Jazz Section
This week saw a small party in the historical part of Prague, at the premises of the Artforum-Jazz Section, marking the 30th birthday of this organization, whose members suffered greatly under the Communist regime. Karel Srp has been Jazz Section's director since it was established so I asked him first to describe the 30 years of the Section's existence: Many of Jazz Section's activists were imprisoned, and Mr. Srp himself spent 16 months in jail. Now the times have changed, and the Jazz Section is facing economic problems. Mr. Srp told me not a single employee was paid for his work for the section, that they had no computers, no e-mail. But their activities keep on going. To celebrate its 30th birthday, Jazz Section organized a dozen free exhibitions showing the life and work of foremost personalities on the Czechoslovak and Czech jazz scene. One of the Section's most popular activities are reading marathons, during which voluntary readers read from selected books for three consecutive days and nights. The Jazz Section also publishes books and cooperates with other cultural organizations in preparing such significant ventures as the International Writers' Festival and Prague International Book Fair.
