Havel's visual poems on display in Prague

Prague, March 12 (CTK) - The exhibition Vaclav Havel's Anticodes, comprising his most interesting visual poems, opened on the occasion of the widened publication of his eponymous collection of experimental poetry in Prague yesterday.

A visual production using its motives will be premiered by the Laterna Magika nonverbal theatrical group on March 21.

The outdoor exhibition at the National Theatre will last until April 7.

Former Czechoslovak and Czech president Havel (1936-2011) mainly made his mark with his dramas and essays. However, when young, he also wrote poetry.

The Vaclav Havel Library has prepared a new edition of the Anticodes collection of graphic poetry.

The new edition includes newly found poems and Havel's complete theoretical study on experimental poetry.

When Havel brought the manuscript of Anticodes to the Mlada fronta publishers in 1964, he was rejected.

Two years later, the publishers launched the book Protocols that included a selection from the Anticodes.

The collection mainly consists of calligrams where letters and words constitute a certain design. Havel thus followed up the tradition of the carmen figuratum poems.