Arts | All stories

Today's edition is devoted to artists from the country's Roma community. We'll be looking at a new book that's hit the shelves and a recently released CD of the Roma band Terne Chave:

For the last few weeks it might have seemed that the Czech world of arts revolved almost exclusively around books. Well this time again, this programme focuses on two events related to books and literature - as they simply dominate the arts scene in the coming days. On Thursday, the ninth Prague book fair, Bookworld 2003 got underway at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. While it was "water, water everywhere" during last August's floods, now the Art Nouveau exhibition palace is for four days flooded with books.

For most Czechs, Easter Sunday celebrates the coming of Spring and this year, the organisers of Dvorak's Nelahozeves music festival have chosen this day for the opening ceremony. Until September 28th, Prague, and the Central Bohemian villages of Zlonice and Nelahozeves, Dvorak's birthplace, will host eleven musical programmes, featuring works mainly from Antonin Dvorak but also other Czech, European and US composers. The opening ceremony will be held in Zlonice with a performance by a choir from Leeds.

Two years after the release of their landmark album Promeny, the leading Czech folk-rock group Cechomor are currently touring the lp once again. Promeny received massive critical acclaim for its combination of folks songs - all traditional and mostly from Moravia - with classical orchestration.

From April 6 until April 10, the Czech capital will host the thirteenth Prague Writers' Festival. Later on this month, on April 24, all bookworms from around the country will converge on the Czech capital for the International Prague Book Fair. One of the most beloved writers in the Czech Republic Arnost Lustig is experiencing considerable success abroad with his novel "Lovely Green Eyes", and the nominations for the second year of the Magnesia Litera Awards have been announced in Prague.

The National Theatre, next to the National Museum, is the biggest and most famous cultural institution in the Czech Republic and a trip to Prague would not be complete without an opera, ballet or theatre performance as good quality entertainment is guaranteed. But to offer some variety to its visitors, the National Theatre has decided to turn to something more contemporary and feature an opera based on a sport that is close to many Czechs' hearts - ice hockey.

On Thursday, the country's pop, rock, dance, folk and jazz musicians flocked to Prague's T-Mobile Arena for the Andel or Angel Awards 2002. Hosted by entertainers Eva Holubova, Milan Steindler and Petr Ctvrtnicek, it was an evening full of fun, music, but also surprises as unlike the recipients of the Cesky Slavik awards - another Czech equivalent to the Grammies - the winners of the Angel 2002 were breaths of fresh air to the Czech music scene.

This Saturday, March 15, London's Opera Up Close company is holding the premiere of their production of "the Kaiser of Atlantis" ("Der Kaiser von Atlantis"), which was written by Viktor Ullmann with a libretto by Petr Kein. A Vienna-born Jew, Viktor Ullmann later took Czech nationality, and was already well-known as a composer before being sent to Terezin concentration camp in September 1942. It was there - in the most incredible circumstances - that he wrote "the Kaiser of Atlantis", before meeting his death in Auschwitz in October 1944. When

In today's edition of the Arts: we look at a new exhibition that has opened at Prague's famous Riding School Gallery, a part of the Prague Castle complex. The show, called 'Art is Abstraction' features modern works by some of the most important Czech artists of the late 20th century, including Jiri Balcar, Vladimir Boudnik, Vladimir Preclik, and Dana Puchnarova, to name but a very few of the many represented. The driving force behind the exhibition: the fact that Czech artists in 1950s and 60s Socialist Czechoslovakia turned to the book jacket

In today's edition, we'll be looking at some of the stories making headlines in the Czech world of culture and a young artist who is gaining popularity with a rather unusual concept.