The anthology TEXTile Manifestoes will be presented in the USA

The publication TEXTile Manifestoes deals with issues related to textile art, fashion, and textuality. It is based on an inter-studio and interdisciplinary project of the same name by students of the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague - from the studios of Fashion and Footwear Design, Graphic Design and Visual Communication, Type Design and Typography, and Photography II. Their common theme was given form and texts were supplemented by experts from the Czech Republic and abroad by Pavel Liška and Robin R. Mudry.

"By linking the triadic whole of TEXT - TEXTile - TEXTures, TEXTile Manifestoes seeks to reflect, creatively reimagine, critically rethink, deconstruct and decolonize the genre of ambivalence of the manifesto as a predominantly masculine form of modernity that authoritarianly aspires to a very different future. The anthology draws on the structural and metaphorical conflation of text and textile to try to think through differently to raise political and ethical questions of a contemporary world that is so desperate to find the certainties and distinct agenda of the modern manifesto, without resorting to the worst forms of totalitarianism," the editors Pavel Liška and Robin R. Mudry introduce the concept of the publication.

The comprehensive collection presents, among other things, individual collections of UMPRUM students, which were created under the guidance of Liběna Rochová and interconnected with the cooperation of various disciplines. The young authors conceived them as their manifestos and expressed in them their views on society and pressing issues of the contemporary world. There are also themes of ubiquitous surveillance and control, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, identity, memory, and mental health.

"The collaboration of students from different disciplines brought new perceptions and insights. These overlaps are important for the enrichment of creativity and for practical learning to co-create," says Liběna Rochová, the then-head of the UMPRUM Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design.

The manifestos of young artists are complemented and (re)contextualized by contributions of foreign and domestic experts. Their range is very diverse and touches on issues such as Andean textile studies, neuropsychoanalysis, literary and art criticism, aesthetics, and musicology.

The evening will be opened by Professor Avital Ronell (New York University) at the Bohemian National Hall in New York, followed by a dialogue between the editors and the authors, who will present the individual chapters. The evening will also include a performance by Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre. It will include selected models from the TEXTile Manifestoes collection by Vojtěch Bašta, Kristýna Hrabánková, Tomáš Němec, and Valerie Jurčíková.

The book TEXTile Manifestoes, published in English, is offered by the UMPRUM Publishing House through its network of distributors.

The following writers contributed to the anthology: Kyle Allan, Jayson Althofer, Erik Annerborn, Luciana Benetti Marques Valio, Shelley Burian, Subhradeep Chatterjee, Ingrid Cogne, Arthur Crucq, Evelyn Echle, Pasquale Fameli, Tereza Jiroutová Kynčlová, Paris Lavidis, Elisabeth Längle, Pavel Liška, Veronica Montanino, Robin R. Mudry, Pierluca Nardoni, Anna Maria Panzera, Anika Reineke, I. A. Roland-Rodríguez, and Anne Röhl.

Projects presented in the anthology are:
JUST OK, Jan Smejkal x Oskar Koutný / BAD KIDS, Jaroslav Vích x Filip Kominik / POST–HABIT, Kristýna Hrabánková x Tereza Saitzová & Karolína Matušková / THE AUTOMATIC MESSAGE, Valerie Jurčíková x Eva Rotreklová / DIS–CONNECT–ED, Vojtěch Bašta x Jakub Kozelka / MEMORY PALACE, Aleš Hnátek x Martin Kyjovský / SONDER, Eduard Ganoczy x Nahuel Gerth / INFINITY ICON, Natálie Nepovímová x Cindy Kutíková / UNDELIVERED, Agáta Seeháková x Klára Dvorská / ID, Tomáš Němec x Matej Vojtuš / PISHTA, Alexandra Gnidiaková x Štefan Oščiatka.

September 27th, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Bohemian National Hall, Ballroom, Czech Center New York, 321 E 73rd Street, New York.

October 3rd, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Embassy of the Czech Republic, 3900 Spring of Freedom St NW, Washington, D.C.

The event is held in cooperation with the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague (UMPRUM), the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York.

The book launch is held under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Miloslav Stašek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the USA.