Czechmatediary

The Czech Republic’s tourist spot is Prague;  Slovakia has the magnificent Tatras; China has the Great Wall; Japan has the Mount Fuji and…what else? How about these images of a truly astonishing Rice-paddy art that my friend sent me? ‘The Japanese artists create the murals by planting little purple and yellow-leafed Kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed Tsugaru, a Roman variety,to create the coloured patterns in the time between planting and harvesting in September.’

Isn’t this crazy?!

CZ: Cesi se mohou vytahovat Prahou, Slovaci Tatrami, Cinane Cinskou zdi a Japonci horou Fuji…nebo jsem neco vynechala? A co takhle japonske umeni zasevani ryze (tzv. Rice-paddy art)? Tyto fotky mi poslala jedna z mych kamaradek a nemohla jsem si pomoci, nez vam je ukazat. Neni to nadhera?
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The Czech Republic is famous again! The world’s biggest panoramic photo happens to  portray the beauty of Prague. This is what the 360cities.net says about it:

‘This image a super high resolution photo. Use your mouse to zoom in and see a startling level of detail. This image is currently (as of 12/2009) the largest spherical panoramic photo in the world. It is 192,000 pixels wide and 96,000 pixels tall. That’s 18.4 billion pixels, or 18.4 gigapixels! When it’s printed, it will be 16 meters (53 feet) long at regular photographic quality (300dpi). It was shot in early October 2009 from the top of the Zizkov TV Tower in Prague, Czech Republic in collaboration with Prague 3 town hall. A digital SLR camera and a 200mm lens were used. Hundreds of shots were shot over a few hours; these shots were then stitched together on a computer over the following few weeks. (more…)

Daniela Lazarova from Radio Prague always digs out such interesting stuff. This time her article targeted the Museum of Records and Curiosities in Pelhrimov. We already know about fakir Petr who was planning on overcoming his past record at the museum by laying on hundreds of glass shards for 72 hours. This time the museum is exhibiting a 2  by 1,35 meters tapestry made by an amateur! This late-bloomer is a 46-year-old machine engineer from Slovakia who was unable to work for 4 years because of a work accident. Bored out of his mind, he kept watching ‘dumb’ TV channels until he came across a tapestry maker and decided to try it. He tried making Czech castles and various caricatures from the daily newspaper and then went on doing - now his life achievement - the Last Supper. This tapestry has over a million stitches and took him more than 9 years to finish. (more…)

My friend Kristina is such an awesome artist. She makes these amazing hand-carved silhouettes that allow the shadows of the Prague past to illuminate our life in the present. Take a look for yourself - you cannot help but fall in love with them.

Once again, this would be a great, very ORIGINAL Christmas present for your loved ones. If you decide to purchase one (like I did), you have 2 options:
A. You can buy an unframed 9 x 7 silhouette for $29.99 (plus tax)

B. You can buy the silhouette in a 8 x 10 frame for $39.99 (plus tax)

- email subscribers get a 10% discount!

- in both cases shipping and handling is not included. (more…)

This is a special month for Czechs and Slovaks because it marks a 20-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. That’s right, although Czechoslovakia does not exist anymore both countries have been enjoying 20 years of freedom! Most of the events bellow commemorate just that:

CZ: Tento mesic je pro Cechy a Slovaky velmi vyznamny, nebot 17. listopadu obe zeme slavi 20. vyroci (!!) sametove revoluce!! Ceskoslovensko sice jiz neexistuje, ale obe zeme si jiz 20 let uzivaji nadherne svobody. Vetsina zde zminenych akci si pripomina prave toto datum:

1. Baltimore, MD

What: Slavic food festival

When: Nov. 21 (more…)

Here is something for our little ones. I hand drew pictures of famous Czech cartoon characters on white T-shirts so that our kids can be the coolest kids on the block! You know how it is in style now when you wear something ambiguous on your T-shirt (the more ambiguous the better)? Then having Bob a Bobek, Krtek or Maxipes Fik on you shirt is something like that but better. No one will know what it means unless you are one of the ‘chosen’ ones :)) Here are some of the other reasons why you should get one besides the obvious coolness factor:

• you promote Czech culture
• you make your kids feel proud about their Czech roots
• you support the arts by purchasing something hand made

CZ: NOVINKA!!! Tricka pro deti s Bobem a Bobkem, Krteckem nebo Maxipsem Fikem!! Budou tak instante temi nejvetsimi frajeri na jakemkoliv hristi a navic budou podporovat ceskou kulturu a umelce na volne noze :o)

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MICHAEL BOREK is like many of us. He is Czech to the bone and lives in the US. But he is also a photographer and a great one. I asked him if he would do an interview with me and he kindly agreed to it. I suggest you go on his web site and read this interview to get a better appreciation of his wonderful work :0)

CZ: MICHAL BOREK je jeden z nas: je totiz Cech do morku kosti a zije v USA. Je ovsem take fotograf a to nejen ledajaky fotograf - je velmi nadany! Zeptala jsem se ho, jestli by se mnou neudelal rozhovor a on s tim souhlasil. Doporucuji, abyste se mrkli na jeho stranky a precetli si nize uvedeny rozvhovor - budete tak moci ocenit jeho dilo do vetsi hloubky :0)

1/ Where you into photography even during your childhood? Were your parents supportive?

Yes, I did like to take pictures as a child, but I was not very systematic. When I wanted to actually develop these photos, the things got quite complicated: I had to take out the door out of our closet, put them on top of the bathtub, then put a bunch of bowls on top, each filled with a different chemical such as the developing bath, the interrupter and the fixer; I also had to put the red light bulb in  as well as the magnifier above the washer and that was all done in a a classic communist panelak bathroom, meaning that the space was VERY limited. (more…)

A lot of Czech/Slovak stuff is going on in New York this month!! If you are a fan of classical music, then this is your month because the Czech Symphony Orchestra is touring the US. If you are more into the movie scene you can meet the dean of the the Czech University of Film (FAMU) and discuss any Czech movie either with him or with  the Czech film students that he brought along. For those who are interested in architecture, this month also introduces the exhibition of Czech cubism.

CZ: Ahoj! Hodne se toho tento mesic kona v New Yorku! Take pro priznivce klasicke hudby je toho dosti na vyber; Cesky filharmonicky orchestr totiz koncertuje po USA. Jestlize se radsi divate na televizi a bydlite ve Washingtonu, jdete se seznamit s reditelem ceske FAMU (mate take prilezitost vynadat mu za jakykoliv cesky film, ktery se vam v zivote nelibil). Pro fanousky architektury zacina tento mesic vystava ceskeho kubismu.

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Let’s talk about Entropa. For those who are not familiar with that term, it is an art exhibition, which was unveiled in Brussels at the beginning of the Czech EU presidency. Basically, it is a stylised map which depicts  all of the 27  EU countries in their “characteristic” way, but to many also in a very shocking way. The artifact managed to create a diplomatic conflict with Bulgaria which is represented on the map as a squatting toilet seat(see the picture). The creator of Entropa, a well-known Czech artist David Cerny, defends himfelf by saying that he wanted to test  whether Europe was able of self-mockery. The Czech president Vaclav Klaus did appoligize to the offended countries. The PM Mirek Topolanek, who has been lately doing a wonderful job by the way, said to this: ” We should definitelly not appologize, the artist has  done so”. He also added to it: “We Czechs often make fun of ourselves, and then we do not fully understand when others do not like it if we make fun of them”. (more…)

January seems to be a sleepy month - everyone is recovering from last year, I guess. Either way, there is still plenty to do (especially in New York!)  and if you have a Czech activity that you would like to include in this list, let me know!

CZ: Leden je mesicem ospalym, co se tyce ceskych/slovenskych akci. Lide se asi zotavuji z minuleho roku nebo co. V kazdem pripade je tu stale z ceho si vybrat a jestlize mate neco, co byste chteli na list zaradit, sem s tim!

1. North Miami, FL

What - Lecture on “Prague Coffee House Culture”

When- Jan. 18 (more…)