Mission and Focus
About the Agosto Foundation
The Agosto Foundation was founded in 2013 and has been dedicated to the support and realization of many projects and programs. After a decade, since 2023, our presence on the Czech cultural scene will remain, albeit mainly through the rich legacy of our online Mediateka, as we mull the current realities of the cultural climate and assess the availability of resources.
We invite you to browse our extensive media collections in the Mediateka, which include:
- Hermit Foundation and Center for Metamedia Plasy: Documentation from the CMP Archives 1992 – 1999
- Acoustic Ecology: Exploring the Aural World, our Acoustic Ecology Reader
- Speculative Ecologies: The Fertile Ground Between Art and Ecology
… among many other media collections.
The Agosto Foundation supports a wide range of projects focusing on the development of innovative social and cultural programs that promote interdisciplinary sharing.
Particular attention is paid to innovative and experimental approaches that work across disciplines, especially those that include an educational aspect. Through its grants, the Foundation supports individuals and groups who are committed to personal and social development and who face artistic challenges inherent in social change.
In 2014, Foundation founder Cynthia Plachá, together with other curators from an array of genres, mounted the international festival vs. Interpretation, centered on musical improvisation, but overlapping into film, movement and the fine arts. The festival sought to make use of various expressive means and situations, which took the form of performances, audiovisual installations, site-specific works, and interventions in the public space, employing the full panoply of genres and tools available. Part of the festival took shape as an interdisciplinary symposium and the subsequent publication of the book vs. Interpretation: An Anthology on Improvisation, Vol. 1. The second year of the festival took place in 2016, emphasizing, as in the first, the connection of the local experimental art scene to a broader international context.
Currently, the Foundation supports smaller projects, focusing on improvised music, sound art and in particular, environmental issues. Throughout the year, the Foundation hosts artists, theoreticians and curators from abroad as participants in its artist residency program. With its Perpedes grant program, the Foundation supports artistic initiatives away from the urban centers, and also manages and maintains its extensive online project collections in its Mediatéka. Rather than presenting works of art closed off from the public, the Foundation centers on process-based and collaborative forms which seek to change social and cultural environments.
Significant Milestones
2013
- The Foundation is founded by Cynthia and Tomáš Plachý.
2014
vs. Interpretation – festival, symposium the publication of vs. Interpretation: An Anthology on Improvisation, Vol. 1.
vs. Interpretation – festival documentation
2015
- Artist Residency program for artists, theoreticians, and curators launched.
2016
vs. Interpretation - festival and interviews.
Online Mediatéka established: the projects De-archivization of the Archive of the Hermit Foundation and the Center for Metamedia Plasy, the Universal Psychiatric Church Upsych 316a, the Válová Sisters, and Excavating the Future.
Support for the establishment and opening of the ArtMap bookshop on Vojtěšská Street.
2017
The international Soundworms Ecology Gathering in Mariánské Radčice.
Inaugural Perpedes grant program launched.
A series of screenings in collaboration the the National Film Archive ČR at the Cinema Ponrepo is launched.
Perpedian Map developed.
2018
The international symposium Architecture and the Senses in Plasy.
Support for the conference Legacy of the Válová Sisters concerning questions raised by artists’ legacies.
2019
Supplemental program Sonic Circuits to the exhibition Zvuky/Kódy/Obrazy at the Prague City Gallery.
Publication of the audio cassette Flies and Birds Above.
Completion of De-archivization of the Archive of the Hermit Foundation and the Center for Metamedia Plasy
2020
The essay collection Speculative Ecologies added to the Mediatéka.
New media collection: Akustická ekologie: Průzkum zvukových světů
2021
Inauguration of the two-year project Cartography of (Eco)systems: Black Edition
Publication of Poems and Drawings by Květa Válová (from a photo album, 1953-55)
Publication of Upsych 316a Universal Psychiatric Church
2022
- Publication, website and conference Cartography of (Eco)systems: Black Edition
2023
- The exhibition Flashback: Hermit 1992-1999 is dedicated to the presentation of the archive of the Hermit Foundation and its exhibtion at the Museum of Art in Olomouce, where the archive is housed.
We thank all individuals and institutions who have worked with us in the past in the realization and support of our projects, including: National Technical Museum, Center for Architectural Patrimony Plasy, National Heritage Institute in Plzeň, Faculty of Arts and Design at the University Jan Evangelista Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem, HISVoice, Academy of Music Prague, Studio ALTA, Alfred ve dvoře Theatre, National Gallery at the Trade Fair Palace, HAMU, Institute of Intermedia – FEL ČVUT, Center and Foundation for Contemporary Art Prague, Old Waste Water Treatment Plant in Bubeneč, INI Gallery, Školská 28 Gallery, Goethe Institute, Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague, Slovak Institute Prague, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Embassy of the Netherlands, Harvestworks New York, Multiplace, Prague City Gallery.
Over the years, some programs and projects of the Foundation were made possible through the financial support of the private resources of its founders, gifts from the commercial enterprise Safichem Assets, a.s., from public subsidies (Czech Ministry of Culture, City of Prague District 1, City of Prague District 7, Region of Plzeň, Foundation for Contemporary Art, et al.), as well as private donors. All are warmly thanked. You, too can offer your support of our efforts by making a donation directly to our account.
The Foundation in the Media
Agosto raises big questions. And entertains – in Czech – lidovky.cz
Demolish prejudices about improvisation. An American in Prague organizes a new festival – in Czech – ihned.cz
For new adventures: Vs. Interpretation brings five days of music experiments – in Czech – wave.rozhlas.cz
Martha Mooke and Dreaming in Sound – in Czech – hisvoice.cz
The Agosto Foundation – in Czech – hisvoice.cz
Debate on the organization and functioning of cultural events in the regions. Speakers include: Iva Kaiserova, Petr Karasek, Petr Matej Kolar and Janek Rous. Moderated by Jaroslava Haladová. ČRO Vltava – ArtCafé – in Czech – vltava.rozhlas.cz
In Search of Lost Time – À la recherche du temps perdu. Plasy a Hermit #1, #2, #3. ČRO Vltava — Radioateliér, 2018 — in Czech
Archives of the Hermit Foundation. Jak ECHO tak NARCIS – in Czech – hisvoice.cz
Review: Interdisciplinary meeting Architecture and Senses, Plasy 2018. Plasy, architektura a zvuk – in Czech – hisvoice.cz
Opening of the Studio of the Sisters Válová in Kladno. Sestry Válovy připomíná pamětní deska a nově zpřístupněný ateliér – in Czech – kladensky.denik.cz
At 37 minutes during the Czech Radio programme Mozaika Vratislav Faerber talks about the publication UPSYCH 316a
“Culture trampled out of the ground” (Czech) (Kartografie (Eko)systémů) Jiří Přivřel