Arts news, presentation of Czech Culture in Budapest
In this week's edition of the Arts, Dita Asiedu we'll be looking at a presentation of Czech culture that is part of the International Cultural Festival of Candidate Countries to the EU currently taking place in Budapest, and two exhibitions in Prague that have been extended due to public interest...
Friday sees Michael Jackson making his first appearance in court on child abuse charges and his fans here in the Czech Republic, who believe he's innocent, do not plan to stay quiet. The Michael Jackson Fan Club Neverland, based in the northern town of Liberec, has called on everyone who supports the pop legend to take part in a gathering in front of Prague's Intercontinental Hotel at 5pm this Saturday.
Moving on to two exhibitions in Prague, which will stay open a little longer than originally planned. Many of you are probably already familiar with the Czech Press Photo competition. It is an independent platform for pictures witnessing our lives with the main aim of motivating photographers to adopt a more personal approach in their routine everyday work and thus stimulating further development in the area of photography. In this way, the organisers of the competition also hope to make the public eye-witnesses to the events and developments of the past year. The photographs awarded, together with other selected pieces, are always displayed at a follow-up exhibition. Since November 13, visitors have been able to admire the works at the Old Town Hall. Instead of the exhibition closing this week, it has been extended for another month until February 15, after which it will travel around the world under the auspices of the Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Long-Lost Faces - Recollections of Holocaust victims in documents and photographs, is an exhibition currently on show at the Jewish Museum's Robert Guttmann Gallery. It follows the two-year project "Help Search for Neighbours who Disappeared", under which people were asked to help gather documents on the wartime and pre-war lives of Jewish people persecuted during World War II. The exhibition features numerous mementos, photographs and other material that was donated, recalling the lives, faces and fates of numerous Jewish inhabitants of Czechoslovakia. Due to considerable public interest, it's been extended until January 23.
And we've come to the main part of the programme. On Thursday, the International Festival of Candidate Countries to the EU was launched in Hungary, starting with a presentation of Czech culture. To find out what exactly it entails, I spoke to Sodja Lotker from the Czech Republic's Theatre Institute, who is currently in Budapest promoting experimental theatre at the festival:
"Every weekend here in the Merlin Theatre in Budapest, one of the countries that is going to be part of the EU this year is going to present its culture. The festival is called bEUgro and it is actually a complex presentation of different cultures, so it's not only theatre. Yesterday [on Thursday] afternoon, the Czech presentation was opened by Hana Hubackova, the director of the festival, and the Czech Ambassador here in Budapest. The opening was followed by a discussion with Karel Schwarzenberg and Petr Pithart."
But you are in Budapest to present Czech theatre...
"Exactly, especially experimental theatre, dance and mime. The opening was followed by a presentation of Venus with a Rubik Cube, performed by Kristina Lhotakova and Ladislav Soukup, and then a compression/depression theatre laboratory, which is an improvisation with the audience. We also have an exhibition of photographs from the Prague Quadrennial, which is an international exhibition of stage design which happens every four years in Prague and we're presenting photos from last year's quadrennial in 2003 and a wonderful, interactive theatre exhibition. We have photographs in the foyer of the theatre too. The Czech Republic is going to be presented by a lot of theatre but there will also be a presentation of Czech cuisine - cooking of goulash."
Goulash? I thought it was Hungarian!
"Me too, I'm very surprised. Yesterday, we were looking for a place to eat at nine o'clock in the evening and we ended up in a Svejk restaurant drinking Pilsen beer. The two cultures are very connected in many ways."
Could you tell us a little more about the theatre?
"It's a beautiful theatre in the centre of town for 150 people. It looks like a black box and it mainly represents avant-garde, alternative theatres but also has contemporary drama."
Why have you chosen to have experimental theatre represent the Czech Republic?
"I'm representing experimental theatre because I think it's a unique thing that has a long history in the Czech Republic and is not that developed in other parts of the world. It's something that us Czechs could be proud of. The Czech dance theatre is also going to be represented - Deja Donne is performing There Where We Were. I think on Sunday, the Na Zabradli theatre is performing Terasa, a piece directed by Jiri Pokorny. "
What's the atmosphere and cooperation with your Hungarian colleagues like in Budapest at the moment?
"It's wonderful. It's like being in the Czech Republic but they speak a strange language but the culture seems to be very similar. Young people like us seem to have exactly the same experience. It's very easy to communicate. It's very nice."
Do you think that it will make you cooperate with Hungary's theatres in the future?
"Actually, I have just started speaking to them about making a whole week of Czech experimental theatre here next winter. I just spoke to someone from the Theatre Institute here, and she is very interested in helping me do that. It would consist of a performance every evening for a week and then maybe some work shops and so on. It would be a little bit more complex with a longer presentation of experimental theatre. I really hope that we will co-operate more."
