Velvet Enlightenment: The procession highlights the problems of today’s society
Every year, students and representatives of civic initiatives take part in the carnival, who want to celebrate freedom and democracy and at the same time satirically draw attention to problematic social issues. Participants prepare masks in workshops in collaboration with artists. This year’s motto is “the power of the midnight”.
The father said on Monday that the event will start on Wednesday at 2:00 pm at Kampa and the procession of masks will then set out across Charles Bridge, Národní třída and náměstí Republiky to the Hybernská Campuswhere there will be an afterparty and concert by the band Banana Split and its moralists. The parade will once again be played by the band Schlauchband, or Kutálka Jiří Starý.
They criticize waste management and institutional care
In the parade this year, according to the organizer six groups of masks will go. The Ekodomov Association has prepared a set entitled “Waste: a national treasure, a tribute to Czech landfills, the exhibition has been extended until 2030”, drawing attention to landfill problem. The students of the Eliška Krásnohorská Grammar School in Prague prepared masks entitled “From ear to ear”, calling for politicians to listen to the younger generationwho will have to live in a world shaped by today’s elites.
Another group of masks will be called “One two, mothers are going” and with the help of Madonna, with many hands, she resembles a number of tasks and that each mother has to perform, all the more so now because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Association of Muses to Children then wears masks entitled “About us without us” criticizes the state’s inability to abolish children’s institutional care and the Animal Defenders Association with the ensemble entitled “Archa no a” recalls the suffering of livestock. The last group of masks was created by children from the Zárubova primary school in Modřany and her the topic is the production of palm oil and its negative impact on the environment.
The velvet consecration is inspired by the tradition of a satirical carnival held in Basel, Switzerland, which is attended by thousands of people every year. It is part of the Festival Svobody platform, which brings together civic initiatives organizing celebrations and commemorative events to mark the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Velvet Enlightenment Parade, November 17, 2019. Eva Fornálová
Samples from the preparation of masks for the tenth year of the satirical carnival parade Velvet Enlightenment, which will pass through Prague on November 17. (November 15, 2021)
Author: ČTK / Šulová Kateřina