Topic Archive Culture
Will a new 'Music Export Office' promote Czech pop abroad?
Bands like Mig 21 and Chinaski may be pretty famous here in the Czech
Republic, but might well leave you asking 'who?' That might not be the
situation for that much longer, however, with the Czech Republic discussing
plans for a Music Export Office - to raise the profile of Czech pop abroad.
If it goes ahead with the plans, the Czech Republic will join the ranks of
Finland, Denmark, Sweden and France, who all already have such
government-funded offices to promote their musicians in other markets. Who
better to fill me in on the situation than the woman behind the Czech
export office? Earlier today, I spoke to Monika Klementova, who explained
what the purpose of such an organisation would be:
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Michal Prochazka - lightening Kundera's unbearable burden of history
Last week the best-known living Czech author, Milan Kundera, was awarded
the State Prize for Literature. The award sparked plenty of debate about
the 78-year-old writer, who's lived in France since the 1970s and rarely
returns to his homeland; he was not present to collect the award, citing
ill health. It was given for the Czech edition of The Unbearable Lightness
of Being, which was published in French in 1984 but not published in Czech
- officially - until last year. Kundera's three most recent novels -
published in French and translated into English - are still unavailable in
his native tongue. All that has led some to accuse him of turning his back
on his country. But is that fair? Rob Cameron discussed the matter recently
with literary critic and Pravo journalist Michal Prochazka, and he began by
asking him whether we could still consider Kundera a "Czech"
writer.
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Memories of a Czech asylum seeker in Britain
In this edition of Czech Books we introduce a completely new piece of Czech
writing. A couple of years ago in this programme we featured the Romany
writer Ilona Ferkova, one of a handful of authors in this country writing
in the Romani language, traditionally spoken by Roma across Europe. When I
first met Ilona and her family at their home in the West Bohemian town of
Rokycany, they had recently returned from Britain. At the end of the 1990s
they had been among the many Czech Romany families, who had gone there to
seek asylum. They spent four years living in the Kentish seaside resort of
Margate, while they waited for their application to be processed.
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At the sign of a Czech Jack O'Lantern
Since the 1990s a number of imported holidays - like St Valentine's or St
Patrick's - have made something of an inroad in Prague and perhaps other
Czech cities, not least because they make fairly decent commercial sense:
Valentine's actually a good deal of customers to the florists every
February 14th, while St Paddy's helps fill up the city's already heavily
visited Irish pubs. But one "holiday" which has made less of an
impact, perhaps surprisingly, is Halloween. After many years in the Czech
Republic, I must admit that I feel a tinge, just a tinge, of regret when
October 31st passes every year mostly unmarked. That's one holiday - don't
stake me! - I wouldn't mind seeing...
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David Zabransky - 'I'm writing against Kundera, and against myself'
David Zabransky caused a stir with the release of his first novel 'Slabost
pro kazdou jinou plaz' (or 'Any Beach But This' as it will be titled when
it comes out in English). In March, he was named 'discovery of the year' at
the prestigious Magnesia Litera awards. Perhaps appropriately for such a
fan of dichotomies, readers seem to either love Mr. Zabransky's book, or
hate it. His style has been likened to that of Milan Kundera - which is not
something he is overly thrilled about:
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Kundera to receive state prize, but ties with homeland remain strained
Possibly the best-known living Czech writer, Milan Kundera, will receive
the State Prize for Literature on Thursday for his famous work "The
Unbearable Lightness of Being". The novel was first published in
French in 1984, but the official Czech edition didn't appear in this
country until last year, to great acclaim. However the 78-year-old writer,
who emigrated to France in the 1970s, has what can best be described as a
difficult relationship with his homeland, and will not attend Thursday's
prize-giving ceremony. Rob Cameron spoke to literary critic Michal
Prochazka, and asked him whether Czechs still considered Kundera to be a
Czech writer.
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Jan Reich - Czech photographer, author of "Disappearing Prague"
In 2006, photographer Jan Reich's publication Bohemia - an extensive series
of artistic landscapes throughout the Czech Republic - won the main prize
in the country's prestigious literature competition Magnesia Litera. But
some critics still consider his best series to be "Disappearing
Prague" - a project the photographer began in the 1970s capturing the
genius loci of some of Prague's oldest and most run-down districts. Scenes
from the periphery in the years following the Soviet-led invasion in 1968:
the docks of old Holesovice, ruined facades and crumbling buildings of
Liben and Smichov, railway stations and factories.
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Prague's Astronomical Clock threatened by salt
The Orloj, or Astronomical clock, on the Old Town Square is one of Prague's
major tourist attractions. Every hour, the square fills with tourists who
watch two small windows on the clock tower, waiting for the regular
procession of apostles. Recently, however, the walls of the clock tower
have grown increasingly damp and conservationists fear that dust from the
moist plaster might cause mechanical problems for the ancient clockwork.
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Karel Kryl: folk singer-songwriter whose work embodied the Czechoslovak struggle for political freedom
Karel Kryl, singer, songwriter and poet, was the most prominent Czech folk
musician of the last fifty years. His well-known songs are to this day sung
in pubs and around campfires, even by those of the younger generation of
Czechs who grew up after his death. Born in Kromeriz in 1944, he began
writing and performing after graduating from secondary school, and was
later expelled from army service for performing songs deemed to be
anti-socialist. He was exiled from Czechoslovakia in 1970, but continued to
write, produce and perform until his return to the country in 1989 amidst
the sudden political changes of the Velvet Revolution. His songs came to
represent the national sufferings of a generation, and its desire for
political freedom.
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Leading international festival of documentary film at Jihlava celebrates 11th anniversairy
This Tuesday sees the opening of the 11th Jihlava film festival. The
festival in the small town where Bohemia meets Moravia is one of the
biggest of its kind in central and eastern Europe. Dedicated to screening
fresh new documentary films, it aims to provide an alternative outlet to
more popular cinemas and to Czech television, where such films are rarely
shown.
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