Lecture series "Wednesdays at AVU" - winter semester 2011/2012

The lecture cycle in the winter semester 2011/2012 is not narrowly thematic; it is connected by the effort to present current events in Czech art and the desire to bring topics that should not be overlooked. We will once again focus not only on visual arts but also on architecture and general cultural and social issues. One of the lecturers will, as in previous cycles, represent the perspective of Slovak colleagues.
During the first evening, five finalists of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award will be introduced. Their brief presentations will take place during the period when their exhibition at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art is opened, but the winner will not yet have been decided. The presentation of the finalists at AVU has been taking place for the fourth year. This will be followed by a lecture by Slovak architect Imro Vaško, who this year leads one of the studios at the Prague VŠUP. He has approached his contribution as a reflection on ways of thinking about architecture and the possibilities of teaching architecture. AVU teacher Milena Slavická will present the Russian conceptual school, which she has been professionally engaged with for many years and which she has also been in direct contact with since the late 1970s. The cycle will conclude with philosopher and sociologist Václav Bělohradský, who will question the meaning of the term "post" in today's society.

Program:
Wednesdays, 18:00, AVU auditorium (3rd floor)
Online stream and archiving by Czech Television, I-Vysílání

Moderated by Terezie Nekvindová

9. 11. 2011
Finalists of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award
Filip Cenek / Dominik Lang / Pavel Sterec / Marek Ther / Jiří Thýn
For the fourth time, finalists of the prestigious Jindřich Chalupecký Award, awarded to Czech artists under 35, will present themselves at AVU. Come and learn more about the exhibited works and the finalists themselves during the time between the opening of the exhibition at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art and the announcement of the winner.

23. 11. 2011
Imro Vaško
Why? How? What?...
As if we were at the end or at the beginning... The rise of tabloid media, various disasters, the stress of society, and the inequality of aspects of global presence increasingly urge diverse forums to formulate fundamental questions. The need for change confronts the discipline of architecture and its academic environment with recurring universal doubts and uncertainties. Slovak architect and architecture theorist Imro Vaško will test strategies and possibilities of architectural thinking in new beginnings during his lecture. Imro Vaško focuses on conceptual and visionary architecture, urbanism, and installations. He explores trends in Central European architecture and parallel modernism. Since the early 1990s, he has led the academic platform for architectural experimentation, the Laboratory of Architecture at VŠVU in Bratislava, and since this fall, also the Architecture III studio at VŠUP in Prague.

14. 12. 2011
Milena Slavická
The Glory and Misery of the Avant-Garde. Russian Avant-Garde Art of the 70s, 80s, and 90s of the Last Century
A whimsical narration about Russian, especially Moscow's, unofficial art of four generations will be presented by art historian, curator, and AVU teacher Milena Slavická. Slavická has been professionally engaged with the Russian unofficial visual and literary scene for many years, and she has also been in direct contact with it since the late 1970s. From 1978 to 1982, she organized visits of Moscow's nonconformist artists to Prague with Jindřich Chalupecký. She also curates exhibitions on the subject, such as the exhibition of the Medhermeneutika group (Prague 1990) or Flying Away, Leaving, Disappearing. Three Generations of Moscow Conceptual Art (Prague 1995, Berlin and Kiel 1996).

11. 1. 2012
Václav Bělohradský
Parts Without Participation: On Post-Societies
Philosopher and sociologist Václav Bělohradský will address the meaning of the term "post" in formulations such as post-democracy, post-production, post-industrial, post-modern, post-ideological, post-hegemonic, etc., in his lecture.