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the mantle material for the memorial scrolls trust scroll 1052 now at the ec chajim synagogue in prague

Journey of a Torah Scroll

Journey of a Torah Scroll I was at an event at the British Embassy in November 2021 when I was introduced to a Rabbi called David Maxa and he asked me if I knew about the return of a Czech Torah Scroll. It would be a few more weeks before I understood what was a … Read More

entropa modern art located at techmania in plze

David Cerny – Entropa

Modern Art – Entropa I was reading this month that France had just taken over the rotating Presidency of the European Union Council which means Czech will be next and it reminded me of what happened this week in January 2009 when France was handing over to Czech. It’s a tradition that the country taking … Read More

city street sign saying that you are entering the prague monument reserve and the prague unesco world heritage list area

Prague UNESCO

Prague UNESCO There are signs in the city like the one pictured that say you are entering the Prague Monument Reserve and hence, 95% of what a regular tourist would visit is in this area. As an old historic city you might expect several Prague UNESCO sites but you might not know that during the … Read More

a large rusty cast iron fan called sophies fan in prague

Sophies Fan

Sophies Fan On the Sand Gate post I described where one of the original fortified city gates can be found and in the same area 50 metres in front of the gate is a little piece of art called Sophies Fan so I’m going to use it to tell the story of a woman. Anybody … Read More

franz kafka monument in prague with background tree, blue sky and part of the facade of the spanish synagogue

Franz Kafka Monument

Franz Kafka Monument I’ve written about the sculptor Jaroslav Rona and I’ve written about Franz Kafka so what about a post that links them. People might be confused because there will be references to two different Franz Kafka monuments in Prague. If you are looking for the huge shining Franz Kafka head which rotates then … Read More

jaroslav rona bronze sculpture sitting devil on the old town square in 2017

Jaroslav Rona Sculptures

Jaroslav Rona Sculptures Born in 1957 you could say that by the age of 15 Jaroslav Rona knew that he wanted to be some kind of artist. He applied to various arts schools and was rejected so having completed his basic 9 years of education he enrolled in a 3 year vocational school to train … Read More

alfons mucha slav epic

Slav Epic Part One

Slav Epic Part One – Introduction and Location The Slav Epic is a huge piece of work whether you look at it from a perspective of the number of paintings i.e. twenty, the size of the paintings (6 of the paintings would cover the front of a terraced house in England, including the roof), the … Read More

Slav epic, celebration of Svantovit, when gods are at war

Slav Epic Part Two

Slav Epic Part Two – Paintings 1 to 5 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 1 to 5 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when … Read More

slav epic, the coronation of serbian tsar stepan dusan, slavic legislation

Slav Epic Part Three

Slav Epic Part Three – Paintings 6 to 10 This post explores the detail on the paintings numbered 6 to 10 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, … Read More

Slav epic, the defence of sziget by nikola zrnski

Slav Epic Part Four

Slav Epic Part Four – Paintings 11 to 15 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 11 to 15 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when … Read More