Apparently, things started off dismal and grey. The main motives for the 8jinak! association came from the controversial construction of the new town hall at Palmovka, the fate of the constructivist monument Palác Svět and Libeň bridge, and the overall urbanist development of Prague 8. But the association eventually started enjoying the work they were doing for this neighborhood. They have been organizing exhibitions, screenings, workshops and open-air concerts for their fellow citizens, and have been developing an experimental film program that is community-oriented and locally inspired. By collecting and digitalizing historical analog films, they are working towards preserving the visual memory of Prague 8. We spoke with Pavlína Kalandrová, a member of the 8jinak! association.

The St. Havel Gallery in Mladá Boleslav had its first exhibition in 2017 as part of the Noc Kostelů (Night of Churches). The initial impulse came from the availability of an unused cultural space which would be independent from the city. The motivation was to introduce a distinct alternative to the operation of the city’s cultural centers. This interview took place on 28 January, 2020 with Jonatan Hudec, Martin Herold and Jiří Dalecký who run the St. Havel Gallery.

Za Opavu – “For Opava” – is a long-running association that can be described as a multifaceted organizer of local cultural and social life in the Opava region. Its central goals are the protection of cultural patrimony, the environment and healthy living conditions in the city of Opava and its surroundings. The members of the group actively work as political cultural opposition to city leadership, offering cultural commentary on Opava and its regional planning.

The Perpedes Grant Program fosters a closer connection between artistic and cultural activities, and the daily lives of various social strata and communities, on both local and regional scales.

As part of its grant program Perpedes, the Agosto Foundation requests nominations from the general public for the support of the activities of individual artists, as well as for artistic or cultural projects.

Kazakhstan / Germany, 2016, 88 minDirector: Katerina SuvorovaCinematography: Eugen SchlegelProducers: Sain Gabdullin, Stefan Grobe and Anna Vilgelmi, KINO Company StudioLanguage: Russian / Kazakh with English subtitles

We would cordially like to invite the public to a launch of a new anthology of essays called Speculative Ecologies: Plotting Through the Mesh (Litteraria Pragensia Books, 2019). The evening will feature lectures and a live podcast.  

Trajna is a collective set up by the design duo Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Andrej Koruza. Also participating will be special guests RNDr. Jiří Sádlo, CSc. and PhD. RNDr. Kateřina Štajerová.

Lithuania / Estonia / Germany, 2017, 85 min.Direction, camera: Mindaugas SurvilaScenario: Gintė Zulyte, Mindaugas SurvilaEditing: Danielius KokanauskisSound: Mindaugas Survila, Ginte Zulyte, Radvile SumileProducers: Mindaugas Survila, Ginte Zulyte, Radvile SumileNo commentary

Borbála Soós is a Hungarian curator and art historian based in London.

Trajna is a non-governmental organisation and a collective lead by the design duo Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Andrej Koruza, who work in the fields of design, ecology and participation.

A concert programme based on Broken Music, a project by Milan Knížák from the early 1960s.

Public screenings at the Ponrepo Cinema have been cancelled for the time being. Thanks for your understanding.

High ceilings, huge windows, original hardwood floors – the grandiose proportions are supported by a functional minimalism which immediately draws the visitor’s attention. We are on the third floor of a former textile plant in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Local firm Henkai Architects has transformed it into a complex of studios, workshops and offices for creative individuals and small artistic collectives. The marriage of the architects’ vision, coupled with the generous attitude of the current owner, has given the city a new, vibrant space, perfect for exhibitions and for networking for the local arts community. We talked with Vendula Tůmová, one of the main people in charge of the informal 3. Etáž (Third Floor) collective, about what it means to create and support local alternative culture.

Bucharest based artists Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán work in a range of media spanning installation, drawing, video, and performance.⁓Simona Gottierová is a multimedia artist and was awarded the Startpoint Prize in 2018 for European students.

Gallery Na shledanou (“The Good-bye Gallery”) is located in the south Bohemian town of Volyně in the Malšička cemetery in a gallery building that was intended to serve as a funeral hall. The gallery focuses on contemporary art with an emphasis on site-specific art as well as the finality of human life. In this interview, Radoslava Schmelzová sits down with curator and art historian and Jan Freiberg to discuss the various challenges and outcomes of the project.

Prague Improvisation Orchestra performs using Adapt/Oppose, a graphic score system for improvisers created by Agosto Foundation artist-in-residence Burkhard Beins.

Sound is a medium which connects all animate and inanimate objects in the world into a network of relationships. While in the past, sound’s fleeting nature discouraged many from diving deeper into its complexities, the sheer fascination with sound of many avant-garde artists and adventurous scholars, along with the development of sound recording technologies, have greatly contributed to the increased interest in sound over the last 50 years.

In the twentieth century, the natural and social sciences alike imagined the world as composed of individuals with distinct bodies, genomes, and competing vested interests. Twenty-first-century research has shown that symbiosis is a near-requirement for life – even for Homo sapiens. Life is symbiosis “all the way down.” However, when conditions suddenly shift, once life-sustaining relationships sometimes turn deadly. The Agosto Foundation sponsored Symbiont film series is a storytelling response in times of vulnerability and radical ecosystemic changes. Each film will include a personal introduction by its creator. —Pavel Borecký, curator of Symbiont

We talked with Newton Harrison, eco-artist and cofounder of the eponymous Harrison Studio, during his recent stay in Prague, where he was scheduled to speak at the American Center on the topic of climate change and possible mitigation strategies. The interview quickly turned candid and Newton left little room for half-full interpretations of our world’s state: things are bad all over.

El Mar La MarUSA, 2017, 95 min.An immersive journey through the Sonoran Desert on the U.S.-Mexico border.Directed / Edited / Cinematography by Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. SniadeckiLanguages: English, Spanish with English subtitles.

Thinking Like a Mountain Germany, Colombia, 2018, 93 min.Written and directed: Alexander HickDirector of Photography: Immanuel HickMusic: Christian Castagno and Nacho DraultProduction: Flipping the Coin Films, Hochschule für Fernsehen und FilmLanguage: Chibcha, Spanish, German with English subtitles.

Windjarrameru, The Stealing C*nt$2015, 35 minThe Mermaids, or Aiden in Wonderland2018, 26 minConceived and produced by the Karrabing Film CollectiveDirector: Elizabeth A. PovinelliLanguage: EnglishAustralia  

Roundtable discussion with Chris Hill, Tomáš Ruller and Jennifer DeFelice on current topics in the art in post-media, post-internet and post-truth times.

At the beginning of June, a conference on the pressing theme of Art in the Anthropocene took place in Dublin, Ireland. This term, though already commonly used in the media, is still rather new and sometimes criticised.

For the 3rd annual Perpedes grant program, the foundation recieved a total of 79 nominations. The selection process took place in two rounds, resulting in the selection of 9 projects for grant support. The Foundation will support the selected associations, initiatives or individuals with a total sum of 630,000 CZK, each project receiving 70,000 CZK.

If you have ecological or other reasons for not going on the traditional pilgrimage to the Venice Biennale along with hundreds of thousands of other tourists, this June there was a good alternative right in central Bohemia. The first ever Benátky Biennial took place in the baroque spaces of the Benátky nad Jizerou chateau from 25–28 June.

They call themselves Zvěřinec (Menagerie) and all of them are natives to the Zlín region. Although they appeared on the scene not long ago, they are already very accomplished.

In the town of Vrané nad Vltavou, near a picturesque church, cemetery and parish, just above the river and its paper mill, at the very end of the winding road named V Zítkách, stands a former elementary school. It was saved from decrepitude by a group of local volunteers which later formed the Stará Škola (Old School) association.