5 don’t-miss art events in Prague this fall

The fall semester is a great time to begin your Study Abroad experience in Prague. The warm days might be over, but there is still so much to look forward to, as museums and galleries launch major shows, carefully curated over the summer. You have probably noticed the overwhelming variety of cultural events that this city has to offer, such as the Signal festival with its spectacular light mappings and installations, and the Designblok week with pop-up exhibitions, lectures, and showrooms all over town. We’ve rounded up five current and upcoming cultural events and art exhibitions that we think you will find interesting, regardless of which degree you’re studying for. 

Make the most of what Prague has to offer during your semester at UNYP! 

Signal Festival 

Where: various venues 

When:  10 October – 13 October

The Signal Festival is a multi-sensory exploration of light and sound, held every year in Prague since 2013. This year’s festival will feature twenty large-scale light installations by local and international artists with a theme of revolution, covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Even if you know Prague well, we recommend getting the official festival app, as some of the pieces will be installed in hard-to-find places.

Sibylle Bergemann Photography

Where: French Institute in Prague

When: 12 September – 24 October

In the early 1970s, Sibylle Bergemann became a leading photographer for the influential East German periodicals Das Magazin and Sonntag. She mastered various photographic styles from documentary to portraiture, fashion to landscape. With her photographic subjects existing in a liminal space between dreams and social reality, Sibylle Bergemann’s work contributes to the German post-war visual narrative, as well as to a broader international cultural heritage. 

Daniel Pitín: Papírová věž (Paper tower)

Where: Rudolfinum Gallery

When: 26 September – 29 December 

The Rudolfinum Gallery keeps surprising its viewers with its profound large-scale contemporary art shows. The Paper Tower exhibition, curated by Petr Nedoma, will present over 30 paintings by leading Czech artist Daniel Pitín. Pitín’s paintings won’t leave anyone indifferent, with their hints of destroyed lost-in-space architecture, theatrical scenes and characters behaving strangely that coexist in a multilayered and cinematic reality. 

Inge Morath: Portrait Photography

Where: Austrian Cultural Forum 

When: 20 September – 9 January 

Before becoming a celebrity portrait photographer, Inge Morath (born in Austria, 1923) worked as a translator, journalist and the Austrian editor for Heute, an Information Service Branch publication based in Munich. During the 1950s, Morath developed an interest in photography while living in London and assisting the eminent photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson as a researcher. This exhibition presents an exclusive selection of monochrome photographs of many European and American celebrities from the fields of art, culture, politics and social life, captured by Inge Morath during her work for the Magnum agency. 

Designblok

Where: various venues 

When: 10 October – 21 October 

The central theme of the twenty-first annual Designblok is the future, and the part played by design in the lives of upcoming generations. The entire exhibition, including its accompanying programs and the main display, will explore the part of designers in today’s consumerist world, and will try to establish a new, more responsible approach of production. As usual, the central Designblok show will occupy more than 10,000 m2 of the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds, but we recommend that you check out the official program which lists all of the Designblok events. 

Article picture: painting by Daniel Pitín