Topic Archive Culture
Concert, screening at Prague’s Lucerna to mark day against racism
March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination and to mark the occasion organisers from Opona, a non-profit
NGO, have helped put together an exhibition, screening and concert to take
place on Wednesday afternoon and evening at Prague’s Lucerna. Several
notable Czech artists, including Ester Kočičková Xindl X, and the Tap
Tap are taking part. More
Leoš Válka – founder of Prague’s DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Leoš Válka is one of the founders of the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
in Prague’s Holešovice district, which in just a few years has become
one of the most important institutions of its kind in Central and Eastern
Europe. Válka has a perhaps surprising background for such a significant
figure in the Czech art world: for several years he ran a firm in Australia
doing maintenance work on high-rise buildings. More
Sylvie Bodorová, born a composer
This week's Sunday Music Show takes a well-earned look at Sylvie Bodorová,
one of the main figures of Czech modern classical music for the last 30
years. Her compositions have been performed on every continent in that
time, including Antarctica. She is one of few female composers whose work
is a staple of classical musical festivals the world over and is featured
on more than two dozen albums. More
“Sala’s Gift”: a whole war in a tin box
You will probably not have heard of Gross Sarne, Brande, Blechhammer or
Schatzlar, but these are places that should be remembered. They were all
Nazi slave labour camps in World War Two. The last on that list, Schatzlar,
or Žacléř as it is known in Czech, was in what is now the Czech
Republic, in the part of north-eastern Bohemia annexed by the German Reich
in 1938. Few people in this country, even among the inhabitants of
Žacléř itself, know that the camp even existed, but a new book should
help to put that right. The daughter of one of the survivors has just been
in the Czech Republic, to launch the Czech edition of her book “Sala’s
Gift”. The book tells her mother’s story, drawing richly from Sala’s
own memories and from several hundred letters that, against all odds,
survived the war. David Vaughan tells the story. More
A Night Too Young: a successful start for Slovenian director Omerzu
It’s not every film student that gets his premiere at the International
film festival in Berlin, to be sure, but such was the fortune of Olmo
Omerzu, a FAMU graduate from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and our guest in this
week’s Arts. His graduate film called A Night Too Young (Příliš mladá
noc) had its world premiere in the Forum section of the Berlinale, which
generally selects highly original, highly provocative works. A Night Too
Young is both of those things: a story of a party of three consternated
adults, shared by two twelve-year-old boys, who have no idea that they are
about to grow up fast. We met with Olmo Omerzu this week, on the occasion
of the film’s domestic premiere, and asked him first of all about his
Czech connection came to be. More
Recording of Nico’s 1985 illegal Brno concert comes out on vinyl
Czechoslovakia’s communist authorities kept a tight control of all
aspects of life, including the arts, and of course, rock music. Only
officially sanctioned artists were allowed to perform publicly or record
albums. But some people had the courage to defy the system and organize
illegal concerts. In 1985, a group of rock fans in Brno staged an illegal
concert by the legendary singer Nico whose recording, only now, is about to
be released on vinyl. More
Olympic House in London to highlight Czech arts, culture & sport
Organisers have unveiled plans for the Czech Olympic House in the area of
Islington in London which will serve as a hub for thousands of visitors
including, of course, sports fans during the upcoming summer Olympics. But
the aim of the venue will not only be to meet Czech and other competitors
(for example Usain Bolt) but also to present the Czech Republic in a modern
light. The overall design was inspired by a famous abstract work by painter
František Kupka, and the space itself will show works by contemporary
Czech artists including David Černý, Michael Rittstein and others. More
Petr Lom – an academic who left his job to pursue his dream of working as a documentary film maker
Independent documentary director and producer Petr Lom was born in
Czechoslovakia but spent most of his life abroad – in Canada and the U.S.
His latest film, “Back to the Square” was selected as the opening film
at this year’s edition of the One World International Film Festival,
where he is also on the jury. Before becoming a film maker, Petr Lom was
actually an academic – until one day he quit his job and never looked
back. I asked him about his films, which focus on countries such as Iran
and Egypt, his connection to One World and his big career change. More
Violin virtuoso Pavel Šporcl
This week’s Sunday Music Show profiles violinist Pavel Šporcl whose
enormous talent has won him international acclaim and whose unassuming
stage presence makes his concerts a unique experience. More
A new “Czech Literature Guide” gives useful insights into the world of Czech books
If you’re looking for an overview of the current Czech literary scene in
English – everything from surrealist poets to second-hand bookshops –
the new “Czech Literature Guide” should be just the book for you. As it
states in its introduction, the book’s aim is to present a “panorama of
the contemporary life of Czech literature”. David Vaughan reports. More
+1
+10
+100
