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Last week saw the opening of a new exhibition at Prague Castle, Růžena: The Story of a Painter, focusing on the life and work of the remarkable early 20th century Czech artist Růžena Zátková, forgotten for years in her homeland. Born to a well-to-do south Bohemian family in 1885, she along with her sister, most unusually for the period was encouraged by her parents to develop talents in the arts, and she pursued these in earnest in both music and painting after the family moved to Prague.

It’s Wednesday night and Kino Aero in Prague’s Žižkov district is swarming with people. Despite it’s slightly run down interior and uncomfortable creaky chairs this small cinema has become a legendary venue here in Prague and people don’t mind spending the extra twenty minutes or so that it takes to get here from the city centre. Kino Aero has just recently celebrated ten years of its existence and I went to meet its manager Ivo Andrle to find out what exactly it is that makes the place so special:

In this week’s Arts, we have a round-up of recent stories from the Czech arts scene. In this edition: how a new project called Artbanka is helping emerging young artists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; the highly-respected Prague theatre Dejvické divadlo launches a new play based on the life of early 20th Czech adventurer Jan “Eskimo” Welzl; and a precious B&W photograph by František Drtikol – stolen two weeks ago – is returned to Prague’s Museum of Decorative Arts.

In today’s Arts my guest is Brian Callaghan, a Prague-based author of a new action/adventure thriller called The Seeds of Cain. Inspired by biblical themes and medieval legend, the novel throws together an unlikely group of adventurers – including the hero John McFadden – to fight an ancient evil. The story takes them from a quiet corner of Prague to an archaeological dig in the Middle East and beyond, and it doesn’t let-up for 400 pages. Brian Callaghan came into the studio earlier this week and the first thing I asked him about was the threat

In this week’s Arts I talk to Irena Murray-Žantovská of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London about a successful new show there examining work in the Czech lands by famous Functionalist architect Adolf Loos. The show picks up from a similar exhibition held in the Czech capital in 2008 and presents to British audiences some of Loos’ best known buildings in the Czech Republic and Prague, most notably the Müller Villa.

In this week’s Arts I talk to Czech-Canadian documentary filmmaker Katerina Cizek – the director of Out My Window, a fascinating and highly-innovative project that looks at lives behind the walls of highrise buildings in 13 cities around the world, from Prague to Beirut. The non-linear feature film – called the first 360 degree internet documentary in the world – is up for an international Emmy next month and can be viewed on the website of the National Film Board of Canada. Kat Cizek told me more about the idea behind her project and how it all

The great Czech illustrator and animator Zdeněk Miler – creator of the famous Krtek or Krteček (Little Mole) enjoyed by children and parents worldwide – turned 90 years old this week. On the occasion of Mr Miler’s birthday (incidentally his famous character is now 55) the Vltavín Gallery in Prague opened a new exhibition honouring his work. Called Zdeněk Miler dětem, the show above all is for children and features drawings, watercolours and original paintings on transparencies (called cells) which were used in the animation process to bring the

This Thursday saw the opening of an exhibition in Prague by one of the world’s most significant fashion and portrait photographers, Michel Comte, entitled Not Only Women – Feminine Icons of Our Times. On at Leica Gallery Prague in cooperation with Galerie Vernon, the exhibition features iconic but at the same time intimate portraits of models, directors and actresses including celebrities like Carla Bruni, Catherine Deneuve, Geraldine Chaplin or Sophia Lauren.

“What exactly happened?” is the key question or starting point for a fascinating new exhibition which opened on Thursday at the Galerie Rudolfinum. Entitled Mutating Medium, the show focuses on changes in Czech photographic art over the last 20 years, as artists working in the medium shifted from traditional methods to new ways of seeing and treating the image, blurring at the edges with other forms, other media. The exhibition follows on the massive success of Decadence Now! with 150 dynamic and unusual works should prove just as stimulating.

In this week’s Arts we visit Prague’s DOX Gallery of contemporary art featuring a new exhibition by young Czech artist, avant garde musician and assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Michal Cimala. Entitled Posun (Shift) Michal Cimala’s new show features everything from sketches to photographs, as well as free-standing avant garde sculptures which also function as industrial musical instruments. The 35-year-old artist makes no secret that his work, made from plastic industrial piping, metal, and even old snowboards (his series of snowguitars)