Prague and its Gothic cityscape is an established home for leading artists, film directors, and intellectuals, and the city has a lively artistic subculture. We will utilize post-communist Prague as a case study to identify subversive artistic expression in European cinema and visual arts, and examine the role of independent film and art movements in 20th and 21st century Europe.
Vienna offers an opportunity to interpret the layers of history, from the Baroque city created during the Habsburg Empire to Viennese Actionism. How has radical art undermined and questioned the former imperial city and helped to manifest Vienna as the most significant place for contemporary culture in Central Europe? We will explore the relations of Austria and the Czech Republic through the lens of selected artists, such as Egon Schiele, Valie Export, and Michael Haneke.
We will learn how events of history and shifting ideologies continue to shape artistic expression, and vice-versa. We will explore how art can offer the most progressive and challenging ideas to the overall social discourse of society through visits to exhibitions, independent contemporary galleries, film schools, and historical sites. Lectures and discussions with directors and artists will supplement the visits.
Throughout the study tour we will utilize Prague and Vienna as our classroom contextualize the theories discussed in the core class and experience visual arts in Eastern Europe.
Tour Objectives
- Identify subversive artistic expression in European cinema and visual arts with Prague and Vienna as case studies
- Gain an understanding of the role of independent film and art manifestations through discussions with local film directors and artists
- Explore how aesthetics have been influenced by the changing political and historical contexts in Central Europe
Possible Activities
- Have a discussion with Filip Remunda, director of the prize winning film Czech Dream
- Visit to the Prague Film School and the DOX Center for Contemporary Arts
- Experience a classical concert in Vienna