Festival Four Days will focus more on architecture

Prague - The 14th edition of the 4+4 Days in Motion festival will not only focus on movement theatre and dance in various forms and from different corners of the world. True to its tradition, this year it has again found an unconventional venue for its program - this time the building of the former Federal Assembly. This building, associated with the country’s political past and for some with the controversial architect Karel Prager, inspired the festival organizers to dedicate part of the program to the architecture of not just this edifice.
    The former Prague Stock Exchange, reconstructed into its current form by Prager, is one of the most original and controversial buildings of the second half of the 20th century. The massive, late modernist structure introduced many technological innovations in its time and demonstrated a thorough aesthetic perfectionism in its interiors, thanks to the collaboration of leading figures in the visual arts scene of the 1960s. After its political function, it hosted a radio station and now belongs to the National Museum, which is opening it to the public.
    During the festival, which will take place from October 9 to 16, its spaces will become the venue for events dedicated to Prager, the "architect of Prague," his contemporaries, and the building itself. A thematic discussion dedicated to the controversial architect, who has shaped the modern face of the Czech capital since the late 1950s, will take place on October 16.
    Experts led by architectural historian Rostislav Švácha and architects Jan Línka and Jan Louda will present their contributions reacting to his personality, the context of the era in which he worked, his realized and unrealized projects, concepts, and his legacy for the 21st century.
    To allow visitors to familiarize themselves from various angles with the history and architecture of the building, the organizers have prepared guided tours with historians and art and architecture theorists - Rostislav Švácha, Karel Ksandrov, Zdeněk Lukeš, Jiří Kotalík, David Vávra, and Václav Cílek.
    On Tuesday, October 13, a unique audio-visual performance by the creative trio Vladimir 518, Ondřej Anděra, and David Vrbík titled SPAM - Karel Gott Prager will take place in the former House of Nations. The authors aim to provide a new perspective on the legacy of this significant figure in Czech architecture through a locally specific project.
    “We would like to demolish or at least disrupt the unjustly created cliché surrounding the person of Karel Prager. We have managed to obtain some previously unpublished materials and documents, so not only the project itself will be a premiere for the audience,” says Vladimir 518. According to him, the audience will see "something between a concert and an information composition."