Hello, Citizens! Prague exhibition pays tribute to protest singer Karel Kryl
An exhibition celebrating the legendary protest singer Karel Kryl got underway in Prague on Sunday. The showcase marks two important anniversaries: the 80th anniversary of his birth and 30 years since his death. It aims to highlight Kryl not just as the author of popular songs but as a deeply engaged and critically minded citizen.
"Hello, citizens!" That was how Karel Kryl greeted the audience after his emotional return to Czechoslovakia from exile in December 1989. An exhibition with this very title, prepared by the City Gallery Prague and the National Archives, is now on display at the House of the Golden Ring.
Karel Kryl, singer, songwriter, and poet, was one of the leading voices of protest in Czechoslovakia. His music captured the frustrations of the nation after the Soviet-led invasion in August 1968. His iconic song ‘Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka’ (‘Close the Gate, Brother’), written immediately after the invasion, became an anthem for the occupied country. In 1969, Kryl emigrated to Germany, where he worked as a journalist for Radio Free Europe, but also continued to sing and compose.
The exhibition dedicated to the great Czech singer and songwriter offers an intimate look into his life and work, featuring items from his personal estate, recently donated to the National Archives by his wife.
On display are previously unpublished manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and oil paintings, but also personal treasures, like the guitar he played at his final concert in Chomutov on February 25, 1994—just a week before his untimely death.
Visitors can also read messages his fans sent him from communist Czechoslovakia across the Iron Curtain and listen to authentic recordings of his radio programs broadcast by Radio Free Europe.
One of the goals of the exhibition is to help visitors understand why Kryl became one of the first critics of the newly established democratic government, explains its curator, historian Jakub Šlouf,
"Thanks to his experience with life in the West, Kryl understood that democracy isn’t just about changing who’s in charge—it’s about building a self-aware and active democratic society."
Kryl was also critical of the first democratically elected president Václav Havel, and some of the people he surrounded himself with and he strongly opposed the breakup of Czechoslovakia, says Mr. Šlouf:
"At the time, many people didn’t fully understand him. In the post-revolution euphoria, his views seemed out of place. But by the late 1990s, much of what he said began to make sense."
Karel Kryl passed away in Munich in March 1994, but his legacy lives on. His songs are still sung in pubs and around campfires, even by younger generations who never experienced the world he sang about. The exhibition “Hello, Citizens!” will be on display until April 21, 2025.
