Prague Happening Cities

www.prague.eu Accessibilty by air from Frankfurt

1 h

from Berlin

1 h (by train 4 h 20 min)

from Moscow

2 h 45 min

from New York

8 h 25 min

from Philadelphia (PA)

8 h 55 min

Target group: Millenials

The Bohemian quarter. A place where creativity knows no bounds, where artistic opinion is law, where anyone can say what they want and, most importantly, how they want it. Like most of the world’s major cities, Prague also has its multi-genre and multicultural area. Welcome to ART DISTRICT 7, the district of art and culture. Never-ending Happenings Just a few underground stations from the city centre, visitors to Prague will come across a string of galleries, museums, theatres, cafés, restaurants, music clubs, creative studios and hybrid cultural spaces. Here, life flows in metaphors and symbols, here there are no obstacles to individuality. Creative and active people work together spontaneously, help each other out, and share their knowhow. It doesn’t matter whether they are members of official institutions or come from the streets. According to the travel bloggers of The Independent 2017, it is the 15th best district in Europe. Among its natural centres is the architecturally unique Trade Fair Palace with collections of modern art from the National Gallery, which is housed in a stunning functionalist building, where you will find, among others, first-rate works of such famous artists of the 20thcentury European avantgarde such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Paul Gauguin or Vincent van Gogh. Its dynamic counterbalance is the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, a multipurpose space for presenting contemporary international and Czech art, architecture and design, created thanks to a private initiative by redeveloping a former 19th-century factory. It is a remarkable space for comparing different approaches and tendencies. The Gulliver Airship stands on its roof, a unique architectural intervention in the shape of a 42-metre steel and wooden construction, and an alternative space where contemporary art and literature meet. 

Streets and Squares Full of Alternatives Not far away, there is the creative centre Vnitroblock. An enlivened street offers an unusual café, the smallest cinema far and wide, a dance studio, a different gallery

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Destination Manual 2020 | Cultural Tourism

concept, theatre and cabaret spaces, and a multimedia studio. Put simply, anyone who genuinely wants to discover Prague’s alternative culture will find it here. The reconstruction of another industrial space created the unconventional cultural centre La Fabrika, a multipurpose space for audio-visual projects, theatre and dance performances requiring unusual spatial solutions, multimedia exhibitions, workshops, and even social meetings, displays and concerts. Its name alone – “Berlínskej model” – tells us that a non-commercial off-space gallery focusing on contemporary Czech and international artists has drawn inspiration from Berlin’s Bohemian areas. The National Technical Museum, the largest Czech institution specialising in museum collections of a technical nature with more than a century’s history, is proof of spontaneous harmony between official organisations and the artistic underground. It is based in a monumental functionalist building which houses unique collections of items in fourteen permanent exhibitions and short-term displays. The neighbouring, also functionalist building belongs to the National Museum of Agriculture. It offers nine permanent exhibitions and a unique roof garden with a picnic lawn. Bio Oko is a cinema that is not dictated by blockbusters, but which rather focuses on film art. And it is no surprise that Prague’s largest mobile exhibit, a sculpture of a giant functional metronome, is also found here – in the popular Letná Park. The Letní Letná New Circus Festival, which presents the best that the Czech Republic and the world have to offer in this dynamic new genre, also takes place nearby. Another popular nature area is Stromovka, with 95 hectares of trees, ponds, connecting water channels, bridges and, above all, paths. Stromovka is ideal for all kind of sports and exercise, and many cultural events are also held here.

www.prague.eu Art District 7: www.praha7.cz Facebook: Art District 7 National Gallery Prague: www.ngprague.cz DOX Centre for Contemporary Art: www.dox.cz National Technical Museum: www.ntm.cz