Panorama | All stories

Faded jeans, platform shoes, pointed collars and lapels, striking colours and prints: that’s what you recall when you think of 1970s fashion. Now, you can see some of its finest – or at least most garish – examples on display at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. The exhibition entitled Kytky v popelnici or Flowers in the Dustbin is part of a long-term cycle which aims to present fashion in the course of history. The show is also part of a larger project that has presented 1970s lifestyle in photography, living and now, in fashion.

This week in Panorama – Rob Cameron takes to the skies for a flight over North Bohemia in a Cessna 150 light aeroplane, skilfully flown by IT consultant and qualified pilot Emir Halilovic. Fasten your seatbelts – but best leave your luggage at home.

Did you know there was a black ambulance riding around Czechoslovakia during the 1980s, kidnapping children for their organs? Ask any Czech who lived at that time and they’ll confirm it to you. In fact, however, it’s unlikely that anything like that ever happened. It’s just a legend created by oral tradition; in other words, it’s an urban myth. Ethnographer Petr Janecek recently published what is his second collection of such stories, proving that folklore is definitely not a matter of history. Its title - Cerna Sanitka or The Black Ambulance -

The Czech Republic paid a memorable visit to a highly regarded culture venue in Brooklyn, New York, recently, when the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Cinematheque played host to the 'New Czech Films' festival. Leading representatives of Czech cinema such as director Jiri Menzel and actress Klara Issova came to Brooklyn for the event, which has now been running for eight years.

At this time of year, Prague’s cemeteries are carpeted with red and yellow leaves, and in this chilly weather, you are quite unlikely to bump into that many other visitors. Prague’s thirty-or-so city maintained cemeteries offer a step back from the hustle and bustle and traffic jams of the metropolis - and provide the visitor with a glimpse into the Czech capital’s history as well.

Albrecht of Wallenstein (or Waldstein) was without question one of the most important figures in 17th century Bohemia, a Czech nobleman and military leader who made his strongest mark as an Imperial commander in the Thirty Years War. This Thursday, the Waldstein Riding School sees the opening of an unprecedented new exhibition looking at his life and times. The show, called “Albrecht of Waldstein and his Era” brings together more than 700 items, from works of art (including busts, portraits, military scenes) to weapons, clothing and other artifacts

If you were to enter the Salesianske theatre in Kobylisy this week, this is the kind of sound that would greet you. The event is the first annual 'Krajanske Folklorni Festival', or 'Compatriot Folklore Festival' a unique gathering of Czechs and their descendants outside the Czech Republic who practice the traditions of their ancestors, and for whom the Czech lands continue to play a large role in determining their identity.

Take some new age music, mix it with Turkish rugs, Moroccan tiles and Chinese lanterns and finally, add some tea - what you get is a typical Czech cajovna or tearoom, a place which has gradually won its place alongside Czech pubs. Not that tea could ever pose a serious threat to beer - the most popular Czech beverage, but its position on the market seems to have become unshakable over the last two decades.

In 2006, photographer Jan Reich's publication Bohemia - an extensive series of artistic landscapes throughout the Czech Republic - won the main prize in the country's prestigious literature competition Magnesia Litera. But some critics still consider his best series to be "Disappearing Prague" - a project the photographer began in the 1970s capturing the genius loci of some of Prague's oldest and most run-down districts. Scenes from the periphery in the years following the Soviet-led invasion in 1968: the docks of old Holesovice, ruined facades

Although the Czech Republic is better known in sporting circles for its ice hockey and football prowess, it also has a surprisingly strong horse-racing tradition, which dates back to the days of the Habsburg Empire. For well over a century, the highlight of the racing season in this country has been the Velka Pardubicka steeplechase, which is sometimes known as the "Czech Grand National".