Topic Archive Culture
Josef Škvorecký – Part 1 – The Cowards
In this week’s Arts we will be looking back at the remarkable life and
work of renowned writer, essayist and translator Josef Škvorecký who died
earlier this month at the age of 87. The author of novels such as The
Engineer of Human Souls was one of the most important in Czech 20th century
literature, first making his mark in 1958 with The Cowards. To discuss that
book and much, much more in the first of a two-part programme, I met with
respected Czech critic, translator, specialist in Czech studies and
Revolver Revue contributor Petr Onufer. In Part 1, we look largely
Škvorecký’s debut, The Cowards. More
Prague celebrates the Art of Hard Rock
Hard Rock Café is celebrating its 40th birthday this year with a
travelling exhibition of memorabilia relating to the greats of the music
world who frequented its many outlets the world over. Entitled The Art of
Hard Rock the exhibition, which opens to the Prague public on January 12th
at the Dvorak sec contemporary art gallery in Dlouha street, is a
collection of musical instruments, paintings and drawings donated by the
likes of Jim Morrison, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Frank Zappa, Pete
Towshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Paul Stanley, Ringo Starr, Lou
Reed and Billy Idol. More
The Museum of Decorative Arts – a must-see destination for fans of Czech design
Lovers of Czech applied arts and design will find a veritable treasure
trove of interesting items, ranging from glass wares to clocks and metal
works, in Prague’s Museum of Decorative Arts. Located right across the
street from the well-known Rudolfinum palace, the museum is housed in a
stunning Neo-Renaissance building. It was one of the last in Prague to be
designed in that style. The architect was Josef Schulz, who also was behind
the Czech National Museum. More
Lucan portrait of Leonardo da Vinci to be shown at Zbiroh Chateau
With its rich history and impressive neo-Renaissance architecture Zbiroh
Chateau is a big attraction in its own right. In the course of the next two
months it will moreover boast a rare exhibit – the Lucan portrait of
Leonardo da Vinci, an alleged self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, which has
never before been shown outside Italy. More
The Czech "Scumbag X"
This week’s Sunday Music Show is devoted to a musician going by the name
of Xindl X –a musician who combines rap, folk, hip hop, jazz and blues as
the mood takes him; a musician whose lyrics are laced with irony and who
says he writes protest songs which portray a world without God, morals or
love -a world of scumbags of the generation X. More
Artist, mother and teacher – the three lives of painter Tereza Límanová
Born and raised in Prague, Tereza Límanová captures the city in an
unusual way in her paintings. She paints mostly landscapes, but in an
abstract and reduced style that may well stem from what she describes as an
almost obsessive fear of kitsch. Her latest exhibition “From Colors to
Whiteness: From Jinonice to Košíře” is currently on display at Prague
5’s town hall gallery and closes Friday. It focuses on the unusual sights
and landscapes of Prague 5, a mostly residential neighborhood far from the
golden steeples that most visitors of the Czech capital come to see. During
a recent interview at the gallery, Tereza explained how she discovered her
love of painting as a child already. More
Renowned author, publisher Josef Škvorecký dies at 87
Czech emigré author and co-founder of '68 Publishers Josef Škvorecký
died at the age of 87 on Tuesday, succumbing to cancer in Toronto, Canada.
Mr Škvorecký was one the last great Czech 20th century authors and
literati. His first novels published in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s –
were quickly banned by the Communist regime. Later, following the
Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, Škvorecký and his wife Zdena
Salivarová moved to Canada, where they founded ’68 Publishers. The
imprint was a crucial avenue for Czech and Slovak dissidents like Milan
Kundera and Václav Havel to publish in Czech and English in the West. More
Emil Viklický, the "Janáček of Jazz"
In today’s Sunday Music Show we look at the work of living jazz legend
Emil Viklický, for whom 2011 began with a Presidential Medal of Merit and
ended with the release of two new albums. In the second part of an
interview begun on our December 16th Arts programme, we began by asking the
pianist if he remembers the first time he ever sat down to a piano. More
Jan Novák: the man who lived Miloš Forman
When Jan Novák describes himself as Miloš Forman’s autobiographer, he
is not entirely joking. He really did co-write the most famous
Czech-American film director’s memoirs, and Forman himself has spoken of
the book as “my life as lived by Jan Novák”. But Jan Novák is a great
deal more than a biographer. More
How the Velvet Revolution overturned the literary landscape
Writers were at the forefront of the Velvet Revolution. But when the dust
settled on the political changes they found a fast changing publishing
revolution underway that left some of them sidelined. We look at the
changes in the publishing and literary world over the last two decades. More
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