prague Archives – Page 20 of 28

The Steadfast – From Franz Kafka to the Velvet Revolution is an exhibition presenting 30 unbreakable and unbroken authors of Czech art in 1918-1989.

The exhibition The Steadfast – From Franz Kafka to Velvet Revolution runs in Prague’s Municipal house until October 6.

In cooperation with the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery and the Museum of Czech Literature, the curators Zuzana and Eugen Brikcius prepared a unique exhibition for the thirtieth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

The exhibition will feature 30 steadfast visual artists, among other things through their exclusive verbal expressions whether they are verses, diary notes, quotes, or interviews. The showcased artists include Otto Gutfreund, Jindřich Štýrský, Toyen, Josef Čapek, Mikuláš Medek, Stanislav Kolíbal, Eva Kmentová, Karel Nepraš, and Jiří Kolář.

Some of the most valuable items on display include a work by the Jewish artist Peter Kien, paintings by Mikuláš Medek and objects by Zbyněk Sekal, and an original Kafka’s letter to his parents. It’s on loan from the Literary Archive in Prague.

The writer Franz Kafka has inspired a wide range of the presented artists, inclusive of the exhibition’s curators, by his metaphysical work, critical thinking, and responsible social attitude.

Prague Airport has opened the 14 room AeroRooms Hotel, designed for both connecting passengers and clients who need short-term accommodation near the terminals.

The new hotel replaces Rest&Fun Center, which offered eight rooms exclusively for passengers with connecting flights. At the same time, Prague Airport is gradually renovating airport lounges to double their capacities and increase passenger comfort.

“Through our new AeroRooms Hotel project, we are responding to the continuously growing number of passengers and changing composition of potential customers. Our hotel is primarily to expand the airport’s accommodation capacities, increase their quality, and make them available to greater numbers of passengers,” said Jiří Petržilka, executive director of the non-aviation business of Prague Airport.

Prague Airport has invested approximately 14 million CZK into AeroRooms hotel, primarily into extensive construction and technical modifications. Their purpose was not only to increase the hotel’s capacity and establish access from the airport’s public zone, but also to ensure strict safety standards associated with the hotel’s operation directly at the terminal of a large international airport.

Hotel rates start at CZK 1,999 (approx.77 EUR) per night per room. The hotel is open non-stop.

In addition to the newly opened AeroRooms hotel, Prague Airport is also expanding its premium lounge services. In October 2019, the airport will start the renovation of Erste Premier Lounge at Terminal 2, which will be completed in time for the next summer season. The Mastercard Lounge at Terminal 1 will then be expanded. The expansion work will boost the capacity of each lounge by almost 100%.

“Passengers’ demand for lounges experience has been growing over the years. As with other airport infrastructures, however, our lounges are reaching their maximum capacities. These modifications will enable us to increase their capacities with a reserve large enough for the next seven years, when our expanded Terminal 2 will be put into operation, offering new premises for our airport’s premium services,” said Petržilka.

The new service of AeroRooms, as well as more comfortable and spacious airport lounges with their increased capacity, will contribute to meeting the strategic objective of Prague Airport in the non-aviation business, i.e. the continuously growing share of our non-aviation trade revenues in the total revenues of Prague Airport.

Drahanské údolí, aka Drahan or Draháň Valley is part of a natural park called Draháň – Troja – yes, it has officially more than one name, and all of them are really difficult to read. It´s almost unbelievable, but it’s still part of Prague.

If you are brave enough to travel by metro and bus to a distant neighborhood, you will be rewarded by breathtaking sceneries.

We’ve discovered this hidden gem recently, and we’ve been riding our bikes there. So, of course, I was stopping every ten metres to enjoy the view, to check the small cottages behind the trees or just look at something that caught my eye — and there were plenty of interesting things.

Be warned: this valley is not only visually beautiful, but also a bit demanding, so don’t wear your dancing shoes. You’ll have to jump over creeks, watch your steps (or wheels) all the time because of roots, branches or the above-mentioned creek.

And by the way, if you’re on your bike, you have to wade through it (or you can ride IN the creek for some time, yay!) too.

If you want to go downhill (not much, but it’s more pleasant to go down than to go up the hill, isn’t it?), start in Dolní Chabry at the bus terminal and enjoy the beautiful woods of this nature park… and after about 2 km you’ll end down at the bank of the Vltava river.

Author: Janina Michlová. 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.

The exhibition in the Summer Palace and the surrounding garden is devoted to the year 1989.

Almost 70 Czech, Slovak, and several foreign photographers offer their authentic testimony about what happened before 30 years in the time when the countries of the so-called Socialist Bloc began to move towards democracy and freedom.

Visitors will see pictures of Jindřich Šreit, Viktor Kolář, Vladimír Birgus, Pavel Štecha, Herbert Slavík, Jan Šilpoch, Karol Kállay, Andrej Bán, Dana Kyndrová, Miroslav Zajíc, Jaroslav Kučera and others.

“It is a selection of truly unique moments that often do not need any further words or explanations,” a castle spokesperson commented. “They accurately reflect the unique atmosphere, enthusiasm, hope, determination, and desire for freedom. Outside and inside, there are screens showing the most important events.”

“We contacted dozens of photographers from all over the country and the preparation took exactly one year,” commented photographer Kučera, who came up with the idea of organising such a large exhibition.

“And it was necessary to do it now, on the 30th anniversary, while we still have the power to complete such a big project,” he added, referring to the fact that the exhibition was put together by those people that experienced the Velvet Revolution first hand.

According to the organisers, the aim of the exhibition is to get new generations closer to those dramatic events, more than history textbooks could ever do.

More details here.

Screenshot, opening in September 2019, is best described as a screening room, where you not only appreciate a smooth screening in one of the historical undergrounds of Prague, but also a space that offers you much more.

Located at Petrské Náměstí, Screenshot provides a cozy hangout to meet up friends or new people, a bar with signature cocktails and exhibition space.

All, to share film and togetherness.

Screenshot sees itself as a two-way street. It intends to familiarize you with aspects of Czech culture and cinema but also introduces Prague to Art from beyond its borders.

Our initial step towards this path begins with a screening program of 50 masterpieces of Czech cinema with English subtitles; This is an extraordinary program comprising films from 1930’s onwards, each with unique storytelling depicting different aspects of Czech culture.

Concurrently Screenshot is opening its doors by exhibiting controversial artwork of California based Iranian artist Forouzan Safari. This black and white digital artwork not only carries cinema as a theme but also touches upon hidden features of the life of an Iranian woman.

Screenshot’s founder Payam Razi who is based in Prague for the past 13 years, brings his background in both film making and music production to create a platform to share, appreciate and belong.

A mission which is certainly not achievable without close cooperation and support of well-established film distribution entities based in the Czech Republic and beyond.

Prague prosecutors have decided to drop charges against Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who was charged with fraud with EU subsidies.

Prosecutors announced their decision on Friday after evaluating a police recommendation to charge Babiš. Their decision may be reversed by the Prosecutor General.

The case concerns a farm that received EU subsidies after its property was transferred from the Agrofert conglomerate, which belonged to Babis, to 250 companies owned by members of the Czech prime minister’s family.

Subsidies were intended for medium and small enterprises, and Agrofert would not have been entitled to them. Later, Agrofert again became the owner of the farm.

“The evidence gathering led to the conclusion that the Stork’s Nest Farm met the definition of a small and medium-sized business,” attorney Martin Erazim said in a statement.

The EU’s anti-fraud body OLAF had found multiple breaches of national and EU legislation in the project.

Babiš denies any allegations.

Nowadays, it became popular to have a healthy lifestyle. And certainly, those who are aware of good nutrition, also know that seafood is an essential part of it. Prague Mussel Week which is held from 23-29 September is an exciting opportunity to get to know more about seafood by tasting it in one of the mussel restaurants.

Mussels are not that common sea product to eat and that is a pity. Seafood is associated to be expensive and exotic for Czechs, salmon price usually is “scaring away” people for buying it. That’s why it is frequently easier to buy pork or chicken instead of that and nothing changes. “Eating pork every day is not very healthy,” says Pierre-Manuel Boels, HOPI CEE Fish Hub.

Mussels are not expensive (around 64 CZK per 1 kg) and are easy and fast to cook (4 to 6 minutes), it contains more of proteins, minerals and vitamins, and less of fat. “But be aware that mussels should be closed, if they are open, they are dead” claims Boels.

What might also be attractive is that Prague became a hub of seafood in Central and Eastern Europe. “We have the freshest fish on average in Europe because of our great location” says Boels.

So how does Mussel week work? For that you go online, select a restaurant, fill out the form and submit, after that you will get a special code, which you can show at the restaurant and get a discount of 50%.

“I am a mussel eater, every two weeks I eat 1 kg of mussels. I cook it in the Belgian style, which takes me exactly 4 minutes”, concludes Boels.

To select a restaurant and get your 50% voucher, visit the website

The first all-day conference about influencer marketing in the Czech Republic will take place on October 16 in the new Coworking Center HubHub at the ARA Palace in Prague.

It will provide answers not only to how to do effective influencer marketing, but will also open up other contemporary, and often controversial, topics related to this current trend.

“The intention of the conference is to provide business representatives and other visitors as much information as possible on how to do influencer marketing with measurable results, a good return on investment, avoid the damage of the brand name and benefit both the company and the influencer,” says organizer Jakub Stejskal from marketing agency Grapefruit Company

Visitors can look forward to performances by leading Czech influencer marketing agencies such as Getboost, Elite Bloggers, World of Online, The Hive, Fragile Agency, Wedigital or Subscribe.

Representatives of companies such as Footshop or Heureka will also offer their experience and an unconventional view of cooperation with influencers will be presented by the organizer of Miss České Republiky Alexandra Belinger and program director of Televize Óčko Alexandr Guha.

The program offers a wide range of topics, for example, sociologist and director of Behavio Jiří Boudal will reveal how consumers’ subconscious shopping decisions can be used to find the right influencers, Andrea Pavelcová from eLegal will analyze influencering from the perspective of law and there will be also presented data from Charles University research on the perception of advertising and ethics on social networks.

The invitation was accepted by influencers such as Adam Mišík, Gabriela Heclová, Markéta (Makyna) Poláková, Karel Šrámek a Albert Bately (Pims) or Lukáš (Lukefry) Fritscher. In addition to discussions and lectures, the conference will also provide the opportunity to participate in practical workshops. Under the guidance of World of Online experts, visitors will be able to create a campaign with influencers or find out how to build their own brand on social media platforms at Jitka Pšejová’s workshop.

Find out more here

Summer is drawing to a close, and long summer days by the river, trips to the beer garden, and long hikes in the country are all about to become a thing of the past in Prague.

However, there’s no need to despair. Autumn is one of the best times to be in Prague. During September and October, wine festivals explode into life throughout the country, giving you the chance to taste some extremely reasonably priced vintages in style.

One such event is the Troja Wine Festival, which takes place this year on 14 September, in the courtyard of the Troja Castle in Prague 7.

Prague’s Troja district is known for its vineyards and winemaking has a long tradition there. Since 1999 the City District Prague-Troja in cooperation with the Prague City Gallery has organized here the traditional celebrations of wine and young wine.

Winemakers will present their products. Furthermore, one can look forward to an afternoon degustation, informal seminars about wine in the castle cellars and an accompanying program – puppet theatre, dance and fencing, games, folk music and dancers and much more.

More information here

The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) schedules first tests of an anti-collision system for trams this September. The tests will be performed on a tram of type 15T in Hostivař.

The anti-collision system should prevent accidents between trams, but also collisions with cars and especially pedestrians. The system has not yet been fully implemented in the city tram transport.

If the system is functional, further testing on selected trams in operation is expected. Testing will take approximately two weeks.

The system works on the principle of directional antennas and communicational transmission of short data messages between individual vehicles. According to the set critical parameters, this device then evaluates the degree of risk of tram collision and warns the driver. In case of older types of trams this warning can be ensured by an acoustic signal and in case of new trams, this anti-collision system can stop the tram without the driver’s intervention. The device for testing will be provided by Israeli company Mobileye.

15T ForCity trams have the most efficient braking force. For example, at a speed of 40 km per hour on a flat track, a tram not occupied by passengers can stop, using all braking systems, at a distance of approximately 18 meters.

The Prague tramway network is the largest such network in the Czech Republic, with 142.4 km of tracks and over 900 trams.

In the beginning, there was the Pražská čokoládová manufaktura, a franchise of the renowned Ukrainian pastry shop “Lvivska majsternja šokoladu”, a shop of chocolate candies and pralines in combination with a cafe.

However, it turned out that handmade chocolate is not such a desirable product in Prague, and so the original business was transformed into Gastrobar 1402. That was in 2017. The cafe now occupies only a third of the space. During the day, the establishment works as a restaurant serving both typical Czech and international cuisine, and in the evenings the entire space is transformed into a bar with live music.

Among the performers, there is the Filipino musician Bryan Gandola, but the microphone is also available to other artists and bands from around the world. Mainly rock is played here. Due to the location, the majority of customers are tourists and expats. The owner and almost all of his family involved in the development of the businesses are originally from Kyiv, except one of his sons that studies Quantum Physics in Germany.

Behind this project, there’s Pavel “Doctor” Gačkovskij. Pavel has been in the restaurant business for over twenty years and has been practicing medicine for the same time (with a few breaks).

ICP: “Looks like you had a pretty good business in Ukraine, why did you decide to move to Prague?”

Pavel: “I started thinking about this since 2008 when the economic crisis happened. In 2012 it became clear to me where the whole country was going, many businesses were closing, etc. We decided on 2015 to move our renowned Route 66 bar to Italy but was quite harder to work there. We’ve been in Prague for a year and a half where my business partner has offered me this space.”

ICP: “There is a relatively large community of Ukrainians in Italy. Were you somehow active in it?”

Pavel: “Yes, there are about 2 million Ukrainians in Italy. It’s our biggest diaspora, more than in Canada or the US. When I moved there, I wanted to become an Italian as soon as possible. After a while, I realized that it would not work anyway, and I decided that I would rather be a better Ukrainian living in Italy. So I started to do something for my compatriots, and I worked closely with the Ukrainian Consulate. Thanks to this cooperation, our stand appeared at the biggest Italian fair Antica Fiera del Soco.

Here in the Czech Republic, I would like to continue with this work. We can organize music evenings, provide catering, we have a stand. We can show what Ukraine is, what Ukrainian music is. I’m open to cooperation. It doesn’t mean that I want to capitalize on it, I just want to do something for my compatriots.”

ICP: “In the Czech Republic, Ukrainians are the largest community. How do you perceive the Czechs’ relationship with the Ukrainians?”

Pavel: “Czechs are very tolerant, even if they do not like Ukrainians for something, they will never tell them. Even though I feel that right-wing views are increasingly coming up lately, maybe this will change over time. I would say that the relationship with the Ukrainians is twofold. On one hand, Czechs respect Ukrainians because they are hardworking. They work in the least lucrative and poorly paid jobs. But on the other hand, they do not like it, because such work is for Czechs below his level. At the same time, Czechs say that Ukrainians are better than Syrians or Moroccans or other migrants. I have never had a problem with being from Ukraine. “

ICP: “What would you advise your compatriots? How should they integrate?”

Pavel: “Here I have a clear position. If a person lives in the Czech Republic, you have to know the language, history, laws, and culture. But if this country accepts you, that is different”.

In the latest in a string of moves reportedly aimed at embarrassing the Taiwan-friendly mayor of Prague, China announced that it had canceled a scheduled performance by a musical trio from Prague.

Ivan Klansky, a classical pianist and a member of the Guarneri Trio Prague, said he already had a feeling that the group would encounter the same problem as the Prague Philharmonia, which also faced cancellation of their performance in China this month.

According to Czech media reports in April, such actions by China are aimed at humiliating Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib, who visited Taiwan in March and has been a vocal critic of China’s human rights record.

Hrib, who took office last November, said a few months later that in a twin-sister agreement between Prague and Beijing, he wanted to remove the clause that stated “Taiwan is a part of China” because of concerns that it would be unfair to Taiwan.

During his visit to Taiwan in March, Hrib praised Taipei’s metro system and said he hoped to cooperate with Taipei in the area of building smart cities.

Subsequently, news surfaced in August that China canceled a scheduled performance by the Prazak Quartet and another by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

After the Guarneri Trio Prague’s performance was also canceled, Klansky said in an interview on Czech Television that he thought it was because the word “Prague” was part of the group’s name.

To the best of his knowledge, Klansky said, there has never been a cancellation of a cultural activity based on the name of a city.

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