Photographer Ivan Pinkava (1961) has created his own unique visual language during his forty years of artistic practice, which can be identified with a unique way of thinking about the world. Figures and still lifes intertwine in the author's work, they are an updated reflection of deeper thought processes linked to the symbolic language of traditional Western culture. The photographer purposefully enters well-known iconographic situations in order to - in some cases slightly, in other cases radically - change them, mix them up, rename them, empty them, shoot them or make them stand out in a different light. Pinkava blurs the conventional meanings hidden behind the names of ancient and biblical figures, as well as terms denoting common life rituals and actions (e.g. Bridegroom). Behind the backdrops of history and personal history, he finds something common, valid for the present and the future - foreshadowing of human uncertainty stemming from one's own bodily transience and from the awareness that there is something that transcends man in every way, be it God or a less abstract "moral principle ". The main center of events here is the cyclically recurring relationship between man and his destiny, expressed through the expressive means of black-and-white and color photography.

The ABLAZE IN THE SUN exhibition brings the viewer closer to a cross-section of Ivan Pinkava's multi-layered photographic work. As a rule, naked figures with their gestures and attributes are transformed into bearers of a meta-message (The Pilgrim) through visual staging and symbolic action. This refers to the recurring uncertain situation of man in the order of life defined by time and space. The hiddenness and nakedness of the body, as well as the traces of its masking, wear, injuries, impurities, etc., that it bears, refer to the transience of what we call presence or being in the world. Here, time is materialized into subject constellations that undergo permanent transformation. The relentless movement of consciousness is stopped here and viewed as a kind of contemplation. The dynamic event is transformed into a static object radiating, in the manner of a ritual idol, the uniqueness of the moment, to which it is good to return.

The title of the exhibition ABLAZE IN THE SUN reveals the contradiction in the givens of our existence. Light and heat are life-giving principles. However, most of Ivan Pinkava's photographs are situated in the constricting space of gloom and darkness. To inhospitable places that lose their hospitality to human consciousness, which is constantly trying to justify its own meaning. The human body, consciousness and time are consumed to leave traces and reveal their secrets. Beyond the horizon of life awaits - perhaps - insight. To live is to burn. Strongly at first, then more sparingly and sparingly, until the final extinction.

Petr Vaňous, curator of the exhibition

Ivan Pinkava (born 1961). In 1977-1981, he graduated from the Secondary School of Graphics in Prague, majoring in polygraphy, and in 1982-1986 he graduated from FAMU in Prague, majoring in photography. In 1994, he published his first book monograph, Dynasty. Other important books include Memento mori from 1998 (joint project with Václav Jirásek and Robert V. Novák). In 2002, he was included in the German encyclopedia of world photographers Das Lexikon der Fotografen 1900 bis heute. In 2004, the Prague Rudolfinum Gallery organized the author's extensive solo exhibition, which was accompanied by the publication of the Heroes monograph. In 2005-07 he led the photography studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In 2012, the Museum at the Katzen Arts Center at the University of Washington organized the author's solo exhibition entitled Remains, which was accompanied by the publication of a balance monograph of the same name. He regularly exhibits here and abroad. Among the author's latest projects are the exhibition Backtracking (The House of Art, České Budějovice), Double Bind (Telegraf Gallery, Olomouc), Rozvrat shadow (with O. Filípek; Kvalitář Gallery, Prague), Full Moon in the Eyes (Trafo Gallery, Prague ) or participation in the collective project All the Power of Imagination (Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden). In addition to the National Gallery in Prague, his works are included in a number of Czech and foreign public and private collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, the Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, etc.

www.ivanpinkava.com


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Festive opening of the exhibition of Ivan Pinkava: ABLAZE IN THE SUN

Ivan Pinkava

For the period after 2027, it is necessary to free the EWC from cohesion requirements for thematic concentration and strengthen its position as an independent initiative. Support for cross-border and interregional cooperation is vital for strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU!

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Joint meeting of the members of the Czech and Slovak delegations in the European Committee of the Regions

CND and SND

Franz Kafka's works are among the most common pretexts of comic book adaptations, and those "Kafka / Comics" employ a rich catalogue of adaptation approaches and interpretative practices, from uninventive rewritings through paraphrase or parody to very loose adaptations that go far beyond the mere media transposition of the pretext; and last but not least, a specific subcategory is represented by comics "about Kafka". In several analytical case studies, the lecture will attempt to look at the various variants of Kafkas in comics and Kafkaesque in comics, with special attention paid to some of the more significant Kafka / Comics by Robert Crumb, Jaromír 99, Olivier Deprez, Peter Kuper and the Nishioka siblings.
 

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Kafka in Comics

Making public spaces accessible is not solely a concern for specific groups of people; rather, anyone can unexpectedly find themselves in circumstances that hinder their freedom of movement. The solution lies in an approach known as tactical urbanism, a concept that is increasingly discussed in the world of urban planning and was the focus of this June's Science Café.

In today's world, where cities are constantly growing and developing, it is crucial to prioritise the creation of environments that are inclusive and sustainable for all their inhabitants. Tactical Urbanism offers an innovative approach to rapidly and efficiently transform public spaces, creating cities that are accessible to all residents, regardless of age, gender, ability, or social status. How can tactical urbanism contribute to inclusive and sustainable urban development and help overcome the constraints faced by city dwellers? 

Kristina Ullmannová is the Head of the Public space office at Prague Institute of Planning and Development. As an architect and urban planner, she holds a PhD. from Czech Technical University in Prague. After a career in the private sector and an international experience from Catalonia and US, she currently leads the Public space office in its efforts of creating liveable and walkable public space, adapting the city for climate change and focusing on a sustainable solution in a city environment with a wide range of interests.

Marie Joja is an academic at the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology, with a research focus on the temporary use and activation of abandoned spaces. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is the founder of studio Archipop, an architectural practice dedicated to placemaking and transient interventions.

Lieve De Cock, an architect and urban planner, founded LiPS [bridging Life.People.Space] in 2017. Her consultancy offers science-based, innovative solutions for complex spatial-social challenges at various scales, guided by a multidisciplinary and multicultural team. Passionate about building bridges between life, people, and space, Lieve formulates future-oriented proposals addressing diverse social issues. Her approach emphasizes creativity, feasibility, participation, co-creation, and communication, leading to shared visions and projects. Throughout her career, including her tenure at Eurostation where she rose to CEO, Lieve has excelled in managing complex projects and integrating social and political factors to benefit urban development. Under her guidance, LiPS consistently prioritizes sustainability and community in its projects.

The event was organised by the Delegation of Prague to the EU, Representation of the South Moravian Region to the EU, Czech Centre Brussels and Czech Liaison Office for Education and Research.

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Science Café: Tactical Urbanism

Tactical Urbanism

Launched in 2013, the JEM (Journées Européennes de la Marionnette) festival at the Théâtre Royal du Peruchet (Brussels) has grown with the success it has met each time with spectators and audiences who are curious about the puppetry arts, which appeal to as many people as possible and are of the highest creative quality. 

Over the years, the festival has established itself as Belgium’s most international puppet festival. Recognised with the European EFFE label for the 6th edition of the festival in 2022, this new edition is inviting international artists and audiences from different European and international communities to discover puppets from different cultures, as open forms that play on the diversity of the puppet arts.

The 7th edition offers a diversity of genres and shows that demonstrate the richness of this multiple art form. Paper puppets, hand puppets, shadow puppets, rods, wires, mounted puppets and objects will take us on improbable journeys, each one more improbable than the last, journeys into puppet worlds. Shows, meetings, exhibition, happenings and workshops are on the menu for this 7th edition of the festival, which highlights the need for exchange between artists and cultures in Brussels, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

This 7th edition features 19 different shows for 41 performances over 4 weekends (17-20 May, 25-26 May, 1-2 June and 8-9 June 2024), including 11 Belgian Premieres by international companies (from Germany, France, Ireland, Slovakia, USA, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, DRC Congo), a Focus on South Korea (3 companies), an exhibition and happening by the great puppet creator Matt Jackson, meetings and workshops, as well as a roundtable of UNIMA International.

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Prague Theatre B at the prestigious JEM international puppet festival

iOtesanek

The Czech Street Party is not merely a festival; it's a celebration of milestones and an occasion for cultural exchange and dialogue. This year, it commemorated 20 years of the Czech Republic's membership in the EU. Since its accession in 2004, the Czech Republic has played an integral role in the EU's cultural, economic, and political landscape. The street party serves as a testament to the European motto united in diversity.

Visitors of the Czech Street Party could discover Czech music & gastronomy. Live music performances reverberated through the Place de la Monnaie, featuring a diverse range of genres from folklore (VUS Ondráš) to modern beats (Děda Mládek Illegal Band, Support Lesbiens and Chinaski), ensuring there is something for everyone to enjoy. Throughout the event, visitors had the chance to engage with experts who shared insights into the country's history, language, and customs. Interactive quizzes accompanied the afternoon with valuable prizes to be won. On individual stands, visitors had the opportunity to get to know better various regions of the Czech Republic. The visitors of the stand of the City of Prague had the unique opportunity to visit the Czech capital from the cab of the Prague tram thanks to the tram simulator developed by the Secondary School of Transport and Prague Public Transit Company. For the youngest visitors the tradition of the Czech Puppets was presented by the Prague Theatre B.

The popular event to celebrate Czech culture, friendship, and the enduring bonds that unite us as Europeans was once again a great success.

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Czech Street Party 2024

Czech Street Party

The jazz quartet 2in2out was founded by saxophonist Nela Dusová and guitar player Jan Lacina, who are also the authors of the group’s modern
jazz repertoire. The duo of authors was joined by Adam Sikora on drums and recently also by Slovak double bassist Peter Korman. In the past few
years, 2in2out has managed to develop from an originally student project into one of the most interesting Czech jazz groups. In June 2024 the
band will release the album Living Stories on the Bivak Records label.

Nela Dusová is a Czech saxophonist and composer and belongs to the performers of the rising jazz generation. Born in Hradec Králové, she currently lives in Prague. She is a graduate of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and the Music Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Previously, she also studied Czech language and literature at the Charles University. As an author and player she co-leads two projects,
2in2out and Common Ground. She played in the Event Horizon project which was historically chosen as the first Czech band to perform at the European showcase Jazzahead! She has collaborated with many popular music interpreters and jazz big bands (Milan Svoboda and the Prague big band, Concept Art Orchestra, etc.) as well as foreign performers (Møw, Hendrika Entzian). In 2019, together with the band 2in2out, she won the Jazz Fruit competition. In 2022, Czech Radio selected her for the Euroradio Jazz Orchestra EBU. She currently teaches at two music schools (ZUŠ Otakar Vondrovice in Poděbrady, ZUŠ Vadim Petrov in Prague) and is an occasional author of music articles and interviews.

Jan Lacina is a Czech guitarist and composer based in Prague. He is a graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he studied with David Dorůžka, Štěpánka Balcarová and Jaromír Honzák. Part of the study took place at the Anton Bruckner Privätuniversität Linz in Austria, where he performed and collaborated with Peter Herbert, Aydin Esen, Stephan Braun and many others. As an author, he co-leads project 2in2out with saxophone player Nela Dusová. Jan is interested in many forms of jazz and improvised music. He is a guitarist in the swing quartet Hot
Brew, which plays dance music for communities around Europe. In 2019, together with the band 2in2out, he won the Jazz Fruit competition. He currently teaches at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory (Prague).

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PH Concert Series: Living Stories

Living Stories

Zdeňka Havlová, the head of the Office for City Analysis at IPR Prague, presented two projects that are currently underway, and both aim to help understand where Prague needs improving to become a better city to live in. The Population and Public Amenities Projections for Prague project serves as an important source material for urban planning documents, urban studies, development projects, decision-making, and funding allocation by the departments of the City Hall. In it, basic amenities, such as kindergartens, primary schools, general practitioners, clinics, senior houses, community centres, libraries, parks, children's playgrounds, cemeteries and grocery stores are analysed. The study evaluates whether the inhabitants of Prague have individual amenities within walking distance now and will in the future, up to the year 2050, when we consider the future expected population growth.

In the second presented project, the 15min Prague Application, Dr. Havlová introduced an online tool currently in development, where anyone can analyse Prague as a 15min city themselves. By overlapping all the amenities’ deficits with residential density and the quality of the street network, it will be easy to pinpoint key areas to improve. Every user can calibrate the parameters to address their particular responsibilities in the city.

The presentation was followed by a round table moderated by Jaromír Hainc, the head of the Department of Urban Development at IPR Prague. Next to him and Zdeňka Havlová, the speakers included Zdeněk Hřib, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague, Elisa Donders from perspective.brussels, and Pietro Reviglio from Eurocities. The speakers, as well as the audience, agreed that the issue of providing basic amenities is very important for contemporary cities. It is not only a question of convenience and services but also of alleviating traffic congestion and building necessary transport infrastructure. The speakers also discussed the fact that some amenities require different times and distances to be accessible, which is what IPR Prague introduced in the presentation. Finally, the attendees were asked whether they believed Brussels was a 15-minute city – and the answer was a firm yes.

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Living the 15-minute city — The Prague perspective

15-minute-city-eng

S.V.A. Trio
Alexey Aslamas – Violin, Vladan Malinjak – Viola, Šimon Marek - Violoncello
David Hysek - Sound Engineer

SVA Trio is a unique ensemble of the Czech music scene defined by its stylistic range, creativity, precision and passion. It is a formation of three renowned musicians with extensive multi-genre experience. Their compositions reflect the collective musical influences of the ensemble members and respond innovatively to life within the big city. They have named their musical style “urban fusion” a blend of jazz, funk, groove and pop and successfully released their debut album under the same name in 2021.

Alexey Aslamas, violin
He studied violin at the Brno Conservatory with prof. Bohumila Kotmel and at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Prof. Pavel Kudelásk. Under his direction, he graduated from the conservatory in 2005 with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 accompanied by the Prague Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. He continued his studies with doc. Jindřich Pazdera at AMU Prague and at the International Menuhin Music Academy Gstaad in Switzerland with maestro Alberto Lysy and Livio Prunar. During his studies, he participated in various master classes (Prof.
Semion Jaroševič, Attila Falvay, Bogdan Zvoristeanu, Mihaela Martin, Philippe Graffin, Stanimir Todorov, Ettore Causa, Hagai Shaha and maestro Maxim Vengerov). Alexey studied conducting at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in the class of doc. Hynek Farkač. His achievements include prizes from competitions in Interlaken (Switzerland, 2005), San Sebastian (Spain, 2008), Schwerin (Germany, 2010), Chamonix (France, 2011). Alexey Aslamas is actively engaged in chamber music (Pavel Bořkovec’s String Quartet, Epoque Quartet, S.V.A. Trio). In parallel, he practices the
most diverse styles from blues, through funk to psytrance and hip hop (collaboration with bands Cradle of Filth, Acute Dose, producers DJ, Opia, Sirian). As a composer and arranger he collaborates with Epoque Quartet, Apollon Quartet, Michal Pavlíček, Monika Načeva, Dara Rollins, Dasha, Chuck Wansley, DJ Wich, Štěpán Hebík 7x3. He is a conductor at StarRecordings Production and Unique Orchestra.

Vladan Malinjak, viola
He graduated from the Pilsen Conservatory (majoring in viola) in 1994. He continued his studies at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory where he deepened his appreciation of jazz (jazz department violin major). Since 2010, he has been a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician (Unique Quartet and S.V.A. trio) and cooperates on various multi-genre projects (Aneta Langerová band).

Šimon Marek, cello
He started playing the cello at the age of six with professor Jan Vychytil at the Music School of the Capital City of Prague and continued his studies with Mirko and Martin Škampa. Later on he joined the class of Jan Keller at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague, where, in addition to cello, he studied composition with professor Karel Růžička. He completed his studies at AMU Prague in the class of cellist Mikael Ericsson. In 2016, he founded his own multi-genre string quartet Unique Quartet, which performs and records both independently and in collaboration with
leading musicians and singers from the Czech and Slovak music scene. In 2020, he addressed his colleagues and friends, who have similar musical taste and desire to participate in various cross-genre projects and thus Unique Orchestra was born. In the same year he became a member of the S.V.A. trio. He is active in the successful Prague jazz-fusion formation called Ochepovsky Project, in the pop quartet De
Facto Quartet and the band Talaqpo, which focuses on alternative music. Šimon has also experience in the theater environment. With his cello he accompanied various performances such as the Concrete Garden in the Švandovo Theater or Black Black Woods by Cirk La Putyka, and also worked in the productions of the Studio DVA or ABC theater.



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PH Concert Series: S.V.A. Trio

SVA Trio

One World in Brussels is an annual showcase of a selection of documentary films from the One World festival (Czechia), currently the world's largest human rights film festival. The 17th edition of One World in Brussels took place between 15 and 19 April 2024. During the Closing ceremony the film "Patrol" was announced by the esteem jury as the winner of this year’s prize for Best Film. "Patrol", the film by Camilo De Castro and Brad Allgood highlighted the situation of indigenous communities in Nicaragua’s rainforests who try to protect their land from loggers and cattle ranchers and is a deserving winner of this year's prize for Best Film.  


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Closing Ceremony of the One World in Brusels 2024

“Let’s not turn a blind eye to the housing crisis in Europe. Rapid urbanization and migration are driving up housing costs, affecting low and middle-income households. But it’s not just about building more - it’s about exploring alternative solutions. Municipal rental agencies are stepping up to activate vacant housing stock and provide support to homeowners and those in housing need. That’s what I told my colleagues from cities and regions from across the EU. We must all be creative and tackle this pressing problem with diverse strategies...”, said Zdeněk Hřib at the 160th Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions.

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160th CoR Plenary Session

After the purely female exhibition project No Drama, which Prague's The Chemistry Gallery prepared for the Prague House in Brussels in 2021, where it presented the work of ten contemporary Czech female painters and sculptors, this gallery led by Petr Hájk comes with a show of five knights of contemporary Czech painting called Quid Pro Quo (ie an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth or just something for something). 

After the phase of manic intuitive painting, Tomáš Jetela has been concentrating on exploring the possibilities of figurative painting for the past few years, thanks to the stabilization of his health, which he is developing in many new directions in his unique way. The basis of his painting continues to be a certain drawing line, which is characteristic of many graduates of Jiří Lindovský's drawing studio from Prague's AVU. The basis of his animal painting, however, comes from the famous studio of Michael Rittstein, which equipped a number of its graduates with the ability of color-intensive and dramatic figurative expression. Jetela is characterized by a Baconian style of painting, often supplemented with collage, focusing on the psychology of the face and hand gestures. Drama gives his paintings a new addition to the landscape and a sense of eye-catching image composition. The Chemistry Gallery presented the work of Tomáš Jetela in December 2021 at the Scope art fair in Miami. In addition to the Czech Republic, he has recently exhibited in France, the USA and England, for example.

Jiří Marek's painting is characterized by a solid picturesque structure with slightly bizarre or absurd scenes, which, however, often have a basis in ancient mythology. It was his painting Quid Pro Quo that gave the title to the entire exhibition. This graduate of Prague's AVU from another legendary studio, Jiří Petrbok, has developed a characteristic painting style that is based on traditional figures, but which he uses symbolically and often in a fragmented way. The quality of his artistic expression has already been appreciated by the Romanian curator Luana Hildebrandt, who in 2021 included his works in the Travel Guide exhibition in Bucharest, Romania, alongside Romanian painters who are valued so much worldwide. The Chemistry Gallery presented his works at Berlin's Positions fair last year. It is characteristic of Jiří Marek that he builds the theme of the painting continuously during the painting process, and the resulting image of the painting thus largely depends on the author's current inspiration and intuition. His painting is not calculated, rather mystical and strongly symbolic.

Tadeáš Kotrba, another graduate of the Prague AVU, like Tomáš Jetela, first went through Jiří Lindovský's drawing studio and later Michael Rittstein's studio. It is therefore interesting to compare the approach to painting especially by these two authors. Kotrba is also characterized by a strong emphasis on the drawing line. He achieves this by layering paint on the paintings, and his drawing line thus emerges from the canvas into a light painterly relief. His favorite topics are overcoming various obstacles. Considering his personal life stage, the obstacles in the paintings are often overcome by children. However, these are obstacles that are often a challenge even for adults. In his paintings it is possible to see a kind of double aesthetic and at the same time one could tell a double story. Above the figures overcoming the obstacles, other figures hover, as if some ghosts, acting as attributes of the real characters. The aesthetics of these supernatural beings is taken from the work of father Tadeáš Kotrba, who, by including them in his paintings, artistically copes with the tragic loss of his father, the painter and sculptor Marius Kotrba. In this way, there is a strong intermingling of the work of the father and his son in his paintings.

The work of the unmistakable Jan Vytiska is characterized by exaggeration, wit and dark humor, all dressed in folk costumes and framed by the specific atmosphere of the Moravian countryside. This graduate of the Jiří Surůvka Faculty of Arts in Ostrava continues with his work the tradition of Czech drawing represented by the works of Josef Lady and Jiří Trnka and moves it into a contemporary, surrealist plane. It is often impossible not to laugh at the subjects of his paintings, which supports, similarly to Jiří Marko, the number of small details that make the experience of perceiving their paintings even richer. Although a number of disasters or supernatural phenomena occur in his paintings, the overall tone of his paintings is nevertheless relaxing and entertaining. Considering the popular motif of droopy eyes in his paintings, the exhibition titled eye for an eye would not be complete without his works. Jan Vytiska has already won the place of a classic of his genre on the Czech scene of visual art, his style is clearly recognizable and unmistakable. Last year's large solo exhibition The Ritual of Cursed Hearts at the DOX Contemporary Art Center in Prague under the curatorship of Otto M. Urban proved this. The Chemistry Gallery presented his work at the Scope art fair in New York in 2019. From this exhibition, a painting from the series Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is presented at the Quid Pro Quo exhibition at the Prague House in Brussels.

The youngest of the exhibited authors is Patrik Adamec, who graduated last year from Lukáš Rittstein's sculpture studio at the Prague AVU. He caught the attention of the general art-loving public last year with his surprising victory in the painting competition Critic's Award for Young Painting. However, the surprise was only apparent, because he submitted his innovative "sculptural paintings" to the competition in the form of reliefs, created more or less by painting techniques, which he first started creating during his internship in the painting studio of Vladimír Skrepel. It was not so surprising that it was these works of his with an overlap that the jury awarded first place. However, he does not resign himself to classical sculptural work, where he likes to work on the theme of lability. He depicts this in the form of deconstructed figures made up of various parts of the human body, which he leaves hanging loosely or just precariously placed on top of each other in accordance with the name he gave to this sculptural position. With his innovative approaches to sculpture and painting, Patrik Adamec creates an engaging artistic morphology, the development of which will certainly be interesting to watch in the near future.

All authors at the Quid Pro Quo exhibition already have a well-developed style of their own, which is recognizable at first glance. It is interesting to observe the subtle connections between the exhibited authors, which arise from their painting background. The quality of their work has world parameters, and therefore I hope and believe that we will see their work abroad more and more often. The Chemistry Gallery will definitely continue to try.

curator: Petr Hájek

Prague House
18.4. - 11.6. 2024

Book your visit: praguehouse@praha.eu



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