Compact archive March 30, 2007

Prague expects about 70 thousands of tourists during Easter. It is the first peak of the season after the winter. And because Prague is no huge city, the centre will be probably very crowded.

The number of foreign tourists in Prague usually increases by 30%, compared to an ordinary weekend. Most of the tourists are from the European countries, because Easter is a Christian feast and people in Asia don´t celebrate it. There are especially many tourists from Spain, Italy and Great Britain during Easter.

There are many events in Prague, related to Easter, such as the Easter markets, exhibitions and Masses.

Another short-term increase of tourists in Prague won´t come before Christmas. As for the season, most tourists come to Prague during summer months.

Another “Hip Hop Allstars” party takes place in the Veletrzni Palace tomorrow. This time with one of the big names of hip hop – Method Man.

Method Man, member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, released his first solo album in 1994. The single All I Need from that record gained the Grammy Award a year later. (He says, though, that the award means nothing to him). He released 4 albums with Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most respected hip hop bands.

Apart from the biggest star, there will be many Czech hip hop musicians at the party tomorrow. For example DJ Wich, MC Nironic and SuperCroo.

The party starts at 8 pm, Method Man should be on stage at 0:30 am. A ticket in the advance-sale costs 490,- CZK + fee. The Veletrzni Palace is situated in the Dukelskych hrdinu Street 47, Prague 7.

After a pause during the winter, you will now have a chance to see many important historical monuments in Prague. Those, which are accessible the whole year, will have longer opening hours now.

The Powder Tower in the Old Town in Prague will open again and there will be a new exhibition: it will be about the Royal Court, the former residence of Czech kings, that used to stand nearby.

Newly open will be the Lesser Town Bridge Tower with the information centre inside and also the tower of the St. Nicholas Church at the Lesser Town Square.

The sights, that were closed during the winter, include the Ctenice Chateau with its exposition on Habsburgs in Czech lands and with the collection of historical carriages.

A new private museum will open in the Lobkowicz Palace at the Prague Castle. It will display the most valuable private aristocratic collection in Czech lands – the collection of the noble family of Lobkowicz.

The Prague Castle is open the whole year, but the gardens below it will be accessible since April.

Another novelty is the historical tram number 91, which will start driving through Prague streets on 31st March. Also the museum of Prague public transport in Stresovice depot will open now. The Petrin funicular, which was closed for restoration, will start operating again already today.

A new gallery for contemporary Czech and foreign art was opened in Prague. It is called “Galerie 5. patro” (“Gallery 5th floor”) and it is situated in the attic of a house in Myslikova Street in the centre of the city. It is just few steps away from another important gallery, the Manes Exhibition Hall.

The new gallery will organize exhibitions of the contemporary art and photographs, auctions of the works and it will release editions about the authors. It is intended as a space for both the general public and professionals.

The Galerie 5. patro opens with an exhibition called “Trouble Every Day”, presenting three Czech artists, whose common feature is the irony and the cartoon-like character of their works. This selling exhibition will continue till 21st April and the admission is free.

The gallery´s address is Myslikova 9, Prague 1. It is open from Wednesday to Friday between noon and 6 pm, on Saturdays between 11 am and 4 pm.

Renowned Austrian photographer Gerhard Trumler introduced his new book about Prague at the Czech Embassy in Vienna yesterday. The book is called “Prag – Golem, Kafka, Svejk” and it was released in German and Czech version. You can see photographs from this book in the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague these days.

Trumler is an author of numerous books of photographs and he gained many awards around the world. His new book represents Prague as a magical and mysterious, almost demonic city. The photos were made between 1999 and 2006 and they are all in black and white. They are accompanied with quotations from books by Gustav Meyrink, Franz Kafka and Jaroslav Hasek.

The Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague is situated at the Jungmannovo namesti 18 (square), Prague 1. Trumler´s photographs will be exhibited there till the 30th April 2007, from Monday to Friday between 10 am and 4 pm, on Thursdays till 6 pm.