Dílna Mikulov - Art symposium
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Dear friends,

It is autumn now, the summer went away so fast, local elections are approaching and it’s time to look back. The Mikulov Art Symposium has become an inseparable part of our town’s summer season. I’m always curious which artists accept our invitation and how the organizes cope with all their requirements, all the accompanying events and, most importantly, the final exhibition. It always turns out great. I would like to thank the organizers for what they are doing and wish them lost of energy and support for the future because I know their work does not end with the final exhibition but lasts throughout the year. I wish the citizens of our town more such events, more enlightened creators, organizers and town council members who already know what direct and indirect effect such events have for us and especially for the future generations. The elections are coming and when you browsing through this catalogue, someone else might be the head of the town hall. I’m therefore calling on the newly elected town council to keep supporting the tradition of the MAS. From what I’ve heard, such support will be much needed especially for the next, 10th year of the MAS. With belief in a better future and common sense

Stanislav Mach, the Mayor of the town of Mikulov


The curator of this year’s MAS Ivana Lomová is presenting her international team of artists. Among the guests, there are many faces we know from past years, including Tomáš Císařovský’s four-legged friend. This year’s beautiful weather was great for sitting outside on the terrace of Sala Terrena. The evening programme in the chateau park, prepared in cooperation with the Culture Centre of Mikulov, started with the band Sedmá Figarova (see photo) introducing the star of the night, the legendary Velvet Underground Revival. Each year, the Mikulov Art Symposium creates not only material heritage for the future but it is one of the town’s cultural activities that has become a tradition. Mikulov can set out on its journey to Europe with such an event. I am glad that the Culture Centre of Mikulov could participate in “dílna”.

Štefan Kapičák
Directoror, Culture Centre of Mikulov

Several years ago, a strange, mysterious and in all respects suspicious musical-declamatory body was founded in Brno – the Gentlemen’s Signing Association of Extreme Folklore Krása. We coincidentally managed to get them here for this year’s “dílna” but it does look they might become an integral part of “dílna” and stay in the future with us a mascot, whether we like it or not. It’s hard to find out why and how this association was founded. Members of Krása are obsessively close-tongued, it is next to impossible to arrange a meeting or an interview with them and contacting them is really difficult. You can in fact never be sure that you actually spoke to them. We only know that the association has two permanent members – Štěpán Rusín and Marek Daniel. Several media characters pretend to be their publicists; many of them confirm what they soon deny. Krása thus only gets in touch with the public through their indescribable performances which are, however, worth seeing. Their shows are not usually time-limited and none of the organizers can say until the very last moment if they are going to take place or not. They are, however, mostly featured at serious events such as exhibition openings, funerals, weddings, graduations, etc. Krása usually arrives in a bizarre means of transportation such as a horse, a 1950s hearse, golden bicycles, or a bullet-proof limousine. Krása’s performances are sometimes accompanied by the cries of a group of sickly children who sprinkle rose petals under the feet of arriving people. According to Krása’s members, its repertory can be best described as folklore euthanasia. From the abundance of yellow chrysanthemums, blue birds and electrically propelled colourful butterflies, melodies come out of forgotten national revival songs, Lapland children’s songs, lullabies of Coptic goatherds and melancholic songs of once so numerous Jewish community of Brno. Their shows are short, quick and full of action; their performance at “dílna” was the same. Before we realized what was happening, it was over and nobody knew where Krása had gone. Let us hope that Krása will come again next year and either arrive in a hot-air balloon, in a Thai rickshaw or just emerge from the cellars of the Mikulov Chateau.

Přemysl Spurný-Vyhlídal