The conception of the participation of the Czech Republic at the World Exposition EXPO 2005 AICHI includes a number
of additional programmes and special events during the exposition, which should present the contemporary Czech culture
in detail.
The events will be planned with regard to the Japanese visitors and to our traditional cultural branches. It must also
be underlined that the artists, ensembles and works of art introduced in the individual sections of this chapter are
mentioned only as examples and their final selection will be made with the help of professional juries on the basis
of selection procedures.
Czech Music Week
"The Czech Music Week" has been conceived as a showcase for top, Czech interpreters of classical music - young
soloists and chamber ensembles representing the next generation of musicians. The expert committee charged selecting
these interpreters included representatives from prestigious institutions such as the International Music Festival,
Prague Spring, the Bohuslav Martinů Institute and the Ministry of Culture CZ.
The Czech Music Week will take place from 23 to 29 May 2005. Most concerts (approximately 5-7) will be held in the Expo
Hall, a concert hall with 500 seats, currently being built at the exhibition grounds. Two other concerts will be held
in the City of Ottawa, which became the Czech Republic's partner city as part of the "Aichi Hospitality" project, and at
least one concert at the Czech Embassy in Tokyo.
Interpreters selected to take part in Czech Music Week include:
Chamber orchestra - the winner of the radio competition for young chamber orchestras, Concerto Bohemia 2004, held by Český rozhlas each year (the winner will be known by mid-June of this year)
Adam Skoumal - piano
Jiří Vodička - violin
Roman Patočka - violin
The Martinů Trio
The Smetana Trio
The Herold Quartet
The Martinů Quartet and more
Week of Czech Film
During the Week of Czech Film the visitors of EXPO 2005 will see the best films, which arose in the Czech film industry
after the year 1989, and those films from the previous period, which were internationally successful. We will introduce
Czech, or Czechoslovak films, which obtained the price of the American Film Academy (Oscar) or were nominated for it - Obchod
na korze (The Shop on Main Street, Kadár, Klos), Ostře sledované vlaky (Closely Watched Trains, Menzel), Kolja (Svěrák),
Vesničko má středisková (My Sweet Little Village, Menzel), Obecná škola (The Elementary School, Svěrák) a Musíme si pomáhat
(Divided We Fall, Hřebejk), price-winning Czech films at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary and all films
awarded by the annual national film price Czech Lion in the category of the best film. Part and parcel of the show will
be additional events promoting the publicity of Czech film in Japan. We would like to inspire a separate publication devoted
to the new generation of film authors and to Czech cinematography. The Week of Czech Film will not take place in the Czech
Pavilion at the EXPO 2005. We will negotiate about introducing the film show at administrative centres in Osaka and
Nagoya and at other places in Japan.
The five accompanying and special events organised during the Czech Republic's participation at the EXPO 2005 World's
Exposition in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi will include a significant presentation of Czech artistic glass in Japan.
This accompanying programme is not directly connected to the Czech pavilion at Aichi; it will take Czech artistic glass
out of the exposition grounds.
Czech glass has traditionally enjoyed a very strong position on the Japanese market and is very popular. Czechs have
not only initiated the development of modern glass, but most of them have kept pace with the most progressive tendencies
of the field for decades, and have therefore greatly contributed to the development of the artistic field. Japanese
culture-loving public still remembers the great creative potential of Czech glass artists who first presented themselves
in Japan, in any complex manner, at Osaka EXPO ´70. Among them were primarily the works of Jaroslava Brychtová,
Stanislav Libenský or René and Miluše Roubíček.
Activities pertaining to Czech artistic glass will be conceived as an exposition of the best of all generations, including
the youngest artists. The programme will also reflect the Czech-Japanese co-operation in recent years.
The best of Czech glass will be presented at a touring exposition, "Captured Light and Space". The first stop of the
show will be the city of Toyama in the prefecture of Toyama, from August 26 to September 25.
Thirteen years ago, the art-loving city of Toyama undertook an extremely demanding project of gradually building a glass-arts
centre, with a school, private glassworks, studios and a glass museum. The Toyama City Institute of Glass Art (T.I.G.A.)
was founded with the aim to support talented glass artists. From the very beginning, T.I.G.A. has co-operated with Czech
glass artists who are the leaders of a studio specialising in cold techniques (Vladimír Klein 1991-94, František Janák
1995-67, Josef Marek 1997-2000, Pavel Mrkus 2000 - August 2005). In this studio, students gradually get acquainted with
the basic traditional and modern practices of glass-cutting, polishing and engraving. Every spring and autumn, weekly
glass-making symposia are held in the school on a regular basis, in which Czech glass artists participate (Stanislav
Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová - 1995, Eva Vlasáková - 1996, Jaroslav Matouš - 1997, Dana Zámečníková and Marián Karel
- 1998, Marian Volráb - 1999, Bohumil Eliáš - 2000, Daniel Hanzlík - 2001, Vladimír Kopecký - 2002).
The show, "Captured Light and Space," will thus tie into well-developed work relations of Japanese and Czech artists.
Planned activities in Toyama:
From August 26 to September 25, the show "Captured Light and Space" will be exhibited in the Shimin Plaza city
gallery, in the centre of Toyama. The main curator of this show will be PhDr. Sylva Petrová, who will closely co-operate
with the Office of the General Commissioner for Czech Republic's Participation at the EXPO World's Fair.
The show will feature some 45 objects, putting emphasis primarily on more sizeable glass sculptures.
The show will tie into the second occurrence of the Toyama international exposition of artistic glass
- Contemporary Glass Triennial.
Other activities include the "International Symposium of Czech Artistic Glass", which will take place in the
Shimin Plaza city gallery. The symposium will feature lectures by PhDr. Sylva Petrová, about Czech artistic glass.
As part of this project, two one-week glass-making symposia will take place at the Institute of Glass Art Toyama
- T.I.G.A. (August 27 to September 1, and September 2 to 9). Two Czech glass artists will take part in those symposia,
who will not only lecture, but also demonstrate working with glass in practice.
Other planned stops of the show "Captured Light and Space"
Tokyo
Kyoto
Kurashiki
Ecological system exhibition in the Czech Republic
The ecological project originated based on a request by the Office of the General Commissioner for the international EXPO 2005
exhibition in Japan. In the project, authorised by the Ministry of the Environment, the Czech Republic focused its content on
ecological systems, which are a relatively new means of renewal of the nature and landscape of our country.
The Czech Republic ecological system exhibition in Tokyo presents a unique approach by a European and international standard to
the conceptual and systematic solution of the issue of the protection of nature in the cultural landscape. It clearly and
understandably explains professionally determined rules for the choice of areas (spaces, territory), which will be "returned to
their natural or close-to-nature states" in the form of building blocks of an ecological system - bio-centres and bio-corridors.
Part of the exhibition is also a graphic description of the processes of proposal, discussion and implementation of bio-centres
and bio-corridors on the territory of the Czech Republic, including samples of projects and their implementation, supplemented by
photographs.
Visitors also have the opportunity to try and propose ecological systems in a simplified form using a computer game.
In a film contribution dubbed into Japanese, visitors can familiarise themselves with the development and transmission of
ecological systems on the big screen.
The concept of the methodology, design and implementation of ecological systems in the Czech Republic corresponds in essence to
the newest method of countryside planning in various European countries and in some parts of the USA. The manner of methodological
safeguarding and level of detail of formulation in the Czech Republic, however, is totally unique within the European context.
Experience with the issue of ecological systems will certainly be able to be used within the framework of further expected steps
in the European ecological system program, known to the professional public as EECONET.
The ecological system exhibition will enable the wider population to understand the basic aims of this system in the
countryside - an increase in bio-diversity and the possibility of migration of various species of plants and animals.
Exhibition of Czech creative arts - "The Nature's Mirror"
"The Nature's Mirror" exhibition is conceived as a touring exhibit and is one of the accompanying programs, which will introduce
the Czech Republic at the EXPO 2005 in the Japanese Aichi prefecture. The exhibition will take place in Tokyo and in the partner
city of Ottowa in May of next year.
The aim of the "Nature's Mirror" exhibition is to introduce the many kinds of perceptions of people and nature to the public in
the works of 10 current Czech artists. Each author will be represented so that topic grasping as well as the quality of their own
artistic position will be clearly shown. The emphasis of the exhibition is laid on paintings supplemented by photography, video and
multimedia installations.
The three substantive and accompanying ways of natural themes in current art ‑ concept, event, meditation - will be the basis
of the exhibition.
Mr. Marek Pokorný, director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno has been appointed as a curator of the exhibition. The exhibition will
be accompanied by a catalogue in Japanese and English versions.
Exposition's grouping and selection of authors
Meditation
Jan Merta (painting)
Markéta Othová (black and white photography)
Concept
Tomáš Císařovský (painting)
Václav Stratil (painting)
Zbyněk Baladrán (video)
Jana Kalinová (colour photography, object)
Event
Jiří David (painting)
Lukáš Jasanský / Martin Polák (black and white photography)
Jiří Černický (video installation)
The exhibition will be accompanied by catalogue in the Japanese and English versions.
During the weekly presentation, the Expo visitors will be introduced to individual regional districts of the Czech Republic,
as well as the capital city of Prague. Some regional districts will prepare and stage their own programs and presentations, which
will fit within the concept of the Czech Republic's participation. There will be an information catalogue made describing the Czech
Republic's districts, as well as souvenirs. In preparation of district presentation, the KGK will collaborate mainly with the
regional district authorities.
Czech National Day - 24 June 2005
Czech culture, and in particular Czech music, is one of the areas where Czechs have achieved the highest accolades on the international scene. It
has created for itself such a strong position in Japan over the past century that Czech musicians are on Japanese stages virtually non-stop. For this reason
it was an obvious choice to present the best of Czech music from the past three centuries at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. The ideal opportunity for
such a presentation is clearly the Czech National Day, which will be held on June 24, 2005 in three of the exhibition ground's halls: the Expo Dome (the
opening ceremony and closing gala concert that evening), the Expo Hall (a chamber jazz concert) and the Global Commons 4 Event Space (children's
choir and a folklore group).
The program for the Czech National Day was developed by the members of the Committee for the Czech National Day and Czech Music Week at Expo 2005.
The main goal of the organizers was to present a wide spectrum of various genres of Czech musical culture from different regions of the Czech Republic,
including children's choirs, folklore groups, jazz and classical music. In selecting a children's choir the commission worked with a desire to present a
choir in Japan that had not yet appeared there on any of its concert tours. The committee selected "Severáček" (Little Northern) from among the nominated
and entered choirs. This choir comes from Liberec in northeastern Bohemia (currently led by choirmasters Silvie and Petr Palka) and has been one of the
best Czech children's choirs for quite some time. They have appeared in 22 European countries, the United States, Syria and Jordan and have also won
more than twenty first prizes at important Czech and foreign competitions. They have a broad repertoire that includes the most challenging Czech and
foreign compositions but one that is also rich in folk songs. Presenting Czech and Moravian folklore in one day while still showing the exceptional variety of
its music, dance and costumes is a virtually insoluble problem. From among the many groups, the committee's members selected "Valašský vojvoda"
(Wallachian Voivode) song and dance folklore troupe from the village of Kozlovice. This group was established in 1970 and its performances contain
the traditions, customs and dances of the Lašsko-Valašsko (Lachia-Moravian Wallachia) border region, in particular from the area around Ondřejník, a
mountain in the Moravian Beskyd Mountains. The group takes its name from the ancient Slavic name for Wallachian military leaders. Not far from Kozlovice
is the village of Hukvaldy where the composer Leoš Janáček was born. While at Hrabiš's pub in Kozlovice, Janáček sketched snippets of what would come
to be the well-known Lach Dances (the original name of which was "Wallachian Dances"). Here Janáček also took notes on the local dances and
songs. Many of these are performed by Valašský vojvoda on their present tour. A bagpipe section is also a part of the group and is led by the piper
Vlastimil Bjaček.
The Emil Viklický Trio with the singer Zuzana Lapčíková will appear in the afternoon in the Expo Hall. These musicians combine jazz elements with harmonic
and rhythmic elements typical for Moravian folk music in a highly original way.
The Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK will perform at the gala concert that evening. During Expo 2005, they will be on tour in Japan with their conductor
Petr Altrichter. The concert will be a varied assortment of shorter compositions and selections from longer works by Czech authors from the eighteenth
to twentieth centuries. The compositions were selected with the main theme of Expo 2005 – Nature's Wisdom – in mind. Thus the focus is on
Czech music that reflects natural themes.
Soloists appearing at the gala concert will be leading younger Czech artists. The soprano Martina Janková, a soloist with the Zurich Opera, will perform
arias from Leoš Janáček's opera The Cunning Little Vixen, Bohuslav Martinů's opera Ariadna and two compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
that are connected with Prague: the aria "Bella mia fiamma," which was composed for Josefina Dušková, and "Parto, parto" from the opera La Clemenza
di Tito, where Janoková will by joined the outstanding Czech clarinetist Ludmila Peterková on the basset horn. Peterková will also play the solos from the
clarinet concerts by František Vincenc Kramář-Krommer, František Anton Rössler Rossetti, Jan Václav Kalivoda and Mozart, whose Concert in A for
Clarinet was premiered by Anton Stadler in Prague in October 1791. The leading Czech cellist Jiří Barta will perform Antonín Dvořák's Silent Woods and
portions of Dvořák's and Martinů's cello concertos and perhaps even Karel Popper's tarantella. The violinist Hana Kotková, a Prague Spring International
Music Festival Competition laureate, will perform a mazurka and romance by Dvořák, Martinů's Czech Rhapsody scored for violin and orchestra and one
movement from a violin concerto by Josef Mysliveček.
These concerto works will alternate with orchestral compositions by Dvořák (overture to In Nature's Realm and selections from Slavonic
Dances), Bedřich Smetana (Vltava, From Bohemia's Forests and Meadows, and "Skočna" and "Polka" from The Bartered Bride),
Janáček (Sinfonietta and The Cunning Little Vixen) and Martinů (Parabola).
The evening's directors are Vladimír Darjanin and Jiří Nekvasil, the sets are being designed by Daniel Dvořák. The evening will be divided into
two 45 minute halves and will have two masters of ceremonies, one Czech (the leading Czech expert on Japan Martin Vačkář has been
approached) and one Japanese.
The street theater group Continuo will also take part in the Czech National Day, holding a number of short performances throughout the
day. When not performing the troupe's members will move about the exposition grounds (mostly on stilts) advertising the Czech National Day.
Members of the Committee for the Czech National Day at Expo 2005:
Dr. Anna Chorvátová (Ministry of Culture), Mgr. Lenka Lázňovská (IPOS ARTAMA), Ing. Roman Bělor (Prague Spring International Music Festival), Mgr. Aleš Březina (the
Bohuslav Martinů Institute), Antonín Matzner (Prague Spring), Dr. Václav Bechyně (independent advisor), Mgr. Vladimír Darjanin (OGC), and Jaroslav Manda (OGC)
The preparation and the exposition
