COURAGE

connecting collections

The Czecho-Slovak poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher and “guru” of the Czechoslovak underground, Egon Bondy (real name Zbyněk Fišer, 1930–2007), is well known as the author of dozens of collections of poems and novels. His philosophical texts, however, are an equally significant part of his work. Bondy, who graduated in philosophy from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, was also interested in Eastern philosophy, in particular Buddhism. He wrote several academics studies on this topic in the first half of the 1960s, and published the book “Buddha” under his real name in 1968 through the publishing house Orbis. This significant study on the founder of Buddhism and his teachings caused a sensation in Czechoslovakia. The book was later republished twice (1995, 2006) in the Czech Republic and still remains topical.

Bondy’s manuscript of his study of Buddha and his teachings was bought by the Museum of Czech Literature (PNP) in 1986 and is now part of the Egon Bondy collection deposited in the Literary Archive of PNP.

The novel “The Invalid Siblings” (Invalidní sourozenci, 1974) is one of the most important works by the Czecho-Slovak poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher and “guru” of the Czechoslovak underground, Egon Bondy (real name Zbyněk Fišer, 1930–2007). Marcel Strýko, a Slovak philosopher and dissident, compared the dystopian novel to “a catechism of the Czechoslovak underground”. The novel, which was completed in February 1974, presents a vision of the moral and ecological crisis of a totalitarian society in the distant future. The plot takes place around the year 2600 on the last piece of land surrounded by rubbish. After this last area is also flooded, only the “invalids” (intellectuals, outcasts from totalitarian society, reminiscent of underground dissidents) survive on an improvised raft. The sequel to “The Invalid Siblings” was Bondy’s novel “Afghanistan”, written in 1980. At first “The Invalid Siblings” was published in 1974 as a samizdat volume. The novel was also published in exile by Sixty-Eight Publishers in Toronto in 1981. After 1990, the novel was published several times in (the former) Czechoslovakia. The novel has also been published abroad.

A manuscript of the novel was bought by the Museum of Czech Literature (PNP) in 1986 and is now part of the Egon Bondy collection deposited in the Literary Archive of PNP.

Bovver boots, which Renata Przemyk wore during her performance on stage in 1989 at Jarocin festival, are the artist’s donation for the Polish Rock Granary. This type of footwear has become an iconic element of Jarocin image and was adopted by Polish rock fans as a symbol of dissent and rebellion. Although usually associated with punk apparel, bovver boots were used frequently outside this milieu, as illustrated by the case of Renata Przemyk who had little to do with punk music.

Born in 1966 Renata Przemyk started her career in her teens in Eksperyment and Rewizja jazz-rock bands. In 1988 she had her first performance at the 24^th Festival of Students’ Songs in Cracow, and a year later at the same festival she won with her band Ya Hozna the Grand Prix and the journalists’ award. After that she was invited to perform at Jarocin, where she has been twice before – in 1984 and 1985 – as a participant. Her performance proved to be a huge success: the punk audience reacted enthusiastically, as the band used accordion, double bass, and a style quite unlike any other regular performer at the festival. This concert marked a breakthrough for Renata Przemyk’s future career.

The Polish Rock Granary dedicated particular attention to the role of women in the history of Polish rock music. Without question Przemyk is one of the most prominent Polish alternative rock stars of the 1980s. Simultaneously, the bovver boots she donated also remind of the particular importance of fashion in youth culture of the late 1980s, which involved searching for unique garments in markets and bazaars, as well as modifying cloths and sewing i.e. crafts that allowed to create one’s own, individual, and original look.