For two weeks, a light installation by German visual artist Franz John will illuminate the facade of the Goethe-Institut in Prague.

Inspired by Franz Kafka’s letters, this new work, titled Das Gassenfenster (Window to the Street), will light up the evening sky from October 10 to October 24.

The public can witness the lighting starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 10. The opening ceremony will also feature a scenic reading of Kafka’s texts, performed by renowned translator Věra Koubová.

The installation will be visible at the Goethe-Institut building on Masarykovo nábřeží 32. According to the institute’s spokesperson, Tomáš Moravec, the installation seeks to embody Kafka’s complex reflections on human connection and alienation.

Kafka’s letters contain vivid imagery, such as when he wrote to his friend Oskar Pollak: “You were, among many other things, something like a window through which I could see the streets. I couldn’t do it myself…” In another letter, Kafka mused: “People are bound together by ropes, and it is already bad when the ropes loosen around someone and he falls a little deeper than the others into the empty space. But it is terrible when the ropes break around someone, and he then falls.”

Franz John, a Berlin-based artist, often integrates themes of nature, architecture, and local history into his work.

His artistic portfolio includes exhibitions at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the São Paulo Biennale, and the Münsterland Sculpture Biennale.

He has also received numerous accolades, including a prestigious scholarship from the ZF Art Foundation in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in 2019. John has shared his expertise by teaching at notable institutions like Ohio State University and the University of Michigan’s School of Art.

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