The Description of a Struggle / A New Media Image of Franz Kafka

I am free and that is why I am lost.

The lie made into the rule of the world.

Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself.

Exhibition project in the house where Franz Kafka was born

The exhibition will open on Tuesday, 17 September at 7 pm.

Literary performance – Eugen Brikcius

Concert by Hana Frejková – Yiddish IN THREE

Curator: Dan Merta

Literary House Prague, Gallery Point, Gallery Ambit

Free admission

Exhibition in the Romanesque Lapidarium and on the first floor of FK's birthplace

/visual and artistic responses to the legacy of Franz Kafka's work/

Accompanying programme

• Theatre/ Guest sector

• Debates with the participation of writers, authors, poets in cooperation with the Prague House of Literature

• Debate on the true image of Prague 1 with the participation of politicians and residents

• Guided tours, workshops for pupils and students

A multimedia exhibition based on what is probably the oldest surviving text by Franz Kafka from 1904 will present the legacy of his work in the context of contemporary Czech visual culture in the basement of the house where he was born.

Artists and architects will respond with their interventions to the material and the genius loci and surroundings of „Kafka's House“, which has undergone a radical transformation as part of the development of the urban and architectural structure of the centre of Prague and the Jewish ghetto, and will demonstrate the multi-layered and often complicated legibility of historical contexts. It will offer a new reading of the historical context in a ‘post-truth’ era.

The authors addressed

Eugen Brikcius, Veronika Bromová, Jiří David, Milena Dopitová, Epos 257, Martin Falář, Michaela Filingerová, Roman Franta, Karel Hladík/Büste am Familienhaus, Aleš Hnízdil, Jasanský Polák, Ivan Kafka, Vladimír Kokolia, Jiří Kovanda, Adéla Marešová, Barbora Nahálková, Karel Nepraš, Jaroslav Prokeš, Rafani, Beata Rážová, Jan Šerých, Ondřej Karel Šimánek, Prager Idioten, Marek Vašut, Petra Vlachynská, Jiří Votruba, Filip Zeman

The invited authors will draw on the philosophical and literary heritage of the author, but will also look for new connections through „visual archaeology“ that can be found both in the building itself and in its immediate surroundings. The exhibition is a continuation of the successful multidisciplinary project „Für die Wahrheit...“ (For the Truth...) which the Architectura association prepared in 2019 for the site of the Bethlehem Chapel and which addresses the legacy of the work of the master Jan Hus directly in the complex associated with his work.

The aim of the exhibition is to create a new history and interpretation of Franz Kafka's still relevant legacy, which will encourage the attentive viewer to reflect on the transformation of this cross-shaped square in the centre of Prague, which has become an example of the tourist exploitation of history, including Kafka's work. In the wider centre alone, one encounters three works of art associated with Kafka, raising questions about their artistic quality or the reason for their creation.

One can wonder whether Kafka is merely being „skilfully exploited“ as part of the „tourist image of Prague“, or whether this is simply a cynical resignation of post-industrial society to philosophical or intellectual ideas, in which we no longer place any value on the originality and truthfulness of a genuine work of art or its legacy.

The short story „Description of a Struggle“ can also be seen as an introduction to Kafka's world, as a metaphor

a metaphor for his work, his life and his personal struggle, which he wages „against a strangely ordered and limited world“ (Critique of the World of 1905 and 2024).

Although the house where the exhibition will take place is located in the centre of the tourist „McDonaldisation“ of Prague, it can still provide a refuge for the questions of artists, philosophers, writers, but of course also those who still live locally or who come to Prague to see Kafka / Who comes to see Kafka, how is he perceived by the inhabitants of Prague from different social and age groups. How is his legacy maintained by the FK society, how is this legacy perceived by intellectuals. Is the economic benefit of FK's legacy for tourism in Prague calculated?

The exhibition and the accompanying programme (in the form of expert discussions, theatre and music performances and readings of Kafka's texts) are intended to become a platform for asking questions and seeking answers in these very „fluid“ times.

The house, which is owned by the City of Prague, has recently undergone extensive renovation, which has also resulted in the creation of an architecturally very valuable basement. The parallel with „Kafka's Lapidarium or Hiding Place“ is also obvious. The organisation of the new gallery will offer artists the opportunity to find specific approaches to the genius loci and the architectural space of the building.

A documentary film by director Jan Březina will be produced for the project with the support of the Ministry of Culture as part of the national restoration plan.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Cultural Fund, the City of Prague and the Municipality of Prague 1.

Media partners: Přítomnost, Radio1, Artmap, Kafka 2024