We would cordially like to invite the public to a launch of a new anthology of essays called Speculative Ecologies: Plotting Through the Mesh (Litteraria Pragensia Books, 2019). The evening will feature lectures and a live podcast.  

Trajna is a collective set up by the design duo Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Andrej Koruza.

A concert programme based on Broken Music, a project by Milan Knížák from the early 1960s.

High ceilings, huge windows, original hardwood floors – the grandiose proportions are supported by a functional minimalism which immediately draws the visitor’s attention. We are on the third floor of a former textile plant in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Local firm Henkai Architects has transformed it into a complex of studios, workshops and offices for creative individuals and small artistic collectives. The marriage of the architects’ vision, coupled with the generous attitude of the current owner, has given the city a new, vibrant space, perfect for exhibitions and for networking for the local arts community. We talked with Vendula Tůmová, one of the main people in charge of the informal 3. Etáž (Third Floor) collective, about what it means to create and support local alternative culture.

Lithuania / Estonia / Germany, 2017, 85 min.Direction, camera: Mindaugas SurvilaScenario: Gintė Zulyte, Mindaugas SurvilaEditing: Danielius KokanauskisSound: Mindaugas Survila, Ginte Zulyte, Radvile SumileProducers: Mindaugas Survila, Ginte Zulyte, Radvile SumileNo commentary

Trajna is a non-governmental organisation and a collective lead by the design duo Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Andrej Koruza, who work in the fields of design, ecology and participation.

Bucharest based artists Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán work in a range of media spanning installation, drawing, video, and performance.⁓Simona Gottierová is a multimedia artist and was awarded the Startpoint Prize in 2018 for European students.

Gallery Na shledanou (“The Good-bye Gallery”) is located in the south Bohemian town of Volyně in the Malšička cemetery in a gallery building that was intended to serve as a funeral hall. The gallery focuses on contemporary art with an emphasis on site-specific art as well as the finality of human life. In this interview, Radoslava Schmelzová sits down with curator and art historian and Jan Freiberg to discuss the various challenges and outcomes of the project.

Kazakhstan / Germany, 2016, 88 minDirector: Katerina SuvorovaCinematography: Eugen SchlegelProducers: Sain Gabdullin, Stefan Grobe and Anna Vilgelmi, KINO Company StudioLanguage: Russian / Kazakh with English subtitles

Prague Improvisation Orchestra performs using Adapt/Oppose, a graphic score system for improvisers created by Agosto Foundation artist-in-residence Burkhard Beins.

Sound is a medium which connects all animate and inanimate objects in the world into a network of relationships. While in the past, sound’s fleeting nature discouraged many from diving deeper into its complexities, the sheer fascination with sound of many avant-garde artists and adventurous scholars, along with the development of sound recording technologies, have greatly contributed to the increased interest in sound over the last 50 years.

In the twentieth century, the natural and social sciences alike imagined the world as composed of individuals with distinct bodies, genomes, and competing vested interests. Twenty-first-century research has shown that symbiosis is a near-requirement for life – even for Homo sapiens. Life is symbiosis “all the way down.” However, when conditions suddenly shift, once life-sustaining relationships sometimes turn deadly. The Agosto Foundation sponsored Symbiont film series is a storytelling response in times of vulnerability and radical ecosystemic changes. Each film will include a personal introduction by its creator. —Pavel Borecký, curator of Symbiont

We talked with Newton Harrison, eco-artist and cofounder of the eponymous Harrison Studio, during his recent stay in Prague, where he was scheduled to speak at the American Center on the topic of climate change and possible mitigation strategies. The interview quickly turned candid and Newton left little room for half-full interpretations of our world’s state: things are bad all over.

El Mar La MarUSA, 2017, 95 min.An immersive journey through the Sonoran Desert on the U.S.-Mexico border.Directed / Edited / Cinematography by Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. SniadeckiLanguages: English, Spanish with English subtitles.

Thinking Like a Mountain Germany, Colombia, 2018, 93 min.Written and directed: Alexander HickDirector of Photography: Immanuel HickMusic: Christian Castagno and Nacho DraultProduction: Flipping the Coin Films, Hochschule für Fernsehen und FilmLanguage: Chibcha, Spanish, German with English subtitles.

Windjarrameru, The Stealing C*nt$2015, 35 minThe Mermaids, or Aiden in Wonderland2018, 26 minConceived and produced by the Karrabing Film CollectiveDirector: Elizabeth A. PovinelliLanguage: EnglishAustralia  

Roundtable discussion with Chris Hill, Tomáš Ruller and Jennifer DeFelice on current topics in the art in post-media, post-internet and post-truth times.

At the beginning of June, a conference on the pressing theme of Art in the Anthropocene took place in Dublin, Ireland. This term, though already commonly used in the media, is still rather new and sometimes criticised.

For the 3rd annual Perpedes grant program, the foundation recieved a total of 79 nominations. The selection process took place in two rounds, resulting in the selection of 9 projects for grant support. The Foundation will support the selected associations, initiatives or individuals with a total sum of 630,000 CZK, each project receiving 70,000 CZK.

If you have ecological or other reasons for not going on the traditional pilgrimage to the Venice Biennale along with hundreds of thousands of other tourists, this June there was a good alternative right in central Bohemia. The first ever Benátky Biennial took place in the baroque spaces of the Benátky nad Jizerou chateau from 25–28 June.

They call themselves Zvěřinec (Menagerie) and all of them are natives to the Zlín region. Although they appeared on the scene not long ago, they are already very accomplished.

In the town of Vrané nad Vltavou, near a picturesque church, cemetery and parish, just above the river and its paper mill, at the very end of the winding road named V Zítkách, stands a former elementary school. It was saved from decrepitude by a group of local volunteers which later formed the Stará Škola (Old School) association.

Directed and written by Emma Davie and Peter MettlerCinematography: Peter MettlerSound Design: Jacques Kieffer, Peter Bräker, Peter MettlerProducers: Cornelia Seitler, Brigitte Hofer, Rebecca Day, Sonja Henrici (maximage, Scottish Documentary Institute, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen)Switzerland/UK, 2018, 78 min.

Directed by Paul WrightMusic by Will Gregory and Adrain UtleyProducers: Hopscotch FilmsUK, 2017, 78 min.English

The painters Jitka (1922-2011) and Květa (1922-1998) Válová, sisters from Kladno have been awarded the title Dames of Czech Culture. The posthumous honor was awarded by the minister of culture, Antonín Staněk, as part of the 13th annual international festival Mene Tekel. A medal with an emblem for painting is to be accepted on 24 February, 2019, by Marie Vydrová, representing the Válová family.

As part of its grant program Perpedes, the Agosto Foundation requests nominations from the general public for the support of the activities of individual artists, as well as for artistic or cultural projects.

Lee Patterson is a British musician, sound artist and maker of experimental musical instruments. He lives and works in Prestwich, Manchester.