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Press Release / 7 March 2013
Signals from the Unknown.
Czech Comics 1922 – 2012
8 March – 20 May 2013
Following its Brno premiere, the successful
exhibition Signals from the Unknown. Czech
Comics 1922 – 2012 will be shown at
Prague’s DOX Centre for Contemporary Art.
This extensive exhibition featuring over 300
originals, prints and items related to Czech
comics worlds traces the ninety-year history
of Czech comics as an independent narrative
genre.
Until recently, the evolution of comics media in the Czech Republic was more or less
uncharted. The roots of our domestic comics tradition reach back to the mid-nineteenth
century, when the first satirical magazines began springing up in the Czech environment. Until
the 1930s, the development of this format linking visual and verbal elements was similar to
that in other European countries. The rise of fascist and then Communist regimes subsequently
both interrupted and distorted the natural evolution of comics. Despite this, the domestic
comics tradition never quite died out, occasionally taking on distinctive, even bizarre forms
that differed markedly from those familiar in countries with an established comics tradition
such as the USA, France and Italy.
The aim of this exhibition, prepared by the curatorial
duo of Pavel Kořínek and Tomáš Prokůpek, is to
investigate the domestic comics tradition in the
context of historical events, and place a number of
phenomena that have been forgotten or up to now
perceived in isolation, into a more general context.
The thematically organized exhibition examines
Czech comics from various perspectives and focuses
on dominant genres and main protagonists, while
also reminding us of less popular or almost forgotten
authors and connections.
Thanks to loans from dozens of institutions from throughout the Czech Republic and a number
of authors and private collectors, an extensive and representative set of original pages of
comics from all periods of Czech comics was assembled.
At the start of the third millennium, Czech comics underwent a revival. The current generation
of authors is establishing contacts with world events, is reacting to the latest trends, and in the
domestic context, is for perhaps the first time creating freely, unbound by oppressive
censorship or cultural and social rejection. At the same time, comics are at least partly
succeeding in breaking down stereotypical notions that that they are only for children or trivial
light reading. As the self-confidence (and self-respect) of Czech comics grows, we are slowly
beginning to investigate both the more and less celebrated periods of their history. The
exhibition is open to the public until 20 May 2013.
High resolution photos are available for download at : http://www.dox.cz/cs/press
On the occasion of the exhibition, an extensive collective monograph is being published by
Arbor Press.
Curators: Tomáš Prokůpek, Pavel Kořínek
Exhibition’s author: The Brno House of Arts
Design: Branislav Matis, Matúš Lelovský, Boris Belan
Collaboration:
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
East-Bohemian Gallery in Pardubice
Institute of Czech Literature AS CR
Philosophical Faculty of Palacký University in Olomouc
PUBLIC EVENTS
Guided tours with DOX lecturer and educational programme for schools, families and other
interested groups can be booked upon request in English. For more information please visit
www.dox.cz.
Information on the exhibition
Tomáš Prokůpek
T 732 943 757, E [email protected]
Pavel Kořínek
T 604 864 459, E [email protected]
Media Contact
Michaela Silpochova
Public Relations
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Poupetova 1, 170 00, Prague 7
T +420 295 568 113, M +420 774 222 355
E [email protected], W www.dox.cz
Opening Hours: Mon 10–18, Tue closed, Wed-Fri 11–19, Sat-Sun 10–18.
The DOX Centre premises are adapted for wheelchair access
DOX Centre Partners: Zdeněk Bakala, Hlavní město Praha, MK ČR, Česká pojišťovna,
TECHO, a.s., Premiant City Tour s.r.o., Poster Infinity s.r.o.
DOX Centre Media Partners: Česká televize, Hospodářské noviny, RESPEKT,
Media Marketing Services, Art&Antiques, České noviny.cz, Prague Events Calendar