It is called Kairos – a term which in old Greek means “the favourable moment” or “Divine timing” – and it is a very ambitious and interesting cultural project by Sara Barbierato, a Bohemia architect since 1999 and Didier Montagnè, director of the French Cultural Institutes in Prague and Bucarest.
Kairos, a cultural atelier – founded in Prague in the autumn of 2009 as a cultural agency, aims is to “promote contemporary visual art expressions and aesthetics in the field of music and showbusiness, but also literature and philosophical thought in general”. Still rather young, but already very dynamic on the Prague cultural scene, Kairos is involved in the artistic production and organisation of main cultural events in collaboration with Czech and Central, Eastern European operators. In April 2010 in Prague, it organised the spoken opera “Cassandra” by the contemporary Swiss composer Mikael Jarrell, with the collaboration of actress Fanny Ardant and the Prague Modern orchestra. Also, in 2010, it organized the International Seminar on Philosopy, the Cinema and “Playmate”, a cycle of events to “share a few rare expressions of contemporary art and thought”. A number of projects, all of which, aimed at favouring – as Sara states: “An ambitious and lively approach to art and culture and, above all, an attempt to establish a real complicity with the public, based on the pleasure of discovery, collective emotions and singularity awareness.
But acting as counterparts to the spirit of initiative, according to Kairos promoters, are the difficulties caused by lack of funding, as well as Czech Republic culture policies, that do not fiscally support private sponsors and which leave little room for manoeuvre to achieve a different type of cultural proposal – away from the “conventional” one, which, promoted by official cultural institutions, takes up most of the resources available. According to Sara: “Contemporary productions, (even if they represent the Czech heritage of the future), the presence of foreign productions and assistance to private cultural projects are, unfortunately, greatly underrated due to lack of funds and, undoubtedly, prevent Prague from becoming once more the great Central European capital that it used to be”.
But, despite the difficulties involved, Kairos has many other projects in line for the future; a future, which it hopes, will mean collaboration with all those private and public entities which are aware of the importance that culture represents for society and, in particular, the promotion in the Czech Republic of Italian contemporary culture, “of its art of living and creativity”. “There is, undoubtedly, a need in Prague – Sara underlines – for an emblematic Italian cultural event, equivalent to that of the French cinema or German theatre festival. There is also a real need to invite (more often) some exceptional Italian artistic personalities: writers, film directors, musicians, architects and so on. In this global world, where the importance of “soft power” has become greater and greater, every stone, even if the smallest, has its weight! A lively, modern and ambitious cultural life represents the attraction and image of a city or a country and affords a real and symbolic added value to its economy and its inhabitants”.
By Mauro Ruggiero