If you are fans of the late Jan Kaplický’s architecture, you can join a demonstration in support of his national library project this Thursday (6:30pm) at Old Town Square. The civic group Democracy builds. Face the National Library!, which is organising the event has already attracted over 22,000 supporters in their Facebook campaign since the architect’s death last month.
A weekend trip to Vienna can be great fun. Now you have another reason to go. Vienna’s Belvedere opens an exhibition 13 February to mark 70 years from the death of Czech Art Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha. The exhibition will feature some 150 pieces from Czech and Moravian collections, including the Slav Epic, a series of 20 large-scale paintings depicting the history of the Czech and the Slavic people. You have till 1 June to see the exhibition in Vienna. Brno will celebrate Mucha with an exhibition Alfons Mucha: Mistr Belle Epoque at Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum starting 15 October.
The Prague Langhans Gallery is showing a collection of 50 photographs of the Czech documentary photographer Pavel Dias. You will see Dias’ favourite themes, including horse raising, religious festivals and rituals and the current state of former German concentration camps. Included are photo stories from August 1968 and the funeral of Jan Palach. Another Langhans Gallery exhibition presents recent photos from Bill Jacobson’s series “funny, cry, happy” next to his early black-and-white pieces.
More old-school photographs are currently on display at Prague’s Josef Sudek Gallery in Újezd. Czech-born photographer Ota Richter is presenting the photos he took as an Associated Press photographer while living in exile in the United States.
How about some music? The Cross Club in Prague-Holešovice will stage an lively show of three performers: the multi-ethno brass band All Star Refjúdží Band, the progressive reggae band Bug’n’Dub and the ska formation The Spankers on Wednesday from 8:30pm. American musician Michael Romanyshyn formed the Refjúdží Band last year for the Archa performance Tanec přes plot. Members of the band are refugees and foreigners living in the Czech Republic.
The following day on Thursday, English indie-rock band Wild Beasts will arrive at Palác Akropolis. American guitarist and songwriter Ritchie Kotzen will come to Prague’s Retro Music Hall on 9 February. Inspired by Kiss, he learnt to play the electric guitar at an early age and made his career as a member of the bands Poison and Mr. Big. He now focuses on jazz and fusion.
For Czech-speaking readers, the Prague theatre Archa is staging Václav Havel’s Leaving multiple times this month.
The private art gallery Galerie Epicure in Karlín will give a lecture on white tea today at 6pm. Pay CZK 50 and learn about this tea made of young leaves and buds. It might even help protect you from the flu roaming the Czech Republic these days.
Now something for adrenalin sport enthusiasts. Prague will host a cross/ice skating international race at Vyšehrad on Saturday. In this ice cross downhill, a group of four riders will skate down the challenging ice canal course full of turns, jumps and underpasses at the speed of about 70 km/h. The first Red Bull Crashed Ice race took place in 2001 in Stockholm, and the event has been growing ever since. The 2009 edition in Prague will host 120 athletes from various countries.
If you prefer something quieter, the Kampa Museum is holding lectures on the interaction between Spanish and Czech modern art every Tuesday this month. The Hispanic art expert Pavel Štěpánek will talk about Pablo Picasso in Prague on 10 February, Joan Miró on 17 February and Salvador Dalí and Czech Art on 24 February.
More Spanish culture is available in Prague this month. The Festival of Contemporary Spanish Film, La Película, opens at the Brno Art cinema on 17 February and the Prague cinema Světozor on 24 February. About 17 films will be presented at the festival, including the famous epic tale of the 16th century artist El Greco (by Yannis Smaragdis), the film Las 13 rosas, which is about persecution of women during the Spanish Civil War (by Emilio Martínek-Lázaro) or La leyenda del tiempo, a fiction inspired by the flamenco singer Camarón (by Isaki Lacuesta).
The Spanish version of the Blair Witch Project, the horror film REC from directors Jaime Balagueró and Paco Plaza, has been well received by audience at home and at foreign festivals. REC tells the story of a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at a local fire station.
Cinestras contra magnates (Filmmakers vs. Tycoons) and Cinestras en acción (Filmmakers in Action) are two documentary films by Carlos Benpar, which aim to defend the rights of artists against any alteration of their work. Acclaimed filmmakers such as Woody Allen, Sidney Pollack or Bernardo Bertolucci are interviewed in the movie.
The festival was almost sold out last year. Go ahead and book your seats. But if you’re expecting English subtitles, you may be disappointed.
On the occasion of to the 80th birthday of Czech leading director Věra Chytilová, the Ponrepo cinema in Prague is showing four of her films this month, starting today with Prague: The Restless Heart of Europe. The films to follow are The Jester and the Queen (13 Feb), Wolf’s Lair (24 Feb) and A Hoof Here, a Hoof There (27 Feb). All screenings start at 8pm. Only in Czech.
Kateřina Heilmannis a staff writer and translator at the Monitor. She
likes writing about cycling and culture.
You can reach her at [email protected]
