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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241108T100000
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DTSTAMP:20260413T082121
CREATED:20241107T195558Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241107T200629Z
UID:10468-1731060000-1761933600@www.bcsa.co.uk
SUMMARY:Bedřich Smetana Má vlast (My Country)
DESCRIPTION:The Bedřich Smetana Má vlast (My Country) exhibition at the National Museum in Prague commemorates the personality of Bedřich Smetana and one of his most important compositions. Through authentic notes\, correspondence and\, above all\, scores\, it presents the individual symphonic poems as the composer himself conceived them\, the historical context in which they were composed and the reactions that accompanied them at later important historical moments in Czech history. \nIn the exhibition\, you can look forward to unique  items from the National Museum collection displayed in nine thematic stops. At the beginning\, the exhibition will introduce you to the personality of Bedřich Smetana\, whose life you will be able to glimpse through his personal objects\, such as glasses\, a desk\, writing utensils\, a calamus\, a peephole or a hearing aid. The second stop will immerse you in the time and circumstances in which the My Country cycle was created between 1874 and 1879 and will also remind you of the first ensemble performance on 5 November 1882 at Žofín in Prague. Other parts of the exhibition are devoted to the six individual poems – Vyšehrad\, Vltava\, Šárka\, From the Czech Meadows and Groves\, Tábor and Blaník. You will learn\, for example\, that the score for Vltava was written in 19 days\, when he added the note “being completely deaf” to the score. The ninth stop recalls performances of the work associated with important historical moments. \nIn addition to the composer’s personal objects\, you will be able to see various musical materials and sheet music\, photographs\, sculptures\, paintings\, letters\, books\, illustrations\, musical instruments – for example\, there will be a harp to play. The exhibition also includes historical artefacts such as replicas of Hussite weapons from the 19th century.  My Homeland in Stones is also on display\, so you will be able to touch rocks from Blaník or pebbles from the Vltava River. Of course\, the exhibition also focuses on the sound experience. It includes a listening map of the Vltava and audio islands with entire symphonic poems. The central themes can be heard in short excerpts. \n  \nPart of the Year of Czech Music and the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
URL:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/event/bedrich-smetana-ma-vlast-my-country/
LOCATION:National Museum Prague\, Václavské náměstí 68\, Prague\, Czech Republic
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Smetana-exhibition.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250903T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251004T170000
DTSTAMP:20260413T082121
CREATED:20250820T144117Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250820T144217Z
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SUMMARY:Toyen: dreaming in the margins
DESCRIPTION:Richard Saltoun Gallery presents Dreaming in the Margins: Toyen\, the first UK exhibition devoted to one of the most extraordinary women artists of the Surrealist movement\, whose reputation and critical reappraisal have risen dramatically in recent years. Recognized one of the most enigmatic and fiercely independent figures in Surrealism\, Toyen (1902–1980) was born Marie Čermínová in Prague. She adopted a gender-neutral identity early in life\, rejecting societal conventions – a position reflected throughout her work and public persona. \nToyen was a central figure in both the pre war formation of Surrealism in Prague with the Devestil Group and later in post war Paris with the Surrealists. Her workin Prague with Jindřich Štyrský\, and later with Jindřich Heisler\, were regarded by André Breton as quintessential contributions to the Surrealist movement. Their friendship and creative exchange endured until his death\, after which Toyen moved into his former studio at 42 Rue Fontaine\, where she lived until her own death in 1980. \nThis exhibition brings into focus the depth and breadth of Toyen’s graphic work – including illustrated books\, prints\, drawings\, catalogues and archival materials – making it one of the most comprehensive presentations of this part of her oeuvre ever compiled. The exhibits are drawn entirely from a single-owner collection. \nWith the outbreak of the Second World War\, Toyen remained in Nazi-occupied Prague. Following the death of Štyrský in 1942\, she entered into a close creative and personal partnership with the poet Jindřich Heisler\, who was living in hiding as a Jewish writer. Toyen sheltered Heisler in her apartment for the entire war – an act of profound solidarity and resistance. In 1947\, Toyen relocated permanently to Paris with Heisler\, and became one of the few women deeply involved in Surrealism’s post war resurgence. In the final two decades of her life\, Toyen formed a deep artistic and intellectual bond with the poet\, philosopher and fellow Surrealist\, Annie Le Brun. \nFree entry. Opening times: Tues-Fri\, 10am-6pm\, Saturdays 11am-5pm.  \nImage copyright the estate of the artist
URL:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/event/toyen-dreaming-in-the-margins/
LOCATION:Richard Saltoun Gallery\, 41 Dover Street\, London\, W1S 4NS\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Toyen.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250929T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250929T203000
DTSTAMP:20260413T082121
CREATED:20250815T143836Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250815T143836Z
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SUMMARY:Fiction from wartime Slovakia
DESCRIPTION:Hatchards Piccadilly is  delighted to welcome Jan Zikmund of Karolinum Press along with translator Julia Sherwood and literary scholar Tim Beasley-Murray for a discussion of Slovak literature and\, in particular\, two recently translated prose works of the mid-20th century: \nThe Hours and the Minutes by Alfonz Bednár translated by David Short \nThe Hours and The Minutes was first published in Bratislava in 1956\, the year of Nikita Khrushchev’s “secret speech”\, in which the Soviet leader formally acknowledged Stalin’s tyranny and opened the way for political reform throughout the Eastern Bloc. Alfonz Bednár was one of the first writers to reject nationalist and communist propaganda. In these five novellas\, Bednár is preoccupied with the insensitive\, even inhuman\, rootless\, and amoral modernity that the war and Communist Party imported into traditional Slovak life\, as well as the rural destruction brought about by modernization and urbanization\, and with it a particular approach to life. \nThe Last Thing by Leopold Lahola translated by Julia Sherwood and Peter Sherwood \nSlovak Jewish writer Leopold Lahola escaped deportation to a concentration camp and fought in the resistance – only to then find himself forced into exile by the post-war communist regime. He emerged from obscurity during the brief thaw of the Prague Spring. The nine stories which make up The Last Thing range from the pre-war rise of fascism and its dangers for the Jewish community through the concentration camps and the partisan fight against the Germans\, concluding in the devastating awareness of all that had been lost and destroyed in the war. It’s a collection that offers not only a compelling read but starkly new perspectives on the tragedy and grandeur of that momentous time in history. \nWe hope you will be able to join us if you can for what promises to be a fascinating evening of discussion! \n  \nTickets £5-10 see Eventbrite booking link below
URL:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/event/fiction-from-wartime-slovakia/
LOCATION:Hatchards Piccadilly\, 187 Piccadilly\, London\, W1J 9LE\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bcsa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Slovak-WW2-literature.jpg
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