The New World: The American Experience in Czech and Central European Culture of the 19th Century (Pilsen, March 6-7, 2025)
Charles Sealsfield (1793–1864), Clara Gerstner (1813–1881), Miroslav Tyrš (1832–1884). Three Central European writers – a jurist, a wife of a railway engineer and an aesthetician – whose work was influenced by their stays in America or thinking/reading about it, respectively in years 1822-1829, 1838-1840 and 1872. The experience from the New World as a direct or mediated idea of the possibilities of the American continent and its culture, politics and economy compared to the European tradition will be the topic of the 45th Pilsen conference.
What did the American experience represent as a challenge and inspiration in the Czech culture within the European context during the 19th century? What experiences of philosophers, businessmen, religious reformers, artists etc. shaped the image of America during the long 19th century, ranging from the image of a “wild” and “exotic” continent to the idea of a land of unexpected technological progress and unlimited life and career possibilities? How did information and notions about the North American continent spread and change and how did they differ from South American experiences shaped also by Habsburg politics? In what way did attitudes towards colonial politics differ across Central Europe, and how were they reflected in the arts, socio-politics, and every day life?
Already the first contacts with the New World provoked curiosity in Europe. The encounter with new experiences, with the first nations people, and their local environment led to the formation of the image of America as a wild continent, but also as a land of unknown possibilities, in both the positive and negative senses. The effort to deal with new experiences and information generated innovative views and approaches, but also a number of stereotyped images and attitudes. Enthusiasm and admiration for the newly discovered land was soon to be paralleled by a more critical view of social reality, living conditions as well as colonizing relations.
About the exhibition:
Between Wilderness and Delirious Megalopolis: American Experience of Central Europeans in 19th Century Visual Culture includes three photographs from Ken Gonzales-Day, Profiled Series, exploring the depiction of Native Americans within various Museum Collections in the United States and Europe.
Westbohemian Gallery in Pilsen
Exhibition Hall 13
Pražská 13, Pilsen
Czech Repubic
Mar 7 – May 25, 2025
Reception: March 6, 2025
Additional Information and Symposium schedule HERE