Czech Embassy Opens New Exhibition "Das musische Wien"

More+Events ♦ Published: September 14, 2022; 12:16 ♦ (Vindobona)

A vernissage was held recently to open a special exhibition at the Czech Embassy in Vienna titled "Artistic Vienna".

A vernissage was recently held to mark the opening of this new exhibition. / Picture: © Diplomatica.uno / Harald Klemm

The Czech Embassy in Vienna is the venue for a new exhibition entitled "The artistic Vienna" until mid-September. A vernissage was recently held to mark the opening of this special event.

The exhibition was created in cooperation between the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vienna and the Czech Centre Vienna, the South Bohemian Alšova Gallery and with the support of the energy company ČEZ. The exhibition features the works of three Czech artists who came to Vienna at the time of the Iron Curtain: Eugen Brikcius, Ondřej Kohout and Eva Vones.

The three artists came to Vienna at the invitation of the then Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, in the wake of the ostracism that followed the signing of Charter 77. The exhibition is being held to mark the 45th anniversary of the publication of that very Charter 77 declaration on 1 January 1977 and to coincide with the Czech presidency of the EU Council.

Most of the dissidents who emigrated to Austria were permanent residents. Around 200 dissidents, often with their entire families, were emigrated here. In her opening speech, the curator of the exhibition, Zuzana Brikcius, also expressed gratitude to Chancellor Kreisky for the time after she left her homeland.

Josef Janíček (The Plastic People of the Universe) and Hana Skopcová accompanied the evening. Additionally, poet, essayist, and artist Eugen Brikcius read poems and former football legend Anton Panenka addressed the crowd.During the gala evening, the Czech Ambassador in Vienna Jiří Šitler welcomed the audience followed by the director of the South Bohemian Alšova Galerie Aleš Seifert.

The guests were also welcomed by Gerhard Schmidt, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Science in Vienna, who represented the Mayor of Vienna and Governor Michael Ludwig, as well as Vojtěch Sedláček, Chairman of the Olga Havel Foundation's Board. Zuzana Brikcius introduced individual artists' works.

As an author of philosophical happenings and land art, Eugen Brikcius made a name for himself in Czech art history in the 1960s, before this "genre" became part of art history. His artistic activities and attitudes were criminalized by the communist regime long before 1977. Ondřej Kohout is renowned for his heavily punctuated figurative paintings that comment on our existence with exaggeration and often scathing irony.

Embassy of the Czech Republic

Das musische Wien