I am looking for any information on the art and culture in the Czech Republic. I am doing research on the country, and this is my specific interest. what is it like to be an artist? is there any government funding for the arts? is art prevalant in everyday culture? is art or science more stressed? when do you first learn art, and are there specific schools or is it incorporated to regular curriculum? is contemporary art based in Czech tradition or is it more international and modern based? what is the artistic heritage? any interesting information regarding music? is it prevalant in Czech culture? what is contemporary music like? also: I was also interested in the people themselves. What are there most common everyday concerns? What are there plans for the future? What do people think of globalization and the EU? What are sources of entertainment? What is the popular media? What are the popular sports, and are sports an important part of culture?
I am not Czech, but my hockey loving boyfriend is...So I know that the most popular sport in Czech Republic is Hockey! They even have special schools for Hockey where they actually go to play hockey along with the regular curriculum. They are very proud of the National Team and I think the Czech Hockey team has won the most Olympic gold medals (very commpetetive with Russia). I could be wrong on the stats...
Actually, Czech hockey team has won _one_ olympic gold medal, in Nagano 1998. The most succesfull era of czech hockey was in years 1996 - 2001. If I remember it properly, the czech team has won the World Championship in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001, has been third in 1997 and 1998. In 2002 we did not manage to get through quarterfinals, but our Slovak brothers became champions ) The second (or first) most popular sport in CZ is football - soccer in US english. The game where players kick the ball and try to get in into opponents goal ) No other sports are as púopular as football and hockey. Well, now the culture. You have many questions, I will try to answer some of them... Is there any government funding for the arts? There is Ministry of Culture, which supports culture institutions - theaters, museums, schools of art, and also historical objects (castles, old buildings,...). The money goes from the country budget, and of course it is not enough - so the theaters etc. have to look for other sources of money as well. when do you first learn art, and are there specific schools or is it incorporated to regular curriculum? Kids draw pictures and make models in the from the first days of chool - if you call it art At most schools these lessons usually and in second year of high school (11th year of school altogether). In these later years students learn some culture facts as well, it's not just drawing and painting. There are of course artistic schools - conservatories (high schools) and academies. You can study music, dance, painting, film and other arts. ---- Sorry, but I have to go now - I will post some more infrmation later. [This message has been edited by Halef (edited October 26, 2002).]
