Pecha Kucha Night Prague for the ninth time

Zdeněk Fránek (Fránek Architects) on his experience presenting at PKNP:
"PKNP was a lot of fun for me, during which I personally met excellent artists I wouldn't normally connect with. With several of them, we started collaborating on joint projects, which wouldn't have happened without PKNP. Thanks for that!"

The ninth Pecha Kucha Night Prague will take place on September 16, 2008 at 8:20 PM.
Cinema Aero, Biskupcova 31, Prague 3
www.pechakucha.cz

Presenters:
Petr Bosák and Robert Jansa (Advancedesign.org)
Josef Bolf
Marius Kotrba
Roman Koucký
Skupina Ládví
Pasta Oner
Alexandr Skalický (AS2000)
Petr Štěpán (Studio Najbrt)
TOY BOX
David Vávra
Zdena Zedníčková
Petr Šmídek (winner of the 2008 challenge)

Briefly about the presenters:
Petr Bosák and Robert Jansa (Advancedesign.org)
Graphic designers working together since 2004. Currently studying at the Prague VŠUP in the Graphic Design and New Media and Typeface and Typography studios. Two years ago, they established the online project Advancedesign.org, conceived as a platform for presenting a broader spectrum of contemporary graphic design. They regularly collaborate with the experimental festival Sperm, the music label Bigg Boss, the Meet Factory gallery, and the French Institute. They are currently designing a new visual style for the House of Art in Brno.
www.advancedesign.org

Josef Bolf
Studied drawing and painting at the Prague AVU under J. Načeradský, V. Kokolja, and V. Skrepl (1990-1998), in Stockholm at Kongsthögskolan (1995), and at the Akademie der bildende Künste in Stuttgart (1996). He was a member of the now-defunct group BJ (Headless Rider), which he founded in 1996 with classmates from AVU: Jan Šerých, Ján Mančuška, and Tomáš Vaněk. Finalist for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award in 2005. His works are represented in the collections of the National Gallery and several other public and private collections.

Marius Kotrba
Sculptor, painter, draftsman. A graduate of the Prague AVU (monumental sculpture under S. Hanzlík and M. Axmann). In the 1980s, he focused primarily on painting and drawing. At the beginning of the 1990s, he returned to sculpture and moved from Prague to Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. His main theme is the human figure and the connection of geometric and organic forms. He heads the Department of Sculpture at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ostrava.
www.kotrbamarius.cz

Roman Koucký
A graduate of FA ČVUT in Prague (1985), he has since consistently engaged in design practice. Since 1990, he has also participated in various teaching and publishing practices. His works have been published in both Czech and foreign professional journals and exhibited at many Czech and international exhibitions. In February 2000, a solo traveling exhibition titled Roman Koucký Architectural Office - Book 1 was opened at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, along with the publication of a monograph. In 2004, the book koucký-arch.cz/3 was published, followed in 2006 by books 2.0: elementary.urbanism and 2.1: CZ4. He is the holder of two Grand Prix awards (1994 and 2000) and many other accolades in various categories. His works have been nominated twice for the Mies van der Rohe Award in Barcelona. In 1999, he received the European Association of Steel Structures Award and several other awards in the field of bridges. In a reader's poll by Structural Engineering International 2000, the Mariánský Bridge in Ústí nad Labem was listed among the ten most interesting buildings in the world from the last ten years. In 2003, he was the first recipient of the annual archiweb award for his contribution to contemporary Czech architecture.
www.koucky-arch.cz

Alexandr Skalický (AS2000)
He is a graduate of FA ČVUT in Prague. From 1990-1998, he was a co-owner of Atelier Tsunami; since 1999, he has been an independent architect. From 1999-2007, he collaborated with the Archteam studio. He paints and writes about architecture and is a correspondent for the Dutch magazine A10. His works have been published in various Czech and foreign professional publications, and in 2005, his monograph Megastore was released. He is the laureate of the International Architectural Award given by The Chicago Athenaeum in 2007 for the design of the theater laboratory at JAMU in Brno.
www.a-skalicky.cz, www.as2000.cz

Petr Šmídek (winner of the PKNP 2008 challenge)
He graduated in 2005 with a degree in architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He gained professional education during his studies in Dresden and practical experience at an architectural office in Seattle. Last year, he spent as a doctoral student at the University of Ljubljana. Since this September, he has been an assistant professor at FUA TUL in Liberec. Since 2001, he has been responsible for the foreign section of the architectural internet portal www.archiweb.cz.

Petr Štěpán (Studio Najbrt)
A graduate of the typography and type design studio of Professor Jan Solpera at the Prague VŠUP, and since 2004 a designer at Najbrt studio. His projects include, for example, the visual style for ČD Cargo, a newly developing orientation system for the Czech Railways, the graphical identity for the film by Jan Svěrák Vratné lahve, the visual style of this year's Brno Biennial of Graphic Design, and the graphics for the Czech version of Pecha Kucha Night.
www.najbrt.cz

TOY BOX
Studies for the fourth year in scenography at DAMU and the fifth year at the Literary Academy of Josef Škvorecký. She is the author of the scenographic performance Bouře, which takes place in the attic of the Prague music club Cross. In addition, she is long-term involved with comics as an autonomous form of storytelling. She has published in comic fanzines AARGH!, Zkrat, and Pot, and in the current issue of Revue Labyrint. She collaborates on illustrations with A2 magazine and Dekontaminace. Engages in DIY screen printing and street art.

Skupina Ládví
The existing works of Skupina Ládví are an artistic activity in public space, operating at the intersection of art and public welfare. Members: Jan Haubelt, Tomáš Severa, Adéla Svobodová, Jiří Thýn.

Pasta Oner
A well-known representative of Czech graffiti and street art. Typical of his generation, he does not limit himself to interventions in urban space and its furnishings, moving naturally into the realm of fashion design, graphics, and classical artistic disciplines. He utilizes a wide range of media, but his key work is in the screen printing workshop. He produces small series of posters and paintings. From graffiti, street art, and advertising graphics, he has transferred an emphasis on text and typography into his free creation.
www.cliquemag.cz

David Vávra
Born in Prague-Braník, where he has lived ever since. All significant events took place here in a 1 km² area - a naive childhood shaped by the architecture of EXPO Brussels 58, the establishment of the Sklep theater, and in the local wooden church, the scout oath, confirmation, a wedding, and the christening of four children. After high school, he studied for four years at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at ČVUT and another four years at the Academy of Fine Arts. He works as an architect - a series of realizations from Šumava to the Krkonoš. A guide and co-author of the series Šumná města, as well as lessons in German Alles Gute (within Česká Soda). An occasional poet, especially on festive occasions (Celebratory Poems - Fifteen Ties of David Vávra, Votobia 1998). Together with J. T. Kotalík and Pavel Frič, he published the book 30 Steps of Czech Architecture.

Zdena Zedníčková
Studied architecture at VŠUP in Prague, continuing her studies in Finland (Muotolluinstituutti in Lahti), Egypt (Helwan University in Cairo), and Japan (faculty of architecture at Musashino Art University in Tokyo). Since 1999, she has intermittently worked as an assistant at the Faculty of Art and Architecture TUL in Liberec and is currently a doctoral student at the Prague ČVUT. The most recent outcome of her teaching activity is the exhibition Prague 2080.
www.zedna.cz