The exhibition will commemorate the achievements of the legendary Expo 58

Prague - Inspirational architecture, industry, film, design, and lifestyle that were showcased in the Czechoslovak exhibition at the World Expo 58 in Brussels will be the subject of the exhibition "Brussels Dream." On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of a significant international Czechoslovak success, the exhibition will take place from May to September in Prague and at the turn of this and next year in Brno. A preview of the exhibition will also be presented in Brussels - starting from April 9.
    "Expo 58 is a legend; it is an important milestone in realizing one's own history of the second half of the 20th century," mentioned Daniela Kramerová, one of the curators of the exhibition, the main reason for organizing it. However, the actual background of this legend and the very nature of the Expo and Czechoslovak participation is, according to her, relatively unknown today. "Very few physical remnants have survived, and regarding expert processing, after a smaller exhibition that focused on the Expo ten years ago, this is its first larger evaluation," she stated.
    Another reason why the exhibition's authors began to focus on the Brussels exhibition and its impact on lifestyle in Czechoslovakia is the ambiguity of this phenomenon. "On one hand, it is an important milestone in opening up to the free world - in terms of presentation and a great and unexpected success in the West, as well as the opportunity to meet Western culture," Kramerová noted.
    However, it is also important to perceive that Czechoslovak participation in Expo 58 was a presentation of a communist state. "It was a presentation of a harmonious socialist republic, in which all classes aim for the common good, and it had very little in common with the reality of communist Czechoslovakia. From this perspective, the Expo is understood as the pinnacle of communist Potemkin propaganda," she explained.
    Both of these aspects will be presented by the authors of the exhibition through texts, photo documentation, and interviews with witnesses, and even more detailed in the book accompanying the exhibition.
    The Czechoslovak pavilion in Brussels received 170 awards, including the main award, the Golden Star, and became the most popular exhibition among visitors. According to the authors, the success was not so much due to individual exhibits but to the entire concept, which also included theatrical principles - the architectural design of some exhibits was created by scenographers František Tröster and Josef Svoboda.
    The most successful exhibits were primarily the works of glassmakers and ceramicists, as well as unique multimedia projects - laterna magika and polyekran; the Czechoslovak restaurant greatly contributed to the pavilion's success. This, but not the pavilion, has survived to this day. It was transported back to Czechoslovakia along with the pavilion, but the pavilion located at the Exhibition Grounds burned down in 1991.
    The restaurant transported to Letná Park experienced great glory in the 1960s. However, after 1989 and a failed privatization, the building fell into disrepair. It was reopened in 2001, when it began to host an advertising agency, which has leased the building from the owner, an Austrian company A.I.V.
    During the exhibition, which will take place in Prague in the premises of the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague in the City Library, the Expo areas will be accessible to visitors for two days.
    The project is organized by Arbor vitae societas, the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, and the National Technical Museum. Current information will be published on www.arborvitae.eu and www.expo58.info.