Dawn of the Magicians?
Jitro kouzelníků? (Umění, věda, společnost na přelomu tisíciletí) [Dawn of the Magicians? (Art, Science, Society on the Turn of Milleniums)] was a two-part exhibition project organised by the Center for Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague, and held from 18 October 1996 to 30 September 1997 at Veletržní palác [Trade Fair Palace], National Gallery, Prague. Curators: Jaroslav Anděl with Miloš Vojtěchovský and Ivona Raimanová.
The project was initiated by the new director of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, Jaroslav Anděl, as a pilot project for the transformation of the National Gallery's main venue Trade Fair Palace. The intention was to alternate the established approach to exhibiting fine art in gallery and to bring the Palace closer to society and to international contexts. The project presented affinities between different disciplines and periods of contemporary and modern art, and also between art, politics, science and technology.
The project was originally planned as a series of four consequent exhibitions presenting major Czech and international artists, accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue. This was accomplished only partially due to emerging disputes and conflicts between main curator and top management of the National Gallery, including the General Director Martin Zlatohlávek.
Another aim of the project was to establish the Vilém Flusser Institute, which would become a new media research and new media conservation departement of the Contemporary Art Collection of The National Gallery. [1]
- Chapter 1 - From Mediamatic Drawings to Cyberspace, 18 Oct 1996-28 Sep 1997
Participants: Michael Bielický, Ladislav (Laco) Čarný, Jiří Černický, Peter Fischli, Martin Janíček, Jan Jedlička, Beneš Knüpfer, Vladimír Kokolia, Jiří Kornatovský, Matej (Maťo) Krén, František Kupka, Karel Malich, Frank Malina, Paul de Marinis, Julius Edvard Mařák, Jiří Matoušek, Ilona Németh, Petr Nikl, Roman Signer, František Skála ml., Martin Spanjaard, Zdeněk Sýkora, Miloš Šejn, Josef Váchal, Steina Vasulka, Janka (Jana) Vidová Žáčková, David Weiss, Martin Zet, a collection of media drawings from the Nová Paka Museum.
- Chapter 2 - Lost and Found, 11 Apr-24 Aug 1997
Participants: Eye Scratch, Nan Hoover, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Serrano, Jiří Bartůněk, Pavel Brázda, Surrealistická skupina, Dalibor Chatrný, Jiří David, Arnold Dreyblatt, Atilla Czorgo, Otis Laubert, Tomáš Ruller, Daniel Fischer, Peter Campus, Barbara Benish, Gerco de Ruijter, Jiří Příhoda, František Drtikol, Vladimír Škoda, Pavel Kopřiva, Graham Harwood, Tenesee Rice Dixon / Jim Gaperini, Joan Jonas, George Legrady.
- Publications, ephemera
- Event website on Flusser.cz (archived 1997)
- Event website on SCCA (archived 1997)
- Jitro kouzelníků?, eds. Jaroslav Anděl, Miloš Vojtěchovský, Ivona Raimanová and Jana Tichá, Prague: Národní galerie v Praze, 17 Oct 1996, [8] pp. Newspaper to accompany the exhibition. (Czech)
- Steina Vasulka: instalace: 24. ledna - 23. února 1997, trans. Eva Uhlířová, Prague: Národní galerie, 1997, 14 pp. Exh. catalogue. Texts by Steina Vasulka, Robert R. Riley, Marita Sturken. (Czech)
- Poster (PDF)
- Announcement
- Literature
- Marie Malinovská, "Nekunsthistorická poznámka k výstavě Ztraty a nalezy (Jitro kouzelníků II)", Divus 1:3, 1997, pp 14-15. (Czech)
- Karel Vlach, "Umění, věda, společnost na přelomu tisíciletí?", Umělec 1, 1997, p 23. (Czech)
- Alena Potůčková, "Jitro kouzelníků: přelom tisíciletí ve světle teorie komplexity", Atelier 9:5, 1997, p 1. Exh. review. (Czech)
- Pavel Liška, "Umění, věda, společnost na přelomu tisíciletí", Atelier 9:5, 1997, p 16. (Czech)
- Tamara Bissel, "Dawn of the Magicians?: Lots of questions, few answers", The Prague Post, 30 Oct 1996. Exh. review. [2] (English)
- Lenka Dolanová, "O sympoziích v plaském klášteře, skrýších pro umělce, intenzivním a extenzivním zemědělství. Rozhovor s Milošem Vojtěchovským" / "On Symposia in Plasy Monastery, Artists’ Refuges and Intensive and Extensive Agriculture. Interview with Miloš Vojtěchovský", in Mezi první a druhou moderností, 1985-2012 / Between the First and Second Modernity, 1985-2012, eds. Jiří Ševčík and Edith Jeřábková, Prague: VVP AVU, 2011, pp 269-284 & 285-300. (Czech)/(English)
- Alisa Zakablukovskaya, Umění nových médií a proměny, které přineslo do muzeí, Prague: Karlova univerzita, 2013, pp 50-54. Bachelor thesis. (Czech)
- See also
- Links
