Prague Blog

Almost every film lover knows the world-famous director Milos Forman, but when I told my American friend that Forman comes from Czechoslovakia, he was quite surprised. The director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest, Hair, Man on the Moon, Amadeus, The People versus Larry Flynt or most recently Goya´s Ghosts was born in Caslav but studied in Prague at the famous FAMU film school, then he made some successful films, of which Loves of the Blonde and The Fireman´s Ball were nominated for prestigious Oscar – American Film Academy Award. At the time when Prauge was invaded by USSR and Warsaw pact allies to end the Prauge Spring, he was in Paris and decided not go back to occupied country. He went to the U.S. and made there the jewels of world cinematography.

And did you know that Madeleine Albright, who was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State was born in Prague in 1937 as Marie Jana Korbelova? She was raised as a Roman Catholic by her Jewish parents, who converted to Christianity in order to avoid persecution. Her father was a diplomat and during the war they survived because being in London, but three of Madelaine´s grandparents died in concentration camps. In 1948, when Communists took rule over Czechoslovakia, the family decided to leave the country for good. So 11 years old Madeleine found herself in the U.S., in 1957, aged 20, she became the citizen and started to work on her political career.

Art lovers probably know Alfons Mucha, a very famous Art Noveau painter after whom is secession sometimes known also as “the Mucha style”. He was born in 1860 in small town Ivancice, close to Brno in Moravia, and later lived in Vienna and especially Paris, where he became famous for his advertising posters with famous theatrical actress Sarah Bernhard, and magazine illustrations. But later he came back to his homeland and settled in Prague. After the First World War, when Czechoslovakia got its political independence, he designed banknotes and post stamps for the new Republic. He painted the Slav Epic, a series of paintings celebrating Slavic People and designed a window for Saint Vitus Cathedral. In 1939, when Nazis took over Czechoslovakia, he was arrested by Gestapo to be interrogated for his anti-German opinions, and even he was soon released, he did not recovered from the damages caused by interrogations and died the same year. He is buried in the Slavin cemetery in Vysehrad. The name of the cemetery “Slavin” is derived from “slava” which can be translated as “fame” or “glory”. This cemetery was established in 1869 to be the place of final rest for the most prominent Czech artists, scientists and politics and public life.

Beside Alfons Mucha, there are also graves of painters Mikulas Ales, Max Svabinsky or Antonin Chitussi, football player Josef Bican, writers Josef Capek, Karel Hynek Macha or Jan Neruda, opera singer Emma Destinova, or composers Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. In Paris, they have Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, in Prague, there is, obviously much smaller, but also interesting Slavin.

A relatively young part of Prague, traditionally an area of working-class livelihoods and a place of the symbolic conflict between the old crown city and the new urbanist one. Originally a plain hill which was later turned into a vineyard, Zizkov had to wait for its status of a town until 1881. The hill is called Vitkov and it was the place of a major 1420 battle between the Hussit warlord Jan Zizka and the king’s armies. The successful warlord’s name is the basis of the name of the whole quarter and the hill is dominated by a monument of his.

The Hussit movement, called after Jan Hus, a Czech priest burned alive for his critique of the Catholic Church in 1415, is still a controversial part of the Czech history. On one hand an act of courage and a will to go against the rich and powerful Church elite, on the other a massive rampage, which drowned its modern thoughts in blood.

It played a major role in the 19th Century, mainly its second half, as the Czech nationalists (patriots we would say today) used it often as an argument of the nation’s potential, as the Czechs, between 1419 and 1434, were able to frighten the elites of the whole Europe. On the other hand and sentiments aside, the Hussits and especially Zizka, were also responsible for numerous atrocities and unjustifiable cruelty, mainly towards monks and nuns of the conquered monasteries. The movement also brought sheer destruction to what we would today call “cultural heritage” and there are historians who claim it actually postponed the reformatory process. By being so brutal and radical the Hussits prepared fertile ground for the conservatives. All the anti- reformists had to do was point at the horrors of the berserk rebel armies and used it to discredit the movement altogether. The ideas of a church close to the common man, of the elites having to strengthen ties with the people, of some amount of religious freedom, could hardly have been rejected as easily.

In my opinion the key question lies on the same level as in the case of other revolutionary movements of the past centuries: the great difference between the ethos and the realization, the question whether such a cruel and remorseless chain of events could at all be seen positively. However a different case that is, I think the moral problem is in many ways similar to that of the French Revolution.

The New Year celebrations were of course pompous. The city centre was the major backdrop of the largest festivities. What I personally found more attractive than the city centre was the area beyond Hradcany. A place I recommend to any visitor.

There is a part called Vypich. It’s high above the city, though in some distance, reachable by tram. There is a large area of plain grass. I guess the area is protected by the city magistrate plans, otherwise there would already be a lot of buildings in the place. Following a path across Strahov to Petrin, you may enjoy impressive views over a major part of the city.

A park you’d be likely to walk through is called Ladronka. It is a park that is well taken care of, there are small sporting areas and the wide road is divided between a pedestrian part and one for cyclists. In the centre of the park there’s an old household of the same name. Its recent history is well known for Prague citizens. Originally a lodging facility, it was in the city’s hands since 1922 and since the 1950’s the object was generally neglected. An unused ruin, it was taken over by squatters in 1993. The situation was more or less tolerated until 2000, when the magistrates decided they actually do want to do something with the object. A private security team with police support literally kicked the squatters out.

The fact is that the squatters turned Ladronka into a centre of alternative culture, with dozens of exhibitions, concerts or performances taking place on the premises. On the other hand, they way they acquired the object was unlawful and it would have been a show of great open- mindedness had the magistrates left them alone. Seeing the object today doesn’t make it any simpler. It is no doubt very well reconstruced, the restaurant seems pleasant and there are also other facilities in the object, so it can hardly be said it was turned into something dull. But I personally can’t oversee a loss in the case: the centre today is nice, but it’s not an alternative to many other facilities of similar kind that you may find elsewhere. A chance to make a showcase of cooperation between the official power and those who are supposed to be uncontrollable was wasted.

As a scholar and an emigrant, Jan Svejnar would have to face the suspicious, or at least cautious Czech public- if there was a direct public vote. There isn’t, so all the commentators’ speculative wordplay is directed towards the 281 legislators in Czech Parliament. The key question our MPs and Senators are to answer: is everything OK at the Prague castle or do we need a change? While it may sound paradoxical, the negative answer to the first part does not imply the same to the second.

Vaclav Klaus is the face of the early nineties economic transformation. Unlike Thatcher herself, Klaus’s Thatcherist experiments left him in fine shape and, after a brief period of insecurity, he was more or less at the top level for the last sixteen years. He is credited for kick- starting the standard political party system in CR and for doing the same with the economy- but in the latter case some of the consequences were seen as disastrous.

Svejnar has been living in the US since 1969 and he’s a professor at the Michigan University since 1996. He has higher education than Klaus, but his role in the post- 1989 politics is less visible, though he was an advisor to Václav Havel. Regarding the transformation, he had challenged Klaus from the very beginning, having worked out a conception of his own in 1989. The dispute is ongoing and fundamental, on the ideological level. Klaus as a devoted follower of Friendrich Hayek or Milton Friedman always claimed that the market should be left in peace, untouched by the state. The competition will fix all the problems. He went even further than many other liberals by understating the role of law in the establishment of the market: his market was indeed free, the question is whether it wasn’t free of rules. Svejnar promoted the role of rules of the competition.

Klaus sees the EU as a disposable and potentially dangerous institution, though he doesn’t reject the project altogether. Švejnar is in overall positive towards the concept, although he does notice the problems it faces (bureaucratization, lack of effectiveness etc.) and promotes more of concentration on effectiveness and flexibility. There’s another cleavage concerning the climate change. Švejnar is more of a moderate supporter of the eco- politics, but that makes anyone a radical in comparison with Klaus, who presents the climate change campaign as a new form of Communism.

Klaus has strong support in the public and the parliament. The public opinion is important for while the vote itself is parliamentary, the position on and conduct during the presidential election is a part of the parties’ profile. He has the last elections winner on his side and the Christian democrats likely to join. Svejnar has a not-so-reliable support of the left. The Social Democrats have really less of a problem with Klaus staying- he’s a nuisance for them, but no real harm. The Communists have even less reasons to vote for Svejnar, seen a rightist only an inch more socially aware than Klaus.

On the opposite side, there may be members of the ODS slightly fed up with their founder’s anti- European and anti- environmentalist attacks and if it is so there is hardly a more suitable counter-candidate than an experienced liberal economist. Svejnar also has the Green Party on his side, the only party that really does wish Klaus to leave the Castle.

Have you visited the Prague Zoo already? If yes, you have probably noticed one of its prides – the gorillas. And if you have not been there yet, you should know, that the place is definitely worth of a visit.

There are six gorillas. One male called Richard, three females named Shinda (which is Svahili name and could be translated as Victorious), Kijivu (again Svahili name, means Grey) and Kamba. And two young ones – a girl called Moja (means One) and Tatu (means Third). Moja was for almost one year thought to be a boy, because she was protected with her mother so no one could have checked, if she was a girl or a boy, and now it is the same with the youngest Tatu, who was born at the end of May 2007.

In November 2005 a very interesting multimedia project started, the Prague Zoo prepared it together with the Czech Television and the Czech Radio, it is called “The Revealed”, and it had three main aims: to show to the wide public successes which the Zoo has made with breeding gorillas, to help to raise some money for protecting highly endangered gorillas who live in the free nature and to offer more meaningful alternative to reality shows as Big Brother, which emerged in the commercial TV that time.

The project was very successful and popular among the wide public, it even won a Panda Award at Wild Screen Festival in Bristol, which is the most prestigious award for films about nature. It also helped to attract more visitors to the Zoo itself. So the project goes on until now.

So if you want to see what gorillas in the Zoo are doing right now, you can check the website of the Czech Radio, where you can also find more information about the project, some of them are in English: http://www.rozhlas.cz/odhaleni/portal/

Or you can go directly to the website of the Zoo: http://www.zoopraha.cz/cam_04.php It can easily happen, that after watching those gorillas online, you will feel like seeing them life.

The fastest brass band is comming back to Europe. While the Central European brass bands are in modern times a little old-fashioned for young people, on the East of Europe this genre is a symbol of temperament and colours.

Balkan brass bands play in brathtaking tempo, their music is full of wine and home-made raki and Gypsy feeling – and there is still more to discover. When the enslavement of Romania’s Gypsies ended in 1864, thousands of them moved the USA where settled in the black ghettoes. Who dares to say that our cousins didn’t help to invent jazz in America? Says Ioan, the oldes member of Fanfare. Fanfare Ciocarla gained BBC World Music Award in 2006.

The fastest brass band in the world Fanfare Ciocarlia (130 to 200 bpm) from the village Zece Prejani situated on the Rumanian-Moldavian border is one of the Balkan gypsy brass bands. Their music reflects gypsy, Turkish, Rumanian and klezmer influences.

Their popularity increasing with each new CD is documented by crowded concerts hals not only Berlin, Prague, Tokyo or New York, but Bucurest itself.

If you want to hear some brass or Roma music in Prague, this is a concert for you! Fanfare Ciocarlia / Romania 14th January 2008, 19:00. Tickets: pre-sale 400 CZK Palac Akropolis, Kubelikova 27, Prague 3

After 1918 Prague became the centre of political power and this changed its position regarding the attention, prestige, money etc. The position of Prague mayor became a prestigious one and it was given to high- profile political personalities, just like it happens in the case of the other European capitals.

Although Masaryk was a very authoritative figure, the Prague mayor was to great extent independent. This was well apparent in the case of K. Baxa, the second mayor or Prague. His conduct was increasingly anti- Roma and even anti- Semitic, showing support for the Prague anti- Jewish manifestations of 1930, organized by supporters of the Czech fascist leader Radola Gajda. No matter the pressure that arose, it was impossible to get rid of him because of his party’s strong backing, thus he remained in the position until 1937.

The main tendency was the creation of an agglomeration, said in modern terms. Suburban parts and villages were to be integrated and turned into city quarters- Vinohrady, Karlín, Smíchov, Zizkov to name the largest ones, later more remote parts like Stodulky, Hostivar or Hloubetin. The emergence of “The Great Prague” is dated to January 1, 1922, when its legislature was done. It consisted of 37 districts and tensions soon were felt- there were substantial socio- economic differences between the new quarters and this was all the more visible with the Economic Crisis which came later.

The main task was, however, solving the problems, which remained as an outcome of the World War. The key problem was unemployment and this was dealt with setting public works by the City Hall. There was massive migration into the capital and a growth in birth rate in the first half of the 1920s. The German population, after some decline just after 1918, also grew and had, in average, good jobs and high rate of education. The Jewish population experienced some growth, but it was not substantial in the context of the city as a whole.
There was a notable rise in atheism and certain decline in the interest in church schools.

Speaking of architecture, the dominating style was cubism with round modifications, represented mainly by Josef Gocar. That was followed by a wave of functionalism, an example of its early stage being Veletrzní palace (The National Gallery) by Oldrich Tyl and Josef Fuchs, soon followed by many more, often built for big insurance companies, banks etc.

Neo- historism also had some impact, mainly on many newly built university buildings and the many monuments built during the period. There were major projects in the suburban areas too: the large area of Thomayer Hospital in Prague 4 for example.

The face of the centre was changing, multi-storey buildings were replacing the old fashioned houses, there were new banks, embassies, passages… Attention slowly shifted from Na porici street to Wenceslas Square, which became the new social and commercial centre.

Many important restoration works were also taking place. Notably there was the large project of re-construction of several parts of the Prague castle, including the completion of St Vitus Cathedral.

I have just been an unintentional witness of a horrific scene, a crime scene, and I feel that I must tell you all about it. Ok, ok, I do exaggerate a bit, there was no blood what so ever and I think that no police was involved. But still, I was pretty shocked and I really felt terrible, for those who were the main actors in the play. Do you want to know what happened?

So, I was waiting peacefully for the tram at Hlavni nadrazi station (Main Railway station in English). The weather was beautiful, sun was shinning, birds were singing… Well, not really, but you know what I mean. It was a nice winter day with the Christmas atmosphere all around you. And then, quite unexpectedly, a man rushed out of a tram from the other direction. He ran very quickly for few seconds and then, surprisingly enough, he stopped immediately. He seemed very confused. He was looking for someone that is for sure, but that someone was gone. His confusion quickly turned into a deep sadness. Plus, it was obvious that he did not know what to do. Then, a woman and a boy, probably his wife and son, joint him. They all stood there, looking around. How terribly sad!

I sooooo wanted to help but it was obvious that my help came too late anyway. I think none of us has to be Columbo to see that this poor man was robbed. So please, pay an extra attention to all your things, especially valuable things. It’s Christmas time which means a harvest for all pickpockets. They are usually well-trained and organized groups from Eastern Europe. They misuse the hectic period of Advent.

So, every time you find yourself in a crowded space, especially in public transportations, near Christmas markets or tourist areas, guard your belongings! It is worth it to be little paranoid and suspicious than without money, passport or other needed things.

Christmas is coming and you still don’t feel the Christmas atmosphere. I have an idea for you. You can feel the magic, mysterious and fabulous atmosphere. Where? In the Black light theatre. What is it? Read on.

The performance with beautiful music composed by one of Hollywood’s best composers, performed by the philharmonic orchestra of Los Angeles will capture your heart. Welcome to the world of mermaids, to the world where Nature reveals its power and bunches of flowers dance. Welcome to the world without words. The world which tells you the universal story of a child. The spectators during the performance return back to their childhood and they are forced to gain control of their fear to be able to get to the very end of the spectacle. In this great performance, which combines traditional techniques with modern pyrotechnic effects, the magic of the Black light theatre reaches its peak. The performance is dedicated to people of all ages. At the end you will understand, why it is called WOW.

The Black light theatre origins in China. In those days Chinese used candle light to perform silhouette shows over white cloth screens. Sometime in 18th century the technique of silhouette show migrated to Japan where it began to be used in the traditional Japanese puppet theatre “Bunraku”.

At the beginning of cinematography, when cinema techniques were in their infancy, a lot of artists (George Melige among them) used the black light technique to express their images which had in their mind. The modern black theatre origins in 50’s, mainly thanks to French avant-garde artist George Lafaille, who is often called “the father of black light theatre”. At that time, an ultraviolet lamp was invented and became ‘in’ in 60’s and 70’s for “hippies” era, young people, who looked for new colours as a symbol for a term freedom.

At the same time in Prague a new magical theatre language was developed. It means the new kind of theatre providing capabilities and colours which had never been seen before. After the anti-communist revolution in 90’s many Czech artists began to promote the black light theatre again. They contributed to its present dignified reputation and declared Prague as the capital of the Black light theatre. Nowadays nine black light theatres are active in Prague. WOW is the youngest of them but it is the biggest and most modern one.

Tickets are available at the websites www.wow-show.cz at the price of 550 CZK (18,3 €). The address is: Theatre Blanik, Vaclavske namesti 56, Prague1.

The year 2008 is a year of Summer Olympic Games which will take place in Beijing. The year 2008 is also a year of 11th tour of the Grand Chinese New Year Concert. Wu Promotion presents the China Traditional Orchestra Guangdong for the first time in Europe.The year 2008 is according to the Chinese horoscope the year of the Rat and this tour is for the year of the Rat and will visit eight cities in five countries – Stuttgart, Lucerne, Munich, Antwerp, Stuhr/Bremen, Hanover, Prague, and Vienna. In Prague this unique concert will be held on 1st February 2008 in Music Theatre Karlin.

2008 is an extraordinary year, because China hosts the long-awaited Olympic Games in Beijing. While the Games in August will draw guests from around the world to China, the Grand Chinese New Year Concert will bring a piece of China to Europe. The Concert will introduce Chinese culture to the world before China’s Olympic debut on the world stage, emphasizing the close link between culture and sport.

This year’s Orchestra is led by the world renowned Chinese conductor Maestro Hu Bingxu, who is from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong (Canton). In the past he has conducted the best traditional orchestras in Asia.

Traditional Chinese music from Guangdong is the main focus of this year’s concert. Guangdong music lively captures minor aspects of life and expresses complex emotions and passions. To fully appreciate our experience we should not try to only follow the main themes of life but also trivial trifles which bring a feeling of happiness and relaxation.

Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) starts with the first new moon of the first month of the lunar calendar. In 2008, the lunar new year will fall on 7 February, ushering in the Year of the Rat and beginning a new twelve–year cycle. People born under the sign of the Rat are ambitious, naturally intelligent, faithful to their families, hardworking and creative. Years of the Rat are: … 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008…, and some of the famous people born under the sign of the Rat: William Shakespeare, W.A. Mozart, Winston Churchill, George Washington, Henry Dunant, Queen Elizabeth I., Lev Tolstoi, Louis Armstrong, Marlon Brando, Doris Day, Clark Gable, Hugh Grant, Gene Kelly, Olivia Newton-John, Ursula Andress, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gerard Depardieu, …

This unique concert in Music Theatre Karlin is under the aegis of the Mayor of Prague Pavel Bem and Her Excellency Huo Yuzen, envoy extraordinary of People’s Republic of China in the Czech Republic.

Tickets are available at these websites: http://vstupenky.ticket-art.cz/ and there you can also get to know sale places of the tickets.