 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||
Magazine
   |
Quarterly Magazine on the Czech Section - Expo 2005 Aichi, No.3 January 2004EditorialLadies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, Last year was quite trying for us but I am glad that we have met all of our obligations with honor. I would like to thank Cyril Svoboda, Minister of Foreign Affairs and his entire ministry, as the organizer of the Office of the General Commissioner, for their patronage and support. These thanks are of course also extended to the government of the Czech Republic and in particular to the Prime Minister, Mr. Vladimír Špidla. moreThe General Commissioners' First MeetingFrom November 17 to 19, 2003, Vladimír Darjanin, the General Commissioner of the Czech Republic for Expo 2005, took part in the first meeting of general commissioners from all 121 countries participating in Expo 2005. The conference with its 250 official delegates was chaired by Mr. Taizo Watanabe, the Expo 2005 Commissioner General. moreCzechs at World Expos - Part IIINot long after it came into force, the Czechoslovak Republic signed the "Convention Relating to International Expositions." This took place on February 9, 1932 and the first exposition that Czechoslovakia participated in as a full-fledged member of the International Expositions Bureau (BIE) was the 1933 Century of Progress exposition in Chicago, which was reopened for a second year in 934. The Great Depression had a major impact on the number of international participants and in the end only fourteen countries - including Czechoslovakia - had their own national pavilions. Czechoslovak participation was administered by Dr. Josef Matoušek, the Minister of Industry, Business and Trade and the government commissioner was Dr. Ladislav Turnovský. The exposition committee gave Czechoslovakia a location in the northern part of the exposition grounds - in the very heart of events. From the main gate, the throngs of visitors moved along the main thoroughfare, the Avenue of Flags to the Sky Ride cable car. The Czechoslovak Pavilion was located just before the visitors arrived at the Sky Ride. Its neighbors included Sweden and - across the Avenue of Flags - Italy, with Soldier Field football stadium located right behind the pavilion. moreGolf in the Czech RepublicAlthough it may seem like a paradox, it is possible to go further in fourteen years than in a century - at least as far
as Czech golf is concerned. Following the fall of Communism in 1989, this persecuted game of aristocrats has spread across
the Czech lands with the speed of a well struck drive. A History of World Expositions - Part IIIThe idea of inviting the countries of the world to the Belgian kingdom's capital to compete against each other without weapons came just two years after the most monstrous hetacomb in the history of humanity. This post-war euphoria however soon passed away as the world became irrevocably polarized. The beginnings of the Cold War almost destroyed the plans for a world exposition and the event had to be postponed from 1955 to 1958. The invitations sent out by the Belgian government in 1954 emphasized the role of individuals in the world and everything was to be first and foremost looked at in human scales. The main theme of the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles (unofficially Expo '58) was "A World View - A New Humanism." Almost fifty countries and various international organizations (including the United Nations, the Vatican, the Order of Malta, the International Red Cross, the European Coal and Steel Community, the Council of Europe and the European Payments Union) came together in one of the centers of European culture from which would come the impulse for European integration (the European Economic Community and Euratom). moreJapanese CollectionsThe sharp-eyed visitor to Czech castles and chateaus will certainly have noticed that here and there in these buildings there will objects of Japanese provenance on display. Since the end of the seventeenth century it has been very fashionable for members of the nobility - if they could afford it - to own an object, if not an entire room, of Oriental provenance and of course Japan is a part of the Orient. And so at chateaus in places such as Mělník, Český Krumlov, Veltrusy, Nelahozeves, Libochovice, Lednice and even in the Sternberg Palace at Prague Castle, it is possible to find not only Japanese porcelain and lacquerware but even entire rooms decorated in Chinese or Japanese styles. moreManga or Japanese ComicsSome people think that comic books are a marginal genre only of interest to children and teenagers. This is definitely not the case in Japan. Comics or manga are read by all age groups - in fact some manga series are specifically directed at specific age groups. Manga are also read by all social groups - in this sense there are also specifically targeted manga, from serious works with historical themes (or the transformation of a classic work of literature into manga form) to pornographic manga. Some manga are even educational in focus, for example teaching appropriate behavior in the workplace. moreThe Japanese like the Czech RepbulicAnswers by Martin Jahn, Managing Director of the CzechInvest Agency. moreA Unique Chair MakerThe carpenter and furniture designer Michael Thonet (1796-1871) initially made furniture in his hometown of Boppard in Germany's Ruhr region. He became an innovator and promoter of the then unknown technique of making furniture using wood bent in a steam bath or boiling liquids. When his products received a bronze medal at the World Exposition in London in 1851, Michael Thonet began to consider the possibility of moving from making limited editions to large-scale factory production. The firm of the Brothers Thonet set up their first factory in 1857 in the Moravian town of Koryčany, which was surround by large beech forests. This was followed by additional factories in the eastern Moravian towns of Bystřice pod Hostýnem and Vsetín, he latter of which is the home of the fame chair number 14. For more than 150 years, this chair has been a part of many Czech households, evidence of the exceptional durability over time of Thonet products. moreCzechs can be proud of themselvesDuring a working meeting within the framework of preparations for Czech participation in the EXPO 2005 World's Exposition in Aichi, Japan, we asked the several questions of the Commissioner General of this exposition. Before Taizo Watanabe became Commissioner General, he worked at diplomatic missions in a number of countries. moreWelcome to the Czech Republic's RegionsEven though in terms of size the Czech Republic is one the smaller countries in the world, I am convinced that its name and reputation are well known far beyond our borders. I am also quite certain that it only takes the mention of a few names from Czech history (Charles IV, Hus, Comenius or Masaryk), from the arts (Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, Mucha, Čapek or Kundera) or from sport (Zátopek, Čáslavská, Navrátilová, Jágr or Nedvěd) for the majority of people to know which is the country in question. moreMitsubishi: Twice in SlanýWhen they say "Mitsubishi" in the Czech Republic, most people think of the high quality and relatively expensive make of cars with the "three diamonds" as its symbol. It is therefore not surprising that only about 750 people in the Czech Republic bought cars from this manufacturer in the first nine months of this year. But this association isn't true everywhere. When they say "Mitsubishi" in Slaný, a town of 16,000 located 32 kilometers northwest of Prague, everyone thinks about several manufacturing halls in which two companies with Japanese capital employ more than 200 people. moreQuo Vadis, Czech Fashion?As Mark Twain once said (and Jan Werich later sang), "Clothes make the man." This is of course a profound truth. But the question remains how do Czech clothes make the Czech man (or woman). To answer this we need to look a bit further back into history. moreLet Us PresentAdvisory Board more |
