Signals from the Unknown. Czech Comics 1922 - 2012
8 Mar – 20 May 2013
This exhibition at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art traces the
development of Czech comics from their beginnings until the present day in the
context of historical events.
Until recently, no one in the Czech Republic took serious notice of the phenomenon of comics, even though since their very beginning they have been reflecting changes in an interesting fashion in our society and culture. The idea of the exhibition is to place a number of phenomena perceived in isolation or that have been forgotten entirely into a more general context, and to present them to the centre’s visitors.
The roots of the Czech comics tradition reach back to the middle of the 19th century, when the first satirical magazines were being founded in Bohemia and Moravia. Up to 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.
Until recently, no one in the Czech Republic took serious notice of the phenomenon of comics, even though since their very beginning they have been reflecting changes in an interesting fashion in our society and culture. The idea of the exhibition is to place a number of phenomena perceived in isolation or that have been forgotten entirely into a more general context, and to present them to the centre’s visitors.
The roots of the Czech comics tradition reach back to the middle of the 19th century, when the first satirical magazines were being founded in Bohemia and Moravia. Up to 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.
Exhibition Author
Cooperation
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
East Bohemian Gallery in Pardubice
Institute of Czech Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Philosophical faculty, Palacký University Olomouc
Curators
Tomáš Prokůpek, Pavel Kořínek
Design
Branislav Matis, Matúš Lelovský, Boris Belan
Acknowledgements
Museum of Czech Literature
National Pedagogical Museum and Library of J. A. Komenský in Prague
Moravian Museum
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
Chrudim Puppetry Museum
Artists and private owners
Legia, spol. s r.o.
Photos from the exhibition opening March 7, 2013.
