Exhibition marking 100 years of Czech Radio to kick off in New York
An exhibition marking 100 years since the start of regular radio broadcasting in Czechoslovakia will get underway at the Czech Center in New York this coming Monday. The commemoration will also feature a concert, live broadcasting from the US to Czechia and interviews with influential figures and foreign reporters.
After Tel-Aviv and Bratislava, a travelling exhibition of Czech Centres entitled 100 Years of Czech Radio will be officially launched in New York this coming Monday. Organised in collaboration with Czech Radio, the exhibition will offer a glimpse into the past and present of the Czech public broadcaster.
Miroslav Konvalina is the head of Czech Center New York:
“For us in New York, it's a very special event because radio has always been one of the most trusted sources of information, both in the United States and in Czechia, and played an important role in entertaining, informing and serving the audience.
“The exhibition will feature 18 panels describing the role Czech Radio played during the war, in 1968, and during the Velvet Revolution. We will also celebrate the role of Czech Radio in the development of new technologies.”
In addition to documenting milestone periods in the station’s history, the exhibition will also show the development of broadcasting and transmission technology. Using QR codes, visitors will be able to listen to authentic historical recordings.
The opening of the exhibition on Monday July 17 will be followed by a meet up with three present and former Czech Radio foreign correspondents on the rooftop terrace of the Bohemian National Hall, which houses the Czech Center.
The guests will include the head of Radio Prague International and a former correspondent in Germany, Klára Stejskalová, the new Czech Radio reporter in Washington Pavel Novák, as well as Peter Green, a former foreign correspondent for the International Herald Tribune in Prague.
The debate will be hosted by Mr Konvalina, who himself used to serve as a Czech Radio reporter in the United States:
“For me, it is really important and feel really privileged that I have a chance to help to commemorate 100 years of Czech public radio in the United States.
“I think it's great that at a time when so many organizations all over the world scale down the numbers of foreign correspondents, Czech Radio is one of the only two public media from Czechia to have a permanent correspondent in the United States.
“I think it’s important that they can report about American reality from a Czech perspective and put the events in a wider context. Also, radio is a media where you can share the atmosphere and emotions.”
Following the launch of the exhibition 100 Years of Czech Radio, the Czech Center New York will present a concert entitled From Baroque to Jazz featuring the Radio Brass Quartet, which will take place in the ballroom of the Bohemian National Hall on Tuesday, July 18.
