31 January 2019 press release

Exhibition opening Tuesday 5 February 2019, 19:30

From 6 February, the German National Library’s German Museum of Books and Writing will be presenting a showcase exhibition titled “Circus at the Printers” and dedicated to the Czech avant-garde in early-twentieth-century book culture. The exhibition thereby draws attention to a country that isn’t usually prominent in Europe’s cultural memory of the avant-garde movement. This promises to be revelatory for visitors whilst also presaging the fact that the Czech Republic will be this year’s guest country at the 2019 Leipzig Book Fair.

Founded in 1918, the Czechoslovakian Republic offered fertile ground for innovation in all aspects of culture. An atmosphere of change and possibility – shaped by a sense of international openness – in painting, architecture and cinema also gripped the world of publishing and book art. Graphic designers, authors and publishers worked together on creating artistically sophisticated ‘books for all the senses’ and making them accessible to a wide audience. Alongside cinema and cabaret, the circus – with its blend of artistic performances, entertainment and unusual visual effects – served them as an important source of inspiration. Implementing these artistic concepts within books posed a great challenge to printers. The critic, publicist and artist Karel Teige, one of the protagonists of the Czech avant-garde, appropriately describes the production of such books with the metaphor of “a circus ... as has never before been witnessed anywhere in the world. The typesetter ran to and from every type case in the entire typesetting department in order to keep up with the instructions of his manager.”

With their original ideas, these artists revolutionised not only book covers, but also typesetting, illustrations, publisher information and the plethora of new designs in colophons. The result: small, surprising comprehensive works of art.

Anyone wishing to be surprised and inspired by the innovative powers of Czech typography and design in the interim war period of the twentieth century will not be disappointed by the showcase exhibition, and is bound to be impressed by the modernity and freshness of the Czech avant-garde. The exhibition is arranged according to artistic techniques and formats – from lino cuts, visual poems and purely typographical solutions through to photo montages. The majority of these artistically sophisticated library books and magazines, produced over the course of two decades (1918–1938), come from the John Vloemans collection, which is now housed in the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB).

The exhibition is being held as part of the Germany-wide celebration of the 100-year Bauhaus anniversary and, within this context, focuses on the artistic dialogue that took place in early-twentieth-century Europe. In view of the current situation in Europe, the exhibition is therefore also a retrospective on a phase of rich cultural exchange with Central and Eastern Europe.

An exhibition of the German Museum of Books and Writing and the Saxon State and University Library Dresden to celebrate the 2019 Czech Year of Culture, in collaboration with the Prague Museum of Czech Literature and the guest country of the Czech Republic – Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Moravian Library and the Leipzig Book Fair.

Circus at the Printers. Czech avant-garde

Showcase exhibition in the display vault of the German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library in Leipzig
6 February to 11 August 2019
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10:00–18:00, Thursday 10:00–20:00
Admission is free.

Exhibition opening: 5 February 2019 at 19:30

BWelcome: Michael Fernau, Director of the German National Library in Leipzig
Introduction: Dr Stephanie Jacobs, Director of the German Museum of Books and Writing

Welcome address: Markéta Meissnerová, Consul General of the Czech Republic, Dresden
Music: Peter A. Bauer et al., concertante percussion solos

Guided curator’s tours of the exhibition: Dr Anne Hultsch, Vienna

Additional guided curator’s tours of the exhibition

10:00 on 22 March 2019 and 16:00 on 23 March 2019

Background

German Museum of Books and Writing

The book has shaped our culture and civilisation like no other medium. For centuries our knowledge about the world and its peoples has been stored in books. The task of the German Book and Writing Museum of the German National Library is to collect, exhibit and process evidence of book and media history. Founded in 1884 in Leipzig as the Deutsches Buchgewerbemuseum (German Book Trade Museum), it is the oldest museum in the world in the field of book culture, and also one of the most important with regard to the scope and quality of its holdings. The museum interlinks its holdings through national and international cooperative projects and feeds them into the widest possible range of academic disciplines.

Contact person

Dr. Stephanie Jacobs, Tel. +49 341 2271-575, s.jacobs@dnb.de