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EXHIBITIONS

DIALOG: PRAGUE/
LOS ANGELES 1989-90

Celebrating the 30 year anniversary of democracy in the Czech lands, and commemorating the original Dialogue: Prague/Los Angeles exhibition of 1989

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Police at demonstration in Prague

 14 November, 2019-

29 February, 2020

 DOX Centre for Contemporary Art

ArtArchives, mala věž

Poupětova 1

170 00 Praha 7-Holešovice

Czech Republic

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DOX Centre for Contemporary Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ArtDialog began as an idea of two women, Barbara Benish (USA) and Zdenka Gabalova (CZ). They met in Prague in the summer of 1986 and began formulating plans for an even larger exchange between American and Czechoslovak artists.

This was significant because, at the time, Prague was closed off to western influence and hadn't been exposed to American art and culture for decades; obviously Americans were also denied access to all that developed behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. 

Despite heavy police surveillance and political challenges on both sides of the Atlantic, the artists were able to successfully share this dialogue and exhibited in multiple galleries in Prague in July, 1989. The exchange truly proceeded the following summer in Los Angeles in 1990, to everyone’s surprise, when the Berlin Wall came down and the borders again opened up. 

Shortly after the exhibitions in Prague, the huge political and cultural shift within Czechoslovakia came to be known as the "Velvet Revolution". Democracy was restored after fifty years, freedom of expression again welcomed, and the former dissident and writer, Vaclav Havel became President. 

This year we celebrate the 30 year anniversary of our art exchange between the two countries through the lens of 15 American and 12 Czechoslovak artists, that was a cultural leap of faith and freedom that helped open doors and dialogue in the summers of 1989 and ‘90..

The exhibition of ArtDialog’s Archives includes photographs, audio, documents and correspondence leading up to the exhibition, interviews and much more.

This was a formative point in history and we are excited to share with you where it all started, and celebrate how far we have come.

More images HERE on our FaceBook page!

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Demonstration, Old Town Square, Prague 1989

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Tomaš Ruller performance, Prague 1989

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Lom party in Czechoslovakia, 1989

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Wall of Dialog posters, Prague 1989

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Crowd outside of Otis Parsons gallery in LA, 1990

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Czech artists arrive in LA, 1990

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(L to R) Zdenka Gabalova, Barbara Benish, and Jane Fonda at the Jane Fonda Fundraiser, 1990

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Zdenka Gabalova, Los Angeles 1990

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