EXPO 58 and the beginning of the 60s: two different worlds of design

The visitor to the grand exhibition project Brussels Dream will quickly become familiar with the differences prevailing in the atmosphere of the mid-1950s and the early 1960s. Czechoslovakia’s participation in the World Exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels, despite its undeniable (and surprising) progressiveness, bore the traces of the last throes of the most horrific phase of communist totality. On the contrary, the colorfulness and experimentation in textile or graphic design, as well as the elegance of consumer goods at the beginning of the 60s, leave no one in doubt about the easing of circumstances.

A twelve-member team of curators for the exhibition project Brussels Dream. Czechoslovakia's participation in the World Fair EXPO 58 in Brussels and the lifestyle of the first half of the 60s, as its full name reads, will present to the public from May 14 to September 21 at the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague - City Library, a subject that has been little explored so far in a new interpretation. The exhibition space is dominated, alongside authentic artifacts and everyday items, by monumental banners with period photographs capturing both the EXPO 58 exhibition and the everyday life of that time. Everything is complemented by projections of films from that time as well as films created for the purpose of the exhibition. "The banners, like the layout of the entire project, were created by graphic designer Robert V. Novák. The colorful rasters of yellow, purple, and blue draw from the period graphic concept of the Czechoslovak presentation and the entire Expo," says Daniela Kramerová, the curator who, along with Vanda Skálová, is behind the idea and, together with Arbor vitae societas, behind the realization of the project. The architectural shape of the exhibition was designed by the studio Olgoj Chorchoj.

In addition to the exhibition at the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, a rich accompanying program will bring the period of approximately 15 years of life in Czechoslovakia closer. It consists of guided tours, expert lectures, creative dialogues with art, a new performance by Laterna Magika CODE 58.08, a concert by the winner of the 1958 "Searching for New Talents" competition, Pavel Sedláček, and a showcase of seven feature films representing the cinematography of the 1950s at the Světozor cinema, such as the workplace drama Here are the Lions by director Václav Krška or the very high-quality comedy Three Wishes by directors Ján Kadár and Elmár Klose.

From November 20, 2008, to March 1, 2009, Brussels Dream will be displayed at the Moravian Gallery in Brno - in the Museum of Applied Arts. More at www.expo58.info.

The Czechoslovak Pavilion at the EXPO 58 became the most popular exhibit among visitors and was awarded the Grand Prize Golden Star. Among the most interesting and progressive exhibits was glass, represented at the exhibition not only by a collection of works from the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague but also by a model and study for a large-scale stained glass by Jan Kotík, one of the most discussed works in our pavilion. "We offer viewers a maximum of information in visual form. We would like to evoke the emotional setting of the pavilion and the masterful use of scenic elements - the contrast of light, darkness, and light accents on groups of exhibits, as well as the modeling of visitor movements, which were characteristic for our exhibition," describes the concept by curator Daniela Kramerová. "Visitors to the exhibition have the opportunity to experience the essence of the 'miraculous exhibition presentation' of that time's engineering, history, science and literature, applied arts, and the groundbreaking Laterna Magika. The exhibition also introduces them to everyday life in Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 1950s and the early 1960s."

The lifestyle during this period, which meant a turnaround in many areas - the mass diffusion of television and the influence of media, emancipation, household appliances, and new ways of spending free time, is depicted in the second part of the exhibition. Top-notch works from the fields of applied arts and industrial design, as well as examples from everyday production, are presented. The search for the so-called Brussels style takes place in various areas from architecture, exhibition design to fields of applied creation (glass, porcelain, ceramics, textiles, furniture design, graphic and industrial design). An important place is occupied by a set of furniture, textiles, glass, and porcelain, which successfully presented the Czechoslovak Republic at the subsequent XII International Triennial of Applied Arts in Milan in 1960.
The exhibition is accompanied by three publications from the Arbor vitae publishing house. The monograph Brussels Dream: Czechoslovakia’s Participation in the World Exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels and the Lifestyle of the First Half of the 60s is a joint work of a team of 12 authors: Daniela Kramerová and Vanda Skálová (editors), Vít Havránek, Konstantina Hlaváčková, Jiří Hulák, Daniela Karasová, Vojtěch Lahoda, Jan Mlčoch, Oldřich Palata, Martin Strakoš, Marta Sylvestrová-Lahodová, and Jan Štulec. It presents the cultural-historical background of the emergence of the Czechoslovak presentation at EXPO 58, the circumstances of the pavilion's preparations, evaluations of the individual exhibitions and the pavilion's architecture, and the significance of its successes. In the second half, after a more general introduction examining the content and development of the notion of Brussels style and the sociological, cultural, and artistic aspects of the early 60s situation, experts engage with the connections of the Brussels style in various artistic fields. The monograph will be published at the end of June.
For the introduction to the exhibition, a Czech guidebook for the exhibition Brussels Dream: Czechoslovakia’s Participation in the World Exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels and the Lifestyle of the First Half of the 60s has been prepared.

For foreign visitors, a comprehensive English-French-German guide to the exhibition and its theme (text and concept by Daniela Kramerová) will be published.
The organizers of the Brussels Dream project are Arbor vitae societas, the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague, and the National Technical Museum.

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Czechoslovakia's Participation at EXPO 58

At the time, Czechoslovakia received hundreds of positive responses in the foreign and domestic press during the exhibition, in visitor books, and its success culminated in the final evaluation, in which all Czechoslovak exhibits submitted for competition received awards – namely, 56 Grand Prizes, 47 Honorary Diplomas, 35 Gold, 18 Silver, and 14 Bronze Medals.

The architecture of the Czechoslovak Pavilion, in the layout of an inverted letter L, complemented by a slender restaurant building, followed the geometric simplicity, brightness, and connection to the surrounding greenery of the interwar functionalism. The whole appeared as a thoughtful play of contrasts - sparkling facades of amber glass and transparent walls of connecting corridors with the shine of the metal sheathing of the dynamically rounded restaurant.

Exhibits from fields in which Czechoslovakia could boast - heavy industry, dam construction, culture, and social achievements of the state system - were presented by the exhibit authors in a modern exhibition concept. They emphasized visuals at the expense of textual comments, suppressed the propagandistic framework, and utilized artistic works created for the exhibition, progressive graphic design, and scenographic effects.

The world of technology in a successful section on energy by scenographer František Tröster evoked pulsating lights of neon tubes, projections of Cinemascope images of fire, uranium, and water, and rhythmically changing lighting.

In another visually attractive exhibit of glass and ceramics, architects Josef Saal and Josef Svoboda worked with striking light and color contrasts. Highlights of this section included large glass exhibits: the spatial stained glass by Jan Kotík, an impressive mosaic of glass with animal motifs by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, and a spatial glass installation by René Roubíček.

The section dedicated to textile was designed by Antonín Kybal in poetic scenes on the theme of the seasons. One of the most visually attractive exhibits of the pavilion was Trnka’s Tree of Toys and other exhibits from the section on children and puppetry.

Intermedia innovations by Emil and Alfred Radok and Josef Svoboda were among the magnets of the Czechoslovak Pavilion. The dreamlike and metaphorically associative presentation of the polyekran utilized simultaneous film projection on eight screens. The film-theater innovation Laterna Magika ingeniously and refreshingly combined film projections with theatrical action, dance, singing, music, and pantomime.

The success of the Czechoslovak representation was significantly contributed to by the restaurant, which, alongside quality gastronomy, gained considerable popularity for Plzeňský Prazdroj and Karlovarská Becherovka. The modern and generously conceived promotion of the Czechoslovak representation also contributed to the expansion of its reputation and the subsequent creation of its legend.

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The event takes place under the auspices of the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague, Pavel Bém, and the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexander Vondra.

Organizers: Arbor vitae societas, Museum of Applied Arts in Prague, Moravian Gallery in Brno, and the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague in cooperation with the National Technical Museum.