You can either buy a holiday in Prague for those who do not live in the capital or you can buy a nice little present related to Prague. Such presents can be bought, e.g. in the City Gallery Prague, Museum of Charles Bridge or Prague City Museum thanks to a unique collection of objects gathered by several institutions.
Toys, books, pictures
The main building of Prague City Museum in Florenc has real gems in its little shop, such as high quality publications on the city’s history. Personally, I could recommend a number of beautiful books, e.g. Zábava a slavnosti staré Prahy (The Entertainment and Festivities of the Old Prague) or a comparative publication Starou Prahou Václava Jansy (The Old Prague of Václav Jansa), where you can find new photographs and compare them with aquarelles by Václav Jansa. It is also possible to buy copies of the aquarelles in our shop,
said the museum’s director Zuzana Strnadová. And there are many more publications in the shop: cafe-loungers would enjoy the book Pražské kavárny a jejich svět (Prague Cafes and their World), the museum sells originals of the recently finished exhibition by the graphic artist Jan Mácha, whose works, again, relate to Prague, precisely to the Prague of the 1960’s and 70’s. Then there are also toys and posters, with Prague as the theme.
Art
Christmas is a time which should be spent in peace, a time when people should surround themselves with nice things. This is why we recommend a visit to the City Gallery Prague. In both premises, The Stone Bell House and The Gold Ring House, the shops offer posters, publications and catalogues, all of a very high quality. Interesting exhibitions are usually accompanied with publications, let’s remember the recent exhibition called Bruxelles Dream or a photographic publication by Jindřich Štreit. There is, however, one publication that we will have to wait for until next year: Currently, there is an exhibition in the Stone Bell House whose aim is to strengthen the dignity of Baby Jesus in contrast with the rather obese and consumer Santa. Ever since 1990, when Santa Clause phenomenon entered our country, children gradually started to identify Santa with Baby Jesus,
said the author of the exhibition, Hana Skálová. If Baby Jesus can stand up against the obese Santa and at least several hundreds of children will start drawing a baby in a night dress beside a Christmas tree, it will be a great success.
The exhibition is part of a project that will culminate by a publication of a book with pictures and narration about Baby Jesus.
Prague Icon
Charles Bridge is so famous that it even has its own museum. The museum’s shop has a great choice of great publications. When we were setting up the museum, one of our priorities was a high quality of the publications that we sell,
said the director of the museum Zdeněk Bergman. All the publications have to go through the museum’s board with the greatest experts on archaeology and history. The shop offers books about Charles Bridge and on Charles IV himself, a replica of a sword from the times of Charles IV, stonemasons’ tools or a unique potion of St. John of Nepomuck, made with the original recipe. Tourists might also appreciate a guided tour of Charles Bridge.