Portuguese and Czech Artists Celebrate Revolution

Portoguese and Czech artists are celebrating democracy and freedom of expression won by the revolution of the two countries in the exhibition “Carnations and Velvet”, at the Municipal Library of Prague, which lasts until September 29.  The curatorial project Carnations and Velvet / Art and Revolution in Portugal and Czechoslovakia for the first time presents Portuguese art in the Czech lands and Slovakia. The common starting point is the year 1968, the time of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia and the spring of Marcelo Caetano in Lisbon. This year brought about first hopes for the end of the existing undemocratic regimes – the hopes that were thwarted by the Soviet occupation in Czechoslovakia and by the continuation of the colonial war in Portugal. The years 1974 and 1989, the dates of peaceful revolutions, brought freedom to both countries. The Carnation Revolution took place on 25 April 1974, and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia on 17 November 1989. The project features works of Czechoslovak artists, the legendary personalities who were of crucial importance for the formation of contemporary art in their diverse responses to the totalitarian regime, namely Adriena Šimotová, Eva Kmentová, Květa Válová, Jitka Válová, Jiří Kovanda, Petr Štembera, Karel Miler, Jan Mlčoch,...

Archaeologists Find Mass Grave at Nazi Camp in Czech Republic

Archaeologists have uncovered a mass grave at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp in the Czech Republic, the Museum of Romani Culture said Wednesday. The remains of Romani adults and child Mass grave discovered dating back to 1943 were uncovered at the Lety concentration camp, where Roma people were incarcerated during World War II, the museum said. A DNA sample taken from a woman buried at the site is being checked against relatives to confirm her identity, it added. The Lety camp was set up by the Nazis in 1940 during their occupation of Czech territory and was operational for three years. More than 300 members of the Roma community died there as a result of inhumane camp conditions, and hundreds of others were later deported to the Auschwitz death camp and murdered there. During the 1970s, a large factory pig farm was constructed near the site of the Lety camp. It was closed in 2018 as the result of widespread protests. xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề...

Czech Movie “The Painted Bird” Wins Cinema for UNICEF Award

The Czech-Ukrainian Second World War drama, shot in black-and-white and nearly three hours long, had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. “The Painted Bird,” is the first-ever movie in Slavic Esperanto. Director Vaclav Marhoul said: “I didn’t want the villagers (speaking) Ukrainian or Polish or Russian or something like that because those people (the villagers in the film) are really bad people,” he said. “I didn’t want that some nation is going to be associated with that, so I opened the big brother – Google, big brother, and typed ‘Slavic Esperanto’, my God it does exist, it does exist, Slavic Esperanto.” The invented language combines Czech, Russian and German. Set somewhere in rural eastern Europe towards the end of World War Two, the black and white film is a sombre tale of a young boy trying to survive a harsh wilderness and the cruelty of strangers. According to critics, it appears to have had a rather negative effect on members of the public who came to watch it. But with a series of plot points that sound more like endurance tests, who can blame them? Based on a 1965 novel, The Painted Bird tells the story of a nameless boy...

Exhibition to Commemorate 30th Anniversary of Velvet Revolution Opens in New York

The Czech Center New York together with its partners have prepared a rich and varied program of events dedicated to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The overarching theme of the events is freedom. Concerts, theater performances, exhibitions, film screenings, discussions, and other programs will be held at the Bohemian Nation Hall in Manhattan from September to November 2019. The main events include the performance of Audience, the one-act theater play by Václav Havel, starring Jakub Špalek and Jan Potměšil. The actors are also figures who have become part of the history of the Velvet Revolution itself, and they will discuss their experiences and insights after their performance, which is part of the Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival. No less expected is the concert of the band Garage, one of the symbols of the Czech independent music scene. Just like Audience, the Garage concert will be performed in two other American cities as well: Washington, D.C. and Chicago. The Czech Center New York Gallery will also present two exhibitions. The exhibition Václav Havel, Citizen and Dramatist, prepared by the Arts and Theater Institute (Prague), will be on view from September through October. In November and December,...

Kino Evald – Watch Films in an Intimate Atmosphere

Cinema club Evald is a small, classy cinema – it is in the Prague city center, has a stable program with four movies running each day, including mainstream selections, at least movies suitable for a small screen, as well as art movies and films from different countries. The generous front door invites you to the more private underground area, which is cozy with the carpets and classy with the cloakroom, especially handy during winter. In summer, the cool underground environment is relieving and rewarding. No drinks are offered in this cinema, but you can get started before the film in the local restaurant, which is just at the end of the same corridor, and of course, also discuss there later on the impact of the film you have just seen. I really like this cinema, there are not many of this type in Prague these days. Author: Irena Schlosser. You can find the original article here Spotted by Locals Prague is a blog (and iPhone & Android app) by locals who live & love their city. xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman...

7 Great Films That Feature Prague

The Medieval Skeleton Found at Prague Castle

Used as a propaganda tool by the Nazis and Soviets during the Second World War and Cold War, the remains of a 10th-century male, unearthed beneath Prague Castle in 1928, have been the subject of continued debate and archaeological manipulation. The mysterious skeleton and associated grave goods, including a sword and two knives, were identified as Viking by the Nazis, as a Slavonic warrior by the Soviets and became part of the Czech independence movement in more recent years. The remains were discovered under the courtyard of Prague Castle in July 1928 as part of an excavation project by the National Museum of the newly established Czechoslovakia to discover the earliest phases of the castle. The body was located on the edge of an old burial ground from when a hill fort was built on the site, likely dating to AD 800–950/1000. It was discovered by Ivan Borkovský, a Ukrainian who fought for both the Austro-Hungarians and the Russians in the early 20th century, before escaping to Czechoslovakia in 1920 but he did not immediately publicize or publish anything about the remains or the artifacts. Under the Nazi regime, the remains became “proof” for the Germanic, rather than Slavic, origin...

Czech Scientists Find Way to Extract Water From Air

A team of scientists from the Technical University in Prague have said they found a method of extracting water from air using an autonomous solar-powered system. The first prototype of Solar Air Water Earth Resource (SAWER) has the capacity to produce 100 liters of drinking water per day anywhere on the planet, even in the desert. The experts installed SAWER in the United Arab Emirates’ town of Sweihan, located about 70 km east of Abu Dhabi. “It is not a revolutionary process, but an unusual one,” civil and environmental engineering professor Tomáš Matuška told Efe news, adding it used dehumidifiers that are often employed in the food industry. Matuška explained that the two-stage system consists of a desiccant that holds water molecules on its surface and then an air heater produces water vapor to be taken back to the surface. A group of 12 scientists started the project in Prague in 2017 and created the first prototype that can be transported in two six-meter-long cargo containers. One of the containers holds the production unit including distilled water equipment, while the second contains the accumulators to boost heat and cold processes, as well as energy control systems. Photovoltaic modules are placed on...

Old Times Museum: Gentle Beauty of Cruel England

Maybe after watching movies or reading books like Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, you might want to dive into 19-20 centuries the same as I usually do. But how can you do it? For Praguers, there is an excellent opportunity to go to the Old Times Museum, which is located in one of the most popular areas in Prague – Mala Strana. The exhibition Gentle Beauty of Cruel England runs until the 13th of October and illustrates the original costumes, accessories and other details of people particularly from 1850 to 1920. Moreover, the objects originally are not only from England but also from the US, Czech Republic, Australia, France, Canada, etc. The guides also turn on the old music related to those times, creating the atmosphere, as they also provide guests with imaginary situations, for example, tea-party in Victorian style. “People are usually surprised that they can be so close to everything and feel those times better,” says Zdenka Plchova the owner of the Old Times Museum. And they can also see how memorial cards looked like, or even a sample of the marriage certificate issued in the Kingdom of Scotland in the 19th century...

Franz Kafka Archive Reclaimed by Israel National Library

Prague-born Jewish novelist’s literary estate, including exercise book in which he practiced Hebrew, had been held by his sisters until Israel’s National Library won the ownership battle The National Library of Israel said on Wednesday it received the last part of a collection of Franz Kafka’s writings that it planned to put on line, after winning an ownership battle for part of the Prague-born Jewish novelist’s literary estate. The papers had been held by sisters Eva Hoffe and Ruth Wiesler, who argued they had legally inherited them from their mother, Esther Hoffe. She was secretary to Kafka’s friend, biographer and executor Max Brod, who ignored the German-language author’s dying wish to burn all his unpublished work. In one of his notebooks — revealed to the public for the first time in Jerusalem on Wednesday — he sketched a man lying in bed, perhaps depicting his own terminal illness and auguring the end. The drawing was a fitting, if grim, coda to a yearslong, labyrinthine legal battle over the author’s legacy nearly a century after his untimely death. Stefan Litt, the library’s curator of humanities, said the collection also included drawings. “Parts of them are known, others aren’t so – that’s maybe...

Hanavský Pavilon – Architectural Curiosity

The picture above is not showing Hanavský pavilon, but the view from Hanavský pavilon. There is actually a restaurant in this peculiar structure, but I warn you right here not to try it. It is totally overpriced and in my experience, the personnel is not very friendly. And, on top of it, the view you can enjoy without going into the restaurant. However, the structure of the pavilion and its history are quite interesting. The structure was built as a promotion of an ironwork factory for the exhibition in 1891 and was considered a temporary structure which should last only for the time of the exhibition. However, it was considered a valuable technical development, and after the exhibition, it was disassembled and rebuilt in a present location in Letná park. It is the first structure in Prague built from a cast iron, concrete, and glass. It was designed in baroque style and it is surviving more than 128 years longer than originally planned. So I recommend visiting this place when the sun goes down because Prague during the last light of the day or just after sunset is beautiful. To check whether you would be interested in the pavilion structure itself, you...

The Legend of The House at the Golden Well

Prague is a city filled with hidden gems, many of which harbor dark secrets. One such site is Dům U Zlaté Studně or ‘The House at the Golden Well.’ Today the building stands as a proud example of Prague’s rich cultural and artistic history, with its magnificent gardens and intricate frescoes.  The name of the House at the Golden Well is derived from an old legend about the building. According to the legend, the well located beneath the building held hidden gold. The water in the well, which was located in the cellar, was rumored to have a strange golden glow and people believed that gold was hidden there. A housemaid named Ľubomíra was cleaning in the basement and she bent over to look down the well and get a better glimpse of the golden glow. But she slipped on the wet floor and fell down the well. Her desperate cries for help went unheard and she drowned in the well. After she was found, the law required that the well be cleaned. Cholera and plagues were common during this time and, therefore, the well had to be emptied and thoroughly cleaned to prevent disease. It is believed that the master of the...