COURAGE

povezivanje zbirki

Josef Škvorecký was a Czech-Canadian writer, translator and exile publisher. He studied English and Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague and since the 1950s he worked as an editor and writer. One of his most famous works was his first novel containing autobiographical elements entitled “Zbabělci” (“The Cowards”) (published in 1958), depicting the last days of the Second World War in the city of Náchod (in the book Kostelec) from the point of view of the Škvorecký’s literary alter ego Danny Smiřický. In 1969, Škvorecký and his wife Zdena Salivarová emigrated from Czechoslovakia and settled in Toronto, Canada, where he taught at the University. In 1971, they founded the Sixty-Eight Publishers exile publishing house, which published mainly Czechoslovak exile literature and works by authors banned in Czechoslovakia. Until 1994, the publisher issued a total of 227 titles. In 1990 Czechoslovak president Václav Havel awarded Josef Škvorecký and Zdena Salivarová the Order of the White Lion.

Oldřich Škácha (1941–2014) was a Czech documentary photographer and dissident. He graduated in photography from the State School of Graphic Design in Prague. In the 1960s he worked as  a photo-reporter for the magazine Svět sovětů (The World of the Soviets, 1964–1966) and his photographs also appeared in other Czechoslovak periodicals. At that time he also collaborated with the Barrandov film studios (1962–1966). After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by troops from the Warsaw Pact, he lived for a short time in Germany and in France, but then he returned to Czechoslovakia. During Normalization, however, he was not allowed to photograph officially. He specialized in portraits of figures from Czech culture and became famous as Václav Havel’s trusted photographer. He documented the life of the dissidents, in particular Charter 77. His photographs have been exhibited in many countries.

Jan Šmarda is a Czech microbiologist and cousin of Czech poet Ivan Blatný. He kept in touch with Blatný even after Blatný’s emigration to England in 1948. After Blatný’s death in 1990 he sold the poet’s papers to the Museum of Czech Literature. In 2013, he published the book Ivan Blatný v mých vzpomínkách (Ivan Blatný in My Memories) in which he described Ivan Blatný’s life and memories of him.

Professor Jindřich Štreit is a Czech documentary photographer and teacher. He was born in Wallachia and studied at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Palacky University in Olomouc, graduating in 1976 with a focus in art education. He started taking an interest in photography thanks to the influence of his father and Professor Jan Bukovjan, who he met at university.

After graduating, he moved to Rýmařov, where he taught at the local elementary school and later became its director. Since 1974 he has led the gallery in Rýmařov and since 1998, he has also led the gallery in Bruntál. Since the early 1970s he has devoted himself to portraying life in the village, photographing portraits and Roma life.

In 1982, he attended an unauthorized exhibition of unofficial visual artists. He was then arrested by the secret police and sentenced to 10 months with a suspended postpone for two years. He was convicted of alleged defamation of the republic and its representatives. The state police seized his negatives, his positives and his photographic apparatus, and he was not allowed to photograph. After returning from prison, he was not allowed to continue his pedagogical activities. This led to more intense cultural activities and photography.

During the period of normalization, the old school in Sovinec, where Štreit lived, served as a shelter for many unofficial artists. Štreit organized informal exhibitions, concerts and theatre performances. Sovinec has become a meeting place for independent artists from across the country.

After the revolution he worked at the Bruntál Museum and since 1994 he has been a freelance photographer. In 2009 he gained a professorship at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.

Jindřich Štreit organizes exhibitions at the Sovinec Castle every summer, has put on 1100 exhibitions and many collections, including exhibitions at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the International Center of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, etc. He is also the author of about 30 publications. Several films have been made about him and his work is represented in the most significant collections. In 2006, he was awarded the Medal of Merit for Class I.