The namesake exhibition at Museum Kampa offers encounters with leading personalities of Czech graphic design
Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design
(illustration on the cover by Vojtěch Preissig,
1927 calendar for Lakeside Press, 1926)
The English version of Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design, by the creative collective around Linda Kudrnovská, is now available. Over more than 300 pages, it shows how the Czechs has been been successfully represented abroad for a long time in the field of graphic design – as evidenced by names such as Alfons Mucha, Ladislav Sutnar, and Vojtěch Preissig. At the same time, the ‘Identity’ exhibition, which covers more than a century of graphic design, will be open until 2 February 2025 at Museum Kampa. The public is also invited to an accompanying program including master classes with graphic designers such as Tomáš Machek, Studio Najbrt, and Martin Pecina, a walk through Prague’s visual smog with Veronika Rút, guided tours of the exhibition and regular screenings of the feature-length documentary film Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story.
The book Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design is based on the Czech monograph of the same name, but focuses on topics from the history of Czech graphic design that will appeal to readers abroad. International readers will become acquainted with the phenomenon of the Czechoslovak film poster, the tradition of Czech book design, and contemporary type design, which are unique even on a global scale. They will also discover when graphic design is a powerful tool for cultivating society and when it becomes propaganda. Essays by renowned graphic design theorists, political scientists, sociologists, and linguists from the Czech Republic and other countries will provide important historical and cultural context and will introduce readers to heroes of Czech graphic design known worldwide. All this is complemented by interviews with designers who represent Czech graphic design and typography on a global level today, such as Veronika Burian, Radim Peško, František Štorm, Tomáš Brousil, Aleš Najbrt, Rostislav Vaněk, Zuzana Lednická, Klára Kvízová, Robert V. Novák, and Clara Istlerová. In six chapters titled The Public Space, The Everyday, Nationhood and Propaganda, Media, Book Culture, and Beyond Borders, this wide-ranging book shows how graphic design shapes and reflects the cultural identity of a nation at the geographically and politically turbulent crossroads of Europe. It is thus the first literary work to provide international readers with a comprehensive insight into the world of Czech graphic design and typography. The editor and author of the texts is design theorist Linda Kudrnovská. Adéla Svobodová and Filip Blažek are behind the book’s distinctive graphic design. Kudrnovská and Blažek are also the creators of the extensive Identity project – which, in addition to the book, includes a television series, a feature film, and the exhibition, which they curated.
The Identity exhibition at Museum Kampa currently offers an extensive accompanying program for fans of graphic design – including master classes on such topics as the Identity of Public Transport with Tomáš Machek, the Identity of the Book with Martin Pecina, a walk through Prague’s “visual smog” with Veronika Rút, calligraphy and signpainting workshops, guided tours with the exhibition’s curators, and regular screenings of the feature-length documentary film Bohemian Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story. For more information on the accompanying program, including the possibility of booking and purchasing tickets, please visit www.museumkampa.cz/udalosti.
Linda Kudrnovská works as a design theorist, editor, and author, was editor-in-chief of TYPO magazine and a member of the board of the international typographic organization ATypI, contributes to a number of European periodicals, and sits on juries of international design competitions. The book Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design is published by Nakladatelství Paseka in cooperation with Typo and Mowshe. It is available for purchase from the Nakladatelství Paseka e-shop, from projektidentita.cz/shop, and at all good booksellers. The recommended price is CZK 1,999 (approximately EUR 79.13)
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