2012-02-10T14:00:25+01:00 Radio Prague http://radio.cz/en/article/145496 urn:uuid:f9910681-a82a-5c32-a595-9343dba4b101 2012-02-10T14:00:25+01:00

The first show of the season opened last Friday at the Villa Becher Interactive Gallery in Karlovy Vary: called Sklo-Sklu-Sklem/Glas-Glaser-Am Glasersten the new exhibition is a first foray by a number of Czech and German colleagues (painters, photographers, filmmakers and designers) in working in glass.

urn:uuid:52f86ce3-948b-5b21-b2c1-c856ed0b910c 2012-02-03T16:22:41+01:00

Anyone familiar with the Czech electronic and dance music scene will have come across the work of Jitka Charvátová, also known as Ji, the charismatic and talented former singer for cutting edge groups like Skyline and the late Milan Hlavsa’s 1990s band Fiction. In 2010, Jitka reset her career with a highly-lauded new solo album called Feed My Lion, featuring 8-bit, electro pop and elements of hip hop.

urn:uuid:bf3b4b64-8426-5262-9881-90702f04e9c9 2012-01-27T17:00:49+01:00

In today’s Arts I talk to artist and editor Carrie Paterson about the first English-language edition of a rare and fascinating book originally published in 1936. Written by the third wife of modernist architect Adolf Loos, Claire Beck Loos (Klára Becková-Loosová of Plzeň) it was previously available only in German; the new edition, published by Doppelhouse Press, is called Adolf Loos – A Private Portrait.

urn:uuid:01c07d93-e77a-5076-957d-f15dadfbe24b 2012-01-20T17:07:18+01:00

In this week’s Arts enjoy Part 2 of our look at the life and work of renowned author Josef Škvorecký, who died at the age of 87 earlier this month. I continue my discussion with respected Czech critic, translator, and specialist in Czech studies Petr Onufer, who talks about how Miloš Forman almost made a film version of The Cowards, Škvorecký’s style as an author and his role as co-founder of ‘68 Publishers.

urn:uuid:8e55c641-7d75-5df1-abc6-58d3e42d7058 2012-01-13T15:48:09+01:00

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 20th century Czech 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.

urn:uuid:4d1ddffa-97f0-54b3-a5be-dfe8578cfab2 2012-01-06T15:34:40+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:234e1e77-978b-57c7-bf0c-9ef80d4f71b8 2011-12-30T14:18:04+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:204c2428-f0e6-5479-a2db-2f5cb4a1ec89 2011-12-16T16:39:54+01:00

It has been a good year for Czech jazz legend Emil Viklický, beginning with a Presidential Medal of Merit and ending with the release of two new albums, one in Germany called “Spring Awakening” and another in Japan, where he plays regularly, called Kafka on the Shore, a Tribute to Haruki Murakami. In the first part of a wide-ranging interview with the pianist we began by talking about his English, which he told me he originally picked up from his black fellow musicians in the 1970…

urn:uuid:e52a95af-f20a-5f39-b475-97560282acba 2011-12-09T11:38:14+01:00

A Czech architectural landmark has provided the backdrop, and indeed central theme, for a book which has been creating a stir in the literary world. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer tells the story of a modernist villa in a Czech town, from conception to construction, eventually to seizure by the state. The Glass Room has been receiving a great deal of publicity ever since it was nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Over the phone from his home in Italy, author Simon Mawer voiced his bewilderment as to why his book was proving so popular in Britain at the moment:

urn:uuid:b0a788f0-a7fd-522b-80d5-f3b81ed96569 2011-12-02T16:56:20+01:00

In this week’s Arts my guest is a new film director Miroslav Ondruš whose debut feature film Vendeta is now in Czech cinemas. The film, as the name suggests, is a psychological thriller with revenge at its dark heart. It stars an intense Ondřej Vetchý as a father who loses a loved one and is already being described as one of his finest performances.

urn:uuid:2e3c5c25-77ac-5415-a0ea-35c676e724a2 2011-11-25T11:43:26+01:00

Filmy patří lidu (Films Belong to the People) is the title of a series of Socialist Realist pictures that have been released on DVD in the Czech Republic in recent months. These propaganda-filled films are from the 1950s, the harshest decade of the communist era, notorious for its brutal repression, show trials and forced labour camps.

urn:uuid:9f247692-ef6a-5741-b4ea-3af10fc6b819 2011-11-11T17:07:33+01:00

This Thursday saw the opening of the 12th annual Mezipatra Queer Film festival in the Czech Republic. In this week’s Arts, I talk to the head of the festival Aleš Rumpel, who discussed not only this year’s main theme but also its focus on the work of Todd Haynes. Also discussed are gay and lesbian issues in the Czech Republic, gay studies, as well as queer interpretations of the popular Sci-Fi series Star Trek.

urn:uuid:2fb81236-d527-5fe7-8d12-4bcf81fd3c3c 2011-11-04T16:53:20+01:00

This Thursday saw the opening of a new exhibition at the National Gallery’s Kinský Palace Stables Gallery marking 100 years since the death of post-impressionist painter, man-of-letters and critic Miloš Jiránek, who contributed strongly to the Czech “National Awakening” at the end of the 19th century. Although he died at the age of just 35, Jiránek was a most influential figure whose paintings, as well as written works, have seen renewed appreciation. The show, entitled The Polemics of Miloš Jiránek, features oils, water colours, drawings, and woodcut prints – many of the images pristine, featuring earthy hues and soft light. It’s a small show but well-worth seeing.

urn:uuid:98387288-f474-555d-9155-592bc37b1555 2011-10-21T11:34:27+02:00

Opposed, later persecuted – and finally forgotten. That was the fate of many Czech Catholic writers, who stood outside the literary mainstream. In one of Europe’s most atheist nations, the impact of these authors gradually diminished throughout the 20th century although in their heyday, in the interwar period, they managed to convey many original ideas and intriguing artistic expressions.

urn:uuid:35389634-e0cb-5a51-a960-44ee8b6819bb 2011-10-14T16:32:46+02:00

In this week’s Arts, I talk to David Peimer, professor of theatre at University College in the UK, also involved with the Pinter Centre for Performance and Creative Writing in London. In our interview Mr Peimer discusses In Other Rooms - a production in English of lesser-known short plays by the late Nobel Prize laureate Harold Pinter. While not as widely-known as Pinter’s most famous work, the short plays are highly recommended – and Czech audiences will have a chance to see them this weekend when the production, co-directed by Mr Peimer, comes to the Theatre on the Ballustrade in Prague.

urn:uuid:e35b7315-95b7-52aa-9ea7-a066f2e2f3d8 2011-10-07T10:48:57+02:00

In this week’s Arts, I speak to Jaroslav Rudiš, the author of an influential graphic novel (trilogy, actually) that delves into the fog of history and troubled Central European past. The story of Alois Nebel – a slightly mad railwayman working in a remote border region – it has been made into a new film that premiered last week in the Czech Republic after being featured in festivals in Venice and Toronto.

urn:uuid:2b988f07-968f-5b0b-9ddb-aa2ec18469c6 2011-09-30T16:12:11+02:00

Jiří Jírů developed a love for photography from his uncle, the avant-garde Czech photographer Václav Jírů, before studying the discipline in Brussels and working for US publications such as Time and Newsweek. In the course of his career, Jiří Jírů has snapped celebrities ranging from the Bee Gees to Queen Elizabeth II, and spent almost a decade working as President Václav Havel’s official photographer. Jírů divides his time between Prague and Brussels, which is where he found himself on August 21, 1968:

urn:uuid:bd6f1de3-ad2f-53e0-9188-c294b8b15435 2011-09-02T16:14:04+02:00

It is only every five years or so that the renowned Czech animator Jan Švankmajer brings out a new film, and the wait is now over. “Surviving Life” draws on many of Švankmajer’s traditional themes and styles while exploring them through an experimental medium, once again confirming why he is the most acclaimed Czech art house director at home and abroad.

urn:uuid:ea70e5a4-8dcd-5a04-847c-2db0c4f1deed 2011-08-26T16:07:13+02:00

The Fresh Film Festival – highlighting work by debuting directors and student filmmakers – got underway in Prague this week, offering viewers a rare opportunity to see films they would otherwise have little chance to see. Last year “heroes” were the main theme; this year it’s “defiance”.

urn:uuid:92f1a750-c75c-5893-a3d3-1f1aa66b87b9 2011-08-19T16:52:16+02:00

In this week’s Arts, my guest is Welsh writer James Stafford, the author of a wonderfully irreverent new webcomic The Sorrowful Putto of Prague. The comic tells the story of a 400-year-old putto (or cherub) named Xavier living in the city and it has captured the attention of both Czech and English-language readers. After looking up the site myself, I was curious to learn more about Xavier and his world. Luckily James Stafford – who is not usually based in Prague – was able to come to the studio to discuss the project.