Cultural events to expect in next few months
In our special arts review, which you may have heard on Radio Prague two days ago, Alena Skodova and I looked at some of the most interesting Czech cultural events that 2002 had to offer. In today's Arts I will be looking at selected events that visitors to Prague will be able to see in the next few months.
Exhibition of Czech comics
An exhibition called "Czech Comics ? and Art" that was opened last week at the Czech Museum of Fine Arts in Prague, gives visitors the chance to see a collection of the most popular Czech comics, such as Rychle Sipy, and art work that has been inspired by comics until February next year. The exhibition questions - but does not answer - whether comics themselves can be regarded as works of art. The history of comics can also be followed. In the 1970's for example, they could only be called "drawn pictures" as anything comparable to western comics appeared to be too radical for the communist regime.
The exhibition includes work from some of the country's most renowned and respected artists such as Josef Lada, Ondrej Sekora, Jiri Salamoun, Oldrich Kulhanek, and the famous duo Eva and Jan Svankmayer, whose comics are probably the most surreal in the entire collection. It also displays works from Karel Saudek who in the 1960's gained fame with his unusual and witty illustrations. His comic strips were even featured in the two legendary Czech comedies "Who wants to kill Jessie" (Kdo chce zabit Jessii) and "Four murders are enough, Sweetheart" (Ctyri vrazdy staci drahousku). Some of the exhibits show that Mr Saudek had numerous followers.
The main goal of the exhibition is to show how comics have influenced Czech art. It therefore has works from Czech artists such as contemporary Czech painter Jiri Naceradsky, who featured figures ranging from socialist heroes of the 1950's and 1960's to the western classic Donald Duck in his often ironic and grotesque work.
The mini comics that were introduced to Czechoslovakia in chewing gum wrapping led to the development of so-called "bubblegum" style. Ales Lamr, for example, was a big fan of mini comics using a variety of themes including biblical stories. One of his most famous, is David and Goliath.
State representatives remember 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Czech Republic
On January 1st, a concert will be held at Prague's National Theatre in memory of the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Czech Republic. Under the auspices of Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, it will only be open to state representatives - ministers, lower house deputies, senators and representatives of state and local authorities.
The evening will be devoted to Czech music, mainly works from Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. Other singers such as Martina Bauer, Ales Briscein, David Molnar, and Zdenek Plech, will be accompanied by the Prague Chamber Philharmonic, conducted by Ondrej Lenard. The Kuhn Children's Choir and the country's young and talented violin player Jakub Sedlacek will also be participating. However, the soprano Eva Urbanova will be the main star of the concert. Those of you listening to us from Canada, England, Spain, and the United States will be delighted to hear that you will have a chance to see her perform next year as she'll be in Toronto in January, in London in March, and in Madrid and Cincinnati in the autumn.
Sixth reading marathon to be held next year
The Czech Jazz Section has announced it would hold another reading marathon next year from May 25th to 28th. For the sixth time, literature buffs will be able to read continuously for several hours in Prague and all other cities in which the Czech Republic has its cultural centres. Next year's theme will be "Zivot v pravde", which can be translated as the "life in truth". Readers will be able to choose from works of Czech and Slovak authors who believe truth to be the highest ethic principle of life. These include historic names such as Jan Hus and Jan Amos Komensky but also more modern personalities like Arnost Lustig, Frantisek Peroutka, the country's current president Vaclav Havel and Czechoslovakia's first president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.
"Paying back the debt" exhibition remembers forgotten architects
The Jaroslav Fragner Gallery has opened an exhibition, which is to remind us of tens of architects of German descent who lived in Prague and were responsible for some of the most important architecture that came into being in the years between 1900 and 1938. The exhibition goes by the name "Paying back the debt" in order to make up for a large number of architects having been forgotten. Out of some 80 architects about 70 percent were Jewish. Those who did not emigrate before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, ended up in concentration camps. Only a few survived out of whom three were able to continue working in Czechoslovakia after the war. However, those who died are still being represented by their work, which includes numerous palaces and functionalist villas and apartment buildings. The exhibition is to run until February, after which it will continue in Regensburg, Germany.
