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What do the films Amadeus, Mission Impossible, and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have in common? They were filmed in the Czech Republic, which in the last few years has attracted numerous foreign production companies offering them low production costs and professional staff. But until January 1st this year, the country has not had an official, centralised body that provided all information necessary to facilitate film-making. Thanks to the Audiovisual Producers' Association (APA), the Czech Film Commission was established, expanding the

Prague's Art Factory Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition with a name that's certain to grab everyone's attention: "Tento mesic menstruuji" or "I'm Having My Period This Month".

Welcome to the programme. This week we take you to an unusual exhibition - a bold and daring endeavour and certainly nothing for the squeamish. But first of all we bring you the latest in the world of art in the Czech Republic.

In this week's Arts, we hear all about composer and performing artist Jaroslav Krcek, and travel to the picturesque little village of Karlstejn, west of Prague, where a brand new House of Clocks recently opened to the public:

Tuesday this week was Holocaust Remembrance Day in many countries. To mark the occasion the Czech premiere of the oratorio the Song of Terezin was held at Prague's State Opera. The Song of Terezin was written by Franz Waxman and is based on poems written by children interned at the Terezin ghetto, around 60 kilometres north of Prague. The Nazis tried to portray Theresienstadt as it was known in German as a model camp, though less than one in ten of the Jews sent there survived. Among those who did was Alena Munkova-Synkova.

Last Saturday, hundreds of comics fans from the Czech Republic gathered at the Mlejn Club in Prague for a day of discussions, lectures and friendly chatting about what's hot and what's not in the world of comics. Part of the daylong gathering, called comiCZcon 2004, was an award ceremony at which prizes including Best comic writer, artist and publisher, were awarded. Alan Moore's graphic novel "From Hell" was awarded a prize for best publication in 2003 and was also voted best book by the visitors of the gathering. As if that was not enough, "From Hell",

In this week's edition of the Arts, Dita Asiedu we'll be looking at a presentation of Czech culture that is part of the International Cultural Festival of Candidate Countries to the EU currently taking place in Budapest, and two exhibitions in Prague that have been extended due to public interest...

This little square in the middle of Prague's Dusni Street is what the city's famous native, writer Franz Kafka, probably saw each time he looked out of his window. The historic Jewish Quarter in Prague is where Kafka spent most of his life - and often features in his novels and short stories. But despite that, for years there was no permanent memorial to the man who changed the face of 20th century literature. But now, all that has changed.

In this week's Arts, Dita Asiedu looks at some of the developments on the Czech cultural scene and talks to a Foreign Ministry representative about a travelling exhibition that presents four of the country's finest musicians to the world.

The Czech singer Ondrej Havelka and his group the Melody Makers do faithful and charming versions of jazz and popular songs from the 1920s and 30s. They are currently touring the Czech Republic. This week they played at Prague's magnificent Lucerna Hall, part of a complex which was designed by Vaclav Havel's grandfather and completed in 1921. When I spoke to Ondrej Havelka in a café in Lucerna just before Wednesday's concert he told me it was one of his favourite venues.