(ANSA) – ROME, JUNE 03 – In the Czech Republic there are many events for the centenary of the death of the German-speaking Jewish writer Franz Kafka, who passed away on 3 June 1924. In Prague, the Goethe Institute and several other institutions have organized a series of events to commemorate the author and his work. The capital’s Literature Museum inaugurated the exhibition “The Games of Franz Kafka” which presents literary and biographical texts, as well as manuscripts and documents mainly from the collections of the National Literature Memorial. The exhibition offers a different perspective from the usual image of the author, that of the play. The exhibition demolishes the cliché according to which Kafka was “a man tired of the world and consumed by bizarre fantasies”.
According to the editors, the writer practiced a free and playful approach to the existential anguish he experienced. From this perspective, the exhibition addresses Kafka’s diaries and correspondence, literary texts that often thematize the element of play with the reader, and their creative representation in various musical and artistic genres. The highlight of the exhibition is the original of Kafka’s last letter, dated 2 June 1924, written to his parents the day before his death in the Kierling sanatorium, Austria. The exhibition will be open until September 15th. That of “Kafka’s Games” is not the only news regarding the celebrations reserved for the Bohemian writer. Polish director Agnieszka Holland has completed filming a feature film as part of a Czech-German-French-Polish co-production, while the Jewish Community Museum will open an exhibition tomorrow by Israeli topographer Oded Ezer entitled “The Secret of Samsa”, from name of the protagonist of Kafka’s novel “The Metamorphosis”. The Dox Contemporary Art Center in Prague commemorates the centenary with the KAFKAesque exhibition, running until September. It does not offer a historical vision of the writer’s work, but around thirty national and international artists present their “Kafkaesque” conception of the contemporary world. “Through the eyes of Franz Kafka: between image and language” is the name of a major exhibition that will open to the public the day after tomorrow in Pilsen at the Masne Kramy gallery. The calendar includes presentations of books, plays and other retrospectives. The 29th edition of the Book Fair was also dedicated to Kafka. This year the fair chose one of his quotes as its motto: “A book must be an ax for the frozen sea within us”. (HANDLE). .
