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Citizens of the town of
Plzeň, or Pilsen, are impatiently
awaiting 1
st
May. On that day
the town’s central square will
host a concert of rock group
Lynyrd Skynyrd, famous for
their hits Free Bird, Sweet
Home Alabama and the music
of the movie Forrest Gump.
This will be their first concert
in the Czech Republic.
These American musicians
arrive in Pilsen to celebrate
a great jubilee together with
the locals – the 70
th
anniver-
sary of liberation of the town
from German occupation
during World War II. Pilsen
was the only city in the former
Czechoslovakia to be freed by
the U.S. Army, with the Soviet
Red Army liberating all oth-
ers. This small city of 150,000
inhabitants is very proud of
this fact. Following liberation,
the Americans retreated from
Pilsen and the country entered
a long period of communist
totalitarianism.
- Since the fall of com-
munism 25 years ago Pilsen
has moved from totalitarian to
creative thinking – we are told
by Jiří Suchánek, programme
director of the project Pilsen
- European Capital of Culture
2015. – Through this year’s
major cultural project we are
showing how creativity de-
stroys the totalitarian mindset
and how much we have pro-
gressed in that period.
This year Pilsen has
received a great opportunity
to present itself to the world.
Only 90 kilometres from the
capital city of Prague, Pilsen
lies in its deep cultural and
economic shadow, but there
are hopes that the lights of the
international culture scene will
illuminate it at least momen-
tarily in 2015. That’s why it is so
important that the town hosts
the rock concert in May, which
is just one of 600 cultural
events to be held in the city
before the end of the year.
A wide range of areas will
be covered. Apart from artistic
presentations, the cultural re-
view will deal with the creative
industries, graphic design and
product design. A renovated
abandoned factory hall is
the adapted space in which
individuals create prototypes of
their products, with the aim of
emphasizing that the arts and
culture are part of our everyday
life and that all citizens can par-
ticipate in creative endeavours.
Pilsen gained worldwide
recognition thanks to its beer,
which has been produced
in the city since the late 13
th
century. The taste and quality
often differed, until a strong
protest by locals against the
poor quality of the beer in
1838 led the city government
to establish todays’ brewery
and engage the best brewers
to improve the manufacturing
process. Soon the Pilsen brew-
ing method gained dominance
in Europe. Jiří Suchánek uses
this story to show how Pilsen
has always been home to cre-
ative people.
One of them, Jiří Trnka,
achieved fame in the produc-
tion of animated films for
children in the 1960s. A puppet-
maker, illustrator, motion-pic-
ture animator and film director,
Tradicija
lutkarstva
veoma je
snažna, postoji
muzej (na
slici) i aktivno
pozorište lutaka
e
The tradition
of puppetry is
very strong,
with a museum
(pictured) and
active puppet
theatre
Festival
svetla
e
Festival
of light
