Ostrava, North Moravia, July 9 (CTK) – The Moments of History, a touring exhibition of photographs from the archives of the Czech News Agency (CTK), highlighting significant moments of 100 years since the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, was opened in the centre of Ostrava on Monday.
A total of 30 panels with 163 photographs, which were first presented in Prague from April 1 and then in Brno, the second largest town in the Czech Republic, and Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia, will be displayed in Masaryk square in Ostrava until July 29.
The photographic exhibition is one in a series of events marking the centenary of Czechoslovakia’s birth on October 28, 1918. On the same day, CTK was also established, so the agency will celebrate 100 years of its existence in October.
The photographs were selected from the agency’s unique archive housing about seven million pictures. Each year from 1918 till 2018 is characterised by at least one photo depicting a significant event or the atmosphere of that time.
The exhibition was being prepared for almost six months, its co-author Petr Mlch, the editor-in-chief of the CTK Photobank, said.
The selection criteria were not only visual qualities of the photographs, but also the significance of the events they document, he said, adding that reactions to the exhibition were very positive.
The CTK photo archive survived even the end of WWII thanks to a lucky coincidence that it was stored outside the main building that was hit by a devastating fire.
The touring exhibition was first held in the garden of the Wallenstein Palace, the seat of the Senate, the upper house of the Czech parliament, in Prague centre.
After Ostrava, it will be shown in Plzen, west Bohemia, Usti nad Labem, north Bohemia, and Ceske Budejovice, south Bohemia, and it will return to Prague in October.
