any major move on the gate here. For example, I also perceive a problem that some of the establishments withand I don't get to them at all - not even to their summer terraces, which are not checked in any way with regard to wheelchair accessibility, while new ones are built every season. I'd love to get there, but, well, I can't. They are a barrier for me.

There are little things that don't require as much time, money and energy to make a difference, and that bothers me. That those changes are still not being seen, yet they can be secured, they can be worked on. Sometimes it's not just that there's a complicated staircase somewhere that's the problem. But it can be a problem if there is just one step somewhere that we - people in wheelchairs - simply cannot get over. It is a barrier for us. And yet so little is enough.

Is there anything in particular that you think the city should change, make more barrier-free?

Parking. This is without question. Here I feel the injustice that new and new development projects are being made, new beautiful buildings are being built and parking spaces are being removed and spaces for people with disabilities are being removed. Unfortunately, there is no control system or sanctions to keep an eye on this problem, despite the fact that, by law, it should be otherwise. For us, parking is a major barrier. 

Not to mention the snow ploughing...

How do you perceive that the city is communicating the suggestions and demands of the hedikepted people? Is this communication effective? Is the information you need reaching you?

I registered that as the only as such result of my complaints was after reporting the complaint to the portal linkprestarostu.sk. When I approached the authorities about something, they passed my complaint among themselves. Until it died out. And that happened more than once.

Let's move on to another topic - your Hendikup platform - which you have already mentioned. How would you present it in simple terms and how do you help people with it? 

HendiKup is an association, a community, an e-shop, a philosophy of people who are disabled. It is a community of makers - amateurs and professionals - producing works of art or having a skill.

At HendiKup we do a full service for these disabled artists. We make sure that the creator has as little burden as possible with bureaucracy, advertisements, marketing. We also eliminate the handicap, for example, by sending the product to the buyer by mail on their behalf. We help them with communication, care, presentation. We have our own portfolio of services, copywriting - the texts go through checking, editing. Swe are interested in their presenting photos. We also help them with logistics. We go to markets, competitions, exhibitions with the artists' work all over Slovakia. It's quite a lot. 

You are also a creator, an artist. What do you do?

I'm a graphic designer, a framer, so it's mainly text work, I can't draw. I like to make up texts, work with words. For example, I create signs on #trickaodvozicka. 

And as a creator of funny T-shirts, I find out what the sellers at HendiKup are dealing with - what kind of people they meet, what they need, what challenges they face. 

Is there any interest in your t-shirts? 

For me, selling my t-shirts started to work, even though I was scared of it in the beginning. Without HendiKup, I wouldn't have gone for it. It also reinforces to me how helpful it can be for people, and that it's a great platform.". 

It's working with colours, with graphics, with sizes. HendiKup helped me a lot and made my work easier. Even though I don't think t-shirts are somehow a cool theme and product to sell, there's a lot of creativity and imagination here. 

How are your t-shirts made and what is your top t-shirt?

My t-shirts are mostly created by making notes of what comes to mind or when I hear something. I save it in my head, think about it, doodle it and a funny t-shirt is born. 

And my top shirt is the one that says "Hladinka". It's got flooded letters on it and there's a line next to it.

Your Hendikup platform has teamed up with our ART OF SLOVAKIA. I am very happy about this because, among other things, you are bringing the theme of inclusion, equality and diversity to ART OF SLOVAKIA. Please tell people why we linked up?

I am very very excited! Our connection will give HendiKup the last piece in the mosaic - and that is the aforementioned inclusion. We are keeping our own face, remaining what we are, but we will not be selected, which is what it is - what we have been craving for so far.    

Currently, besides working on the online platform, we are also preparing the ART OF SLOVAKIA festival, which will take place on 7.10.2023, and you are also collaborating on it. Tell me, what do you think is the most unique thing about this festival? And what will you enrich it with? 

Last year's festival was a great experience for me. It had such a chemistry for me where I could feel how it all fell into place. That HendiKup got to be a direct part of all of this - not just setting up a booth and my lecture - I'm extremely grateful for that opportunity. 

And this part of me and my participation in the festival was important for me. I met friends, close people, artists, and also strangers. It was really special, magical for me. And I knew that I wanted to be a part of it and to have my friends among these people - both the organizers and the artists. And I already have that (laughs). 

In October 2023, HendiKup will also be part of the festival and I can't imagine it not being so. But this year will be special because we will already be assisting the organizing team. So it will be different, even more interesting and more responsible. But I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do together. 

Summer is approaching, which is the time of festivals. Do you go to any of them? 

I used to not go to festivals at all, because I always imagined them as a big crowd, a lot of mud and some camping. And many years ago, a friend of mine in a wheelchair once told me about the Czech festival Ostrava - Colors of Ostrava, that she goes there regularly. 

She also told me that it is a space created for everyone. Even for those who need wheelchair access. I was so curious about it that of course I went to the festival. Well, and I've been going there regularly for a few years now because it was true.

On Color, I can get everywhere and I'm nowhere in the background. I see everything up close and that's amazing for me. There are smaller stages for wheelchair users highlighted on the stage, where we are close to the action. There's shuttle service to hotels, accessible toilets, paved surfaces for better access throughout, places to rest, places for parents with kids to change, etc.

I know you also helped at the Pohoda festival last year to make it more wheelchair accessible. I think it's great. Can you tell us more about that?

Wellbeing has been a matter of my heart for 5 years now. After getting acquainted with this Czech festival, I learned that in Slovakia our Pohoďácky festival is "supposedly "also catered for wheelchair users.

And that's where it started... 

I visited Pohoda and it was also true, it just wasn't known. Later I wrote enthusiastically to Miš Kaščák (founder of Pohoda) that I was glad to see how Pohoda was also thinking about people with disabilities, and if he wants, I'll be happy to help him with whatever he needs in this topic. He wrote back to me that he appreciated it very much and that he took it for granted that the festival would meet these conditions. He also wrote to me that day that he welcomed me to the team, which was a very pleasant surprise. Even though I was over my head, I didn't hesitate with the offer. You don't turn down heartbreakers!

In what else did Michal please you? What do you see as his right view of life and of things?  

What I appreciate about Michal is his humanity, his "humanity", which he can infect others with. Even while managing the festival, he can move wheelchair accessible toilets on his own, because Ivo Páleník said that "hentam will be a better place for wheelchair users" (laughs). 

So what is your role at Pohoda?

I have to point out that Pohoda is not only made by me, but it's in cooperation with LetMo, under the Vozivkar.info banner. Our role at the festival is to improve the barrier-free environment for all who need it. We service the trolleys that break down there, because that happens too. We create a staging area where people who are physically challenged in any way can fold because, let's face it, it's also physics and not everyone can stand it. 

How have you specifically enriched Pohoda to make it more barrier-free?

Well for example a tent that is 5X5 meters big where people can rest. 

We also helped with the logic of moving disabled people on paved surfaces - where the aisles will lead. 

We are also working on education. For example, we also put stickers on the wheelchair accessible toilets to make people aware of who they are supposed to serve and that they shouldn't litter them, because people in wheelchairs need to keep them clean (they touch everything). 

All your activities and projects are quite demanding, you have a family and a little son. How do you work with time - with this precious commodity, so that you don't go crazy? 

Today I have it differently than I used to. I work more consciously with time. I distinguish more which things, activities have importance, priorities, and which ones don't. 

My relationship to time has changed a lot because of my little son, who significantly determines that time for me. He and my family are of paramount importance to me. I mean, my family comes first and then everything else, because time with them is priceless. At the same time, time with them also recharges me. 

And what else am I doing to keep from going crazy? 

Hmmm, what I find most challenging is just organizing that time. The more I try to do everything that needs to be done, the more it seems like it just can't be done. I probably have more swimming to do than planning (laughs).

Your verbal expression is typical of you. It is often ironic, witty with a pinch of humour. What does that mean to you?

Maybe it's a kind of rescue from collapse (laughs).

For someone it may be a mask, but for me it is not. That's just the way I am, and I certainly won't be any different. For some people I am also harsh with my humour. But life is also rough sometimes. 

My sarcasm and irony have to go aside when I give lectures about accessibility, about living with disabilities in companies, schools. Especially when I present to young people. These activities are the most difficult and the most beautiful for me at the same time. The children are pure, open, receptive and authentic. 

How do you perceive the current situation? The pandemic is over, the war is still on. Will worse times come?

There are always some harder and easier times. Everyone is going through something, we all have our stories and we are always struggling with something, you just have to reckon with it and accept it somehow. 

I chose, as I mentioned - after 40, a life path enriched with creativity, creativity and art. It's my help, a kind of psychohygiene in those "difficult" times. For example, that one day a mom will call me and tell me that her handicapped daughter wants to sell at our store and it would surely give her a purpose in life. So those are the easy, nice times for me even in the hard ones. 

If you had such a creative magic wand, what would you like to change?

Probably human stupidity. And egoism. Such is the dove-like nature of this nation of ours that we care about no one but ourselves. And yet a person's life can change from one minute to the next, few realize that. 

Let's be more empathetic.

What is your personal recipe for a good life?

Be honest and yourself. Always and in all circumstances. And to be human too, that's important to me.

You help others a lot, but I know you have your "days" too. How can we help you, support you? 

I know of a few things I can do to help. How he can help us.

If you're a public servant, don't look at me through the lens that I'm stealing from this country or that I'm suspicious of something. Rather, it is necessary to see who is doing things only "on the surface" and who is really doing things, and who is abusing the system. 

There is a need to build processes, laws differently in the system, in politics. Not through concessions on concessions, amendments and rebates. But through principles, equivalence - for a better life for us. 

As a person with a disability, I just want to live in society like others. I want to be at the concert where others are. I don't want a discount for the concert, I want to enjoy it equally and to the fullest. I don't want a discount on public transport, I want to get a normal ride like everyone else and to be able to get around without a wheelchair.

My call is also for officials, developers, architects, but also for ordinary people to be more attentive, more empathetic. When I'm in a shop, the saleswoman can hand me the goods, the SBSkár can make sure that the wheelchair space is always free for the person for whom it is intended... Thousands of examples.

The mayor can work more with this topic and listen to the ideas of people like me. The company can buy something artistic for its people from HendiKup, not advertising pens and items that end up mostly in the trash.

...and the common man can help me by looking at the world with open eyes. That one will simply be human.