Arts | All stories

Iva Bittová is a phenomenal Czech avant-garde violinist, singer and composer who has developed a music style of her own. She moved to upstate New York over ten years ago where she continues performing and teaching both children and adults. We talked after one of her workshops in Prague about her career, her future projects and her passion for helping underprivileged youth to realize their full musical potential.

Many musical projects have noteworthy origin stories. But Dálava’s is truly one of a kind. Julia Úlehla and her musical and life partner Aram Bajakian began performing ancient Moravian folk songs – which they hadn’t heard – after happening upon them in a book named Živá píseň (Living Song). It had been compiled in the early 20th century by the former’s great-grandfather Vladimír Úlehla, a remarkable polymath.

Blues singer and teacher Juwana Jenkins has been living in Prague since the late 1990s. In this special video interview, the American vocalist discusses her relationship to the city, adjusting to Czech culture – and much more.

Art lovers in Prague can now appreciate non-conformity in a remarkable exhibition featuring contemporary avant-garde British artists at the Černá Labuť Art Gallery. The eleven featured artists fall outside of mainstream and ‘favored’ art movements in the United Kingdom. Among them are Charles Thomson, Anna Keen, Joe Machine and Ella Guru.

As the year draws to a close all of us here at the English department of Radio Prague would like to thank our devoted listeners the world over for their dedication to the station, for being with us and taking the time to drop us a line or write an email to share your views about what you found particularly interesting and what you’d like to hear more of on Radio Prague. In this special edition of Mailbox I’d like to quote from a few of your letters and emails and reveal a little of what’s in the pipeline for 2018.

The renowned British violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen is set to make her debut with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague’s Rudolfinum on Saturday. The graduate of the Royal College of Art and this year’s recipient of the ECHO Rising Star Awards will be performing a world premiere of a piece by the award-winning British composer Richard Blackford.

Ondřej Pšenička, 31, is an award-winning Czech magician who has spent almost two decades in the field of magic, coming up with great acts and great tricks. Not long ago he appeared on Penn & Teller’s show “Fool Us” which offers participants a chance to fool the famous duo with a trick of their own design. How did Ondřej do? With a little help from actress Alyson Hannigan he succeeded with a card trick using his own brand Butterfly cards.

The National Gallery is getting ready to launch its autumn season with a slew of new exhibitions as well as the publication of Law of the Journey, an accompanying book for the installation of one of the more famous works by artist and dissident Ai Weiwei at the Trade Fair Palace.

What claims to be the biggest ever exhibition of Czech Impressionism has just started at Prague Castle. It puts on show 520 works by 78 artists with the aim of revealing the trends and influences that shaped the movement and track how it evolved.

British Stuckist artist Joe Machine is best known for his raw paintings depicting violence, sex and crime; all images drawing on his childhood. However his exhibition in Prague also shows visitors the long journey he has travelled to find self-understanding and inner peace. Shortly after the opening of the exhibition “From the Gutter to the Stars” I spoke with Joe Machine about his life, his painting and how much has changed over the years.