Tag: 1918

Commemorating Czechoslovak independence outside of Prague: Art between 1914 and 1938 in Plzeň and Josef Šíma in Brno

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The important year of anniversaries related to the history of Czechoslovakia is nearly over. Many art galleries and museums in the Czech Republic have commemorated them by a variety of exhibitions and accompanying events. The foundation of Czechoslovakia one hundred years ago in October 1918 is the most referred to date, as it is portrayed as the beginning of a new, democratic era. In the visual arts, this period is also easily linked to the rise of new modernist language framed in the official progressive and internationally oriented narrative of the Czechoslovak state.

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Photography in interwar Austria: three recent exhibitions

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Photography has long been a stepchild of art historical research in Austria, and only few publications, most notably Anton Holzer’s Fotografie in Österreich (Vienna, 2013), have provided comprehensive assessment of this topic. Talks about the first Austrian museum of photography are ongoing, however, and Vienna’s exhibition landscape has started to include an increasing number of photographic exhibitions into its schedule. This year, coinciding with the centenary of the First Austrian Republic in November 1918, several museums in Vienna are focusing on photography in interwar Austria, and offer diverse insights into the medium’s significance at the time.

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The Creation of Czechoslovakia and Its Identity Politics

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Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the brand new state of Czechoslovakia was founded on 28 October 1918. Unifying several provinces with no previous historic connections – Bohemia, Moravia, Czech-speaking Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia -, it was a multiethnic state that nevertheless sought to construct a single, encompassing national identity for its citizens. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary, Dr Marta Filipová, a member of the CRAACE team, has written an article about the complex identity politics of Czechoslovakia for the University of Birmingham website. Read it here.