Festival RE:PUBLIKA
26.5. - 17.6. 2018

It has been 90 years since Brno celebrated the 10th anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s founding. On 26 May 1928, President Masaryk opened an exhibition at the Brno Exhibition Centre to celebrate a decade of independence. Exactly 90 years later, on 26 May 2018, Masaryk, now by proxy, will open the festival celebrating 100 years.

100 – 90

The RE:PUBLIKA festival commemorates 100 years since the country’s independence and 90 years since the Brno Exhibition Centre was opened. On Saturday 26 May, the centre will transform into a giant time machine and take visitors 100 years into the past. A replica of the opening ceremony from 1928 will kick off the largest celebration in the country of the founding of an independent Czechoslovakia. Over three weeks and four weekends, the festival will present the best of Czech design with the Avant Garde exhibit, the most interesting Czech literature with 100 let 100 knih (100 Years, 100 Books), and a taste of sports in the past and present at the large Re:lax zóna (Relax Zone). The Dance Brno 100 festival will be the first time ever that ballet ensembles from nine of the republics which replaced the Austrian Empire will meet in one place. And the Slovanská epopej (Slav Epic) will also have a premiere in Brno.

‘It’s befitting to celebrate 100 years of history. How else than through the history of Czechs and other Slavic nations? Prague is supporting the Brno RE:PUBLIKA Festival by lending out part of Alfons Mucha’s Slovanská epopej (Slav Epic). During the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the republic’s founding, the country’s two largest cities will thus be symbolically connected through Mucha’s exceptional work,’ explained Petr Vokřál, Mayor of the City of Brno and the project’s initiator.

8 – 1918

The festival rests on eight main pillars. In addition to the projects above, there is the Snímeček, prosím (Photo Please) project, which has invited eight top Czech professional photographers to offer their unique perspectives by documenting a day at the festival. The result will be an original photographic document showing a mix of various approaches to capturing reality. Although the festival officially ends on Sunday 17 June, two of its essential projects will extend past then. The first is EX:PO, the largest Czechoslovak date, directed by artist and Architect of the Year 2017 Kateřina Šedá. She will try to introduce 1918 singles and so influence their futures. The second is the Příběhy fotek (Photo Stories) project, which will map stories of places, ordinary people, and large and small moments in our republic’s history to create a unique archive of personal mementos.

‘We’re celebrating 100 years since independence, but large historical milestones are merely an opportunity for us to focus on personal, human stories. One thousand moments of happiness and joy and of sorrow and fear. We want to show how many unique figures in our past and present we have in design, sport, folklore, architecture, music, dance, literature, science, medicine, and many other fields. I’d like the festival to also reflect family histories – we’re collecting personal stories and photos. We don’t want to be just an exhibition of local history, but a festival of emotion – experiences!’ declared Pavel Anděl, the festival’s Creative Director.

Příběhy fotek (Photo Stories)

This project will create a publicly accessible database of unknown family stories and connected photos. It will map stories of places, ordinary people, and large and small moments in our country’s history. Stories of places we walk past every day while having no idea about their history; stories of people whose lives might be fuller than the CVs of historic figures; stories of moments from the smallest joy to a visit to the grand exhibition at the Brno Exhibition Centre on the republic’s 10th anniversary.

The project calls on everyone to open their old photo albums or boxes of family photos and tell the stories of their grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents and siblings. To think about and remember those who may not have started great events, but without whom we would not have our personal history. Photos and mementos are shared at www.republikafotky.cz. Mayor Petr Vokřál and Creative Director Pavel Anděl have already sent their photos with their personal stories.

Key festival events

• Avant Garde

Architecture and design exhibition

• EX:PO

Largest Czechoslovak date

• Dance Brno 100

Unique European dance festival

• Příběhy fotek (Photo Stories)

Unique archive of personal mementos

• Re:lax zóna (Relax Zone)

Sports in the past and today

• Slovanská epopej (Slav Epic)

World-famous canvases in Brno for the first time

• Snímeček, prosím? (Photo Please)

Our best contemporary photographers

• 100 let 100 knih (100 Years, 100 Books)

The best of our literature

More at www.republika2018.cz

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Foto: Monika Hlaváčová, Pocket Media a skypix-cz