The Dancing House Gallery opens the exhibition PRAGUE DECADENT on the forbidden erotic industry in Czechoslovakia
“With the new exhibition, we are opening the thirteenth room of each of us. We managed to bring together several themes and different time periods, which connects decadence and erotic life in Prague in the 20th century. The culture around the intimate life of the people in the capital is definitely worth remembering. We expect it to be too bold for some visitors, but I believe that others will appreciate this openness, “ explains gallery director Robert Vůjtek.
The exhibition documents the decadent life in Prague throughout the 20th century and until the end literally from A to Ž. The exhibition is arranged alphabetically: each letter corresponds to one theme. is thus the 30 most thorny topics in the history of erotic life in the capital, presented both in an interactive form and period originals and photographs that visitors can explore on the ground floor and two basements. The exhibition is introduced in the public houses of the First Republic, from the 1960s to the beginnings of striptease in our country, as well as in pubs, bars, cabaret and other places where illegal activities took place. It will show the history of acts from the work of František Drtikol to pornographic films of the 80’s, erotic aids made at home in Czechoslovakia, the development of erotica in our cinematography, including how censorship worked in the Barrandov studios.
What exactly awaits the brave in the Dancing House Gallery? For example, under the letter “A” are unique period photographs of naked prostitutes in the brothels of the First Republic, which officially repealed the Abolition Act in 1922. Under the letter “G”, she tried out which first lady was recruited from the ranks of light girls. “J” will present a unique collection of erotic posters from Jablonex from the 80’s. Under the letter “K” are unexpectedly hidden the first vibrators made in socialist Czechoslovakia: they were disguised as various massage devices hidden in discreet suitcases. Therefore, they are displayed under the letter “K”, as a suitcase with a treasure. The letter “N” belongs to the history of nudism in the Czech Republic, “Q” visitors introduce to the lives of sexual minorities in Prague and wild parties from Austria-Hungary to the same revolution and the letter “X” is a probe into the forbidden hardcore pornography of the 70s and 80s and its changes with the advent of digital media. And at the end, “Ž” will reveal the decadent corners of the Žižkov district.
You can read the whole alphabet every day from 9 am to 7 pm. The exhibition will run from 12 May 2021 to 31 March 2022. Only visitors over the age of 18 are allowed to enter the exhibition.
12. 5. 2021 – 31. 3. 2022
Exhibition PRAGUE DECADENT
Gallery Dancing house
Jiráskovo náměstí 6, Prague 2
Author of the exhibition: Jana Sommerová
Co-author of the exhibition: Robert Vůjtek