Think Issue 45 Kor6.Indd
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FREE! 45 APRIL/MAY 08 Prague’s city magazine STEP INTO SPRING INTRO The arrival of all things new that is springtime is a joyous occasion for all but the most snow addicted winter sports enthusiasts. Music, sports, shows, conventions, and the like begin to awaken from the semi-hibernation they go into during the cold, dark months of winter. So, it’s with some excitement that we bring to you an issue full of new things including a look at the Guma Guar art collective who are breaking down barriers in the art world and revising the possibilities of what art is and represents in this the 21st century. We also were fortunate enough to get the incredibly infl uential illustrator and artist Gary Baseman to share his thoughts with us on a variety of subjects. In the realm of new and interesting music, we were able to get Sasha Perera, the lead singer of the truly globalized band Jahcoozi to answer some of our questions. You will also have a chance to read the thoughts of a con- tributor who has put a great deal of time and energy into thinking through what actually did happen on September 11th and was it what we’ve been told to believe or not? Of course we won’t neglect to set you on your way to all kinds of interesting events like the upcoming tattoo convention, watering holes like Mad Bar, and more. And fi nally, you’ll fi nd a look at the changes taking place on Václavské náměstí these days. ENJOY! 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-15 16-17 18-19 22-23 24-25 30-31 32-33 36-37 44-45 5 ZOMBIE WALK ZOMBIE WALK All horror enthusiasts are invited to participate in the fi rst-ever Prague Zombie Walk. A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes and do what zombies do…shamble along in search of good human fl esh to eat. Zombie yourself out and head over to the cemetery! URBANITE 17/5 URBANITE www.zombiewalk.cz BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD The 14th annual World Book Fair is about to arrive and with it a whole hell of a lot of books, including some really good ones, we’re sure! 24–27/4 This year’s featured country will be Spain, so be prepared for a lot of info on the current state of literature and publishing in said country, but don’t ruin things by protesting bull fi ghting or anything like that…not the right venue. All kinds of interesting exhibitions and events should Industrial Palace Prague keep you from dozing off , even if Spain doesn’t light your fi re, including Egypt—50 Years of Czech Egyptology, The World of the Book in Film Holešovice Exhibition (including screenings of book adaptations), a Kafka and Borges conference, and lots more. Don’t miss it. www.bookworld.cz EVROPSKÝ SEN “CULTURE KNOCKOUT” CULTURE KNOCKOUT 15–17/5 In the name of mutual understanding, a united competitive spirit, and the desire to relish the disorientation of a blow to the head, Instiga- tor Media Group introduces Evropský Sen “Culture Knockout”. A fi rst of its kind, this mini-multi media festival pits literary and visual art The Globe Café against live musicians and DJs. The Prague Revue plays host to writers from Bordercrossings Berlin magazine beginning with a teaser event Popo Café Petl at The Globe Cafe, May 15th, in cooperation with Provokator.org. The spoken word portion of the event will be simultaneously translated and Chateau Rouge subtitled in English, German, and Czech, and will be accompanied by illustrative interpretations of the written word. www.provokator.org OHM SQUARE OHM SQUARE By giving away their LP In Rainbows practically for free, Radiohead has unleashed a David vs. Goliath battle with the majors, and other artists are gradually following suit. Madonna is in talks with mobile phone companies regarding her new album Hard Candy, while REM are previewing their upcoming album on Facebook a week before it’s due in stores. Closer to home, Ohm Square are set to release their 4th album via mobile phones, a fairly revolutionary feat by Czech standards. Keep your eye on www.ohmsquare.com. www.ohmsquare.com TATTOO CONVENTION TATTOO CONVENTION Artistic embellishment, personal statement, gangland identifi er, cultural heritage, prison keepsake, or simply trendy adornment—tattoos have gone from rare to ubiquitous in a very short time. To celebrate the tattoo and further its appreciation here in the center of Europe, 16-18/5 there’s the 10th International Tattoo Convention Prague. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 tattoo artists will take part, each having been Sport Hall Slavia invited to represent one of the many styles of tattooing in existence today. Of course, there will be more to see and do than simply get a tat- Vladivostocká 10, P10 too or look at displays; music with international DJs on hand, light shows, freak shows and a whole lot more. So think ink and head on out! www.tattoo-convention.cz FRINGE FESTIVAL FRINGE FESTIVAL Brace yourselves—the Fringe Festival machine is gearing up for another mammoth event in Malá Strana from Sunday, May 25th – June 1st. If you’re ready to feast on new theatre, comedy and music from around the world, the 7th annual Prague Fringe’s 40 productions are for you. Don’t miss some of the best new and diverse international theatre from the UK, the US, Canada, India, Australia, and Greece. It is possible to see every one of the productions over the eight days, so do the Fringe marathon. 25/5–1/6 www.fringe.cz 6 7 What else excites you apart from music? a two-month internship at MTV India in www.jahcoozi.com Traveling, even as a kid with my parents, we did Bombay and realized that TV sucks all over the a lot. In my late teens I worked shitty jobs in order to world. I even had a three-month relationship with a guy save money to go budget traveling. I had been to from Kazakhstan and went there and stayed in Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and India before I was a communist block of fl ats with his family. In 20. Partly on my own and with my hair shaved places like Belize or Morocco they actually always short and bleached blonde! I was happy to sleep speak to me in their language because they think in little shacks or in a back room with a family; I come from there. It is easier to negotiate with THINK TANK I wanted to see the world and meet the people. nomads and hustlers when you are a sweet little Text by Lucia Udvardyová I was disenchanted with Europe. I even did brown girl than a white guy with a big camera! Jahcoozi are the perfect epitome of a 21st century band brought about by an increasingly globalized world. Oren Gerlitz, an Israeli, Sasha Perera a Sri Lankan London-bred MC, and Robot Koch, a German, all live in their adopted home Berlin and make crunked up hip hop and ragga infused electronic beats that have taken underground dance fl oors by storm, like they did with their tongue-in-cheek track BLN. We sent the very busy Sasha Perera, the charismatic lead singer, a few questions and were pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful and witty answers that came back. Take a peek into their world. What makes you happy? They are like yin and yang; London can be like but I was so happy to hear it on the soundsystem Food, nature, good music, sunshine, sex, dancing a prison because of money, status, and at WMF that I would limp on the dancefl oor and my bollocks off , weird clothes/fashion, vodka, security issues there. Berlin can be like a prison dance with one crutch in the air! traveling, silence, Nepalese/Indian hashish—in because it can at times feel too white, middle any order! class, and provincial. But generally Berlin is a What was the last concert you went to? much healthier place to live where people have Do you mean on you-tube!? Only joking. What makes you sad? more time to think and less pressure to aspire to a A Jahcoozi concert of course! Paris Hilton and the amount of money that gets ‘get rich fast’ culture, like they do in London. And http://www.myspace.com/dragonsofzynth. put into crappy fake music projects. The winners They are friends of friends from New York; not of pop star shows, the whole thing just stinks of Where’s the best place to be at 5 AM in really my kind of thing, but it is good to go to industry deals. And the fact that people are happy Berlin? stuff you don’t usually go to. to be sucked in by that shit. Teaching Scandinavians to breakdance in the tiny Corruption and the lack of respect many upstairs fl oor at Picknick when I am DJing! Last book you read? governments have for their citizens’ rights, for Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami. instance in China or Sri Lanka. In some places When was the last time you cried? there is just such a large population that if one When I ran out of dope yesterday! Only joking. Last CD/MP3 you bought? hundred people die per day in their work place, I think when I had only had 2 hours sleep and went MP3 = King Midas Sound – Surround Me—a side then fuck it, there are loads of other people who to the wrong train station to get to my gig in project by The Bug.