Jana Kerhartová Play, playfulness and humour in the practice of the Art Gallery H Abstract This thesis presents activities of an unofficial private art gallery which operated in Kostelec nad Černými lesy in the 1980s. The research for the paper combined the oral history method, work with visual and textual archives and (visual) semiotic analysis. The aim of the research was to describe the activities of The Art Gallery H and to verify the possibilities of didactic transformation of some chosen aspects into visual arts education. The data, especially interviews with witnesses, historical documents, artworks and school lessons have the character of utterances in the poststructuralist context. Memories of the time and the alternative community viewed through the lens of today bring us important information about the present as well. Clandestine culture arisen in the totalitarian regime brings a new perspective into issues such as freedom, focus of our activities, relation to the establishment, ethics. The main concept that interconnects the whole thesis is the relation between humour, play and art creation. This motive is also important for the context of visual arts education.The outputs of the research were presented in the book Humour and Play in The Art Gallery H and at the exhibition of the same name...

This thesis deals with the questions of urban planning and building activity in the time of the Second World War. The research topic of the single case study is Prague in the period of Nazi occupation between March 1939 and May 1945. The aim of the thesis is to challenge the simplifying interpretation of occupation as a period without any building activity. The simplifying interpretation usually explains the low number of built objects being caused directly by the occupants' long term plans with Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia. The thesis tries to challenge this interpretation and using the examples of built objects of the traffic infrastructure and industrial buildings, it shows the ongoing building. The first part shortly summarizes the concepts of Nazi architecture and town planning and connects them with long-term plans with the occupied territories of South-eastern Europe. The second chapter concentrates on the Nazi concepts and plans for remaking Prague and introduces the problematics of building activities during occupation. Based on archival research, the examples of building activity of traffic infrastructure and industrial buildings are shown in the third chapter. The conclusion summarizes the results of the research and critically evaluates the outcomes of the thesis. The thesis is based on...

This master thesis maps out events and processes which are connected with the resurgence of the Woodcraft league of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. It deals with woodcraft community and affiliated groups that intensified their activities during the last years of the period of normalization in Czechoslovakia. After the Velvet revolution, these groups and individuals represented basis for the resurgence of the Woodcraft league. Furthermore, this paper describes concrete steps connected with this resurgence, introduces prominent actors of this process and tries to explain their major steps. It does not omit controversial events, neither ideological cleavages linked to the resurgence of the organisation, which was gagged more than 40 years. Finally, this final thesis puts the focus on the evolution of the organisation during its first modern period when it has succeeded in establishing itself within the Czechoslovakian society marked by a newly gathered freedom, an uncritical euphoria and by the subsequent return to reality. The information for this study was collected using the method of oral history, more specifically through interviews with prominent actors of these events. Collected findings were subsequently compared with information from other written sources...

Ceramic Sculpture in Prague Interwar Architecture This thesis project from the field of art history is dedicated to the use of ceramic sculpture in the architecture of the first Czechoslovak Republic. It puts an emphasis on so called "national style", which is defined theoretically in the first place and then explained in the context of the artistic development in Czechoslovakia and, more generally, the international art deco current. Separate chapters describe the role of Czech art schools and the significant personality and work of Helena Johnová. The scope of the research is limited to the monuments located in Prague, but it also takes into account important commissions situated outside the city, as well. A catalogue of ceramic sculpture associated with the Prague architecture of the concerned period forms part of the study. Keywords National Style, Ceramic Sculpture, Czechoslovakia, First Czechoslovak Republic, Helena Johnová, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague Počet znaků (včetně mezer): 128 268

This diploma thesis deals with the reception of the newly established Czechoslovakia by the British press from 1918 to 1922. My task was to find out how often and in what context did Czechoslovakia appear in the press and what was the difference between the image of the republic in each newspaper. Secondarily, my task was to evaluate the success of the Czechoslovak propaganda in Britain. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part presents the context of the emergence of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-British diplomacy aims and cultural propaganda in the given period. One chapter is dedicated to the history of the British press and includes profiles of the journals examined. The practical part incorporates both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Four broadsheets in total were analysed; The Times, The Manchester Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and a Sunday newspaper The Observer. Quantitative content analysis of The Times was used to determine the frequency, the length and the interest of the mentions of Czechoslovakia as well as the theme of the articles. Based on the quantitative analysis, sample time periods were selected for the qualitative section. The qualitative analysis further deepens the quantitative part and presents the explicit and implicit attributes that Czechoslovakia was...

Czechoslovak housing estates built in the last two decades of state-socialism can be viewed as a socialist spatial entity with its own uniqueness and local characteristics specific to the circumstances of socialist Czechoslovakia during the "normalisation" era. These housing estates appeared from the beginning of the 1970s in big cities such as in Prague and Bratislava provided a new kind of living space for the residents. The ideas behind the creation of these estates were not only related to their physical appearance which shows the direct connection to modernist architecture, but also the aspiration of socialist ideologues to make a positive change in the name of socialist modernisation. Although the post-war socialist centralization of the Czechoslovak state and architectural practice endorses the notion of collective endeavour, the construction of housing estates for all as a part of the "building of socialism" program was attacked by contemporary critiques as providing the premises for the citizens' retreat into the private sphere. These estates could be argued to have caused a psychological impact and worked to shape a new lifestyle and mentality of the residents whose lives epitomized the main theme of normalisation-era: the quiet lives away from politics. Different poles of criticism to...

The thesis is dealing with the circumstances in which the Treaty on Mutual Relations between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, known as the Prague Treaty, was negotiated and concluded in the early 1970s. The main focus of the thesis is the chapter on the Way to the Prague Treaty, which contains an analysis of negotiations on the text of the Prague Treaty, where the biggest obstacle was disagreement over the invalidity of Munich Agreement, as well as questions about importance of some treaty provisions for West Berlin, signing the treaty in Prague in December 1973 and finally even the process of ratification of the treaty in both states. The analysis of the ratification process consisting mainly in the negotiation of a treaty in the legislative bodies of both states is based mainly on primary sources, parliamentary papers and stenoprotocols. Complicated was discussion in the Federal Republic, when deputies of opposition (CDU/CSU) in Bundestag spoke against the treaty and Bundesrat voted against the treaty even two times. The treaty was approved unanimously in Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia, nevertheless speeches of each deputies was used mainly for proclamation of own interpretation of some provisions of the treaty. It can be stated that the Prague Treaty...

Abstract. This paper explores the memories of Soviet participants in the presence of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia after 1968. Based on previously existing and new sources, information on the state of the media in the Central Group of Forces is summarized. At the same time, memories and assessments of events by their witnesses are given. Next, the historical myth about the presence of units of the National People's Army of the GDR on the territory of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and their actions against the local population was studied. An attempt is made to interpret this "false memory", widespread in the memoirs of Soviet narrators, to identify the causes of such a myth and its symbolic meaning for those who remember and listen. Also, it is discussed the problem of interpretation and evaluation of the events of 1968 in Czech and Russian collective memories, the attitude of both sides to the definition of the troop's invasion as an act of occupation. Revealed a diametrically opposite perception of this problem by both parties. This discussion naturally brings to the issue of the differences in Czech and Russian historical memories regarding the events of May 1945 and August 1968, the place of these events in symbolic memory and the reflection of these differences in relation of both sides to monumental...

This thesis deals with the key ideas of the popular education concept of Professor Tomáš Trnka, who is considered to be a leading theorist of popular education in the interwar Czechoslovakia, and who has significant merits in the gradual constitution of andragogy as an independent scientific discipline. The main focus of the thesis is on the analysis of his key publications The Basics of Popular Education (published in 1934) and Popular Education, its theory, components, methods and organization (published in 1946). The text aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Trnka's work in the field of popular education, with regards to relevant andragogical and historical contexts. The thesis also contains a critical evaluation of Trnka's work and a reflection of its development in the following historical periods. Key words: Tomáš Trnka, popular education, public education, Masaryk Institute for Popular Education, interwar Czechoslovakia, content analysis

Dissertation thesis deals with the construction of the identity of Slovak art modernism in the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) within the context of the official ideology of Czechoslovakism and in relation to Czech modern art. For many artists, theorists, and art historians in Slovakia, who, as part of the intelligentsia, felt obliged in the newly formed state to create and confirm a national identity through art, the search for Slovakness in art was crucial. This search was influenced by the nature of Czech - Slovak cultural relations, mutual misunderstandings, and stereotypes. The forms of Slovak modernism were formed in close connection with Czech modernism and at the same time as resistance to it. In this sense, we can consider the emphasis on Slovakness in the fine arts as an attempt not to merge artistically with the current of Czech art modernism. This study thus examines how national identity is constructed through the visual arts and what role plays its broader cultural and political background.