Orbis Pictus Heads for Brussels (Portal of Prague)

Along with another 15 artists from the Czech Republic and abroad, multi-media artist Petr Nikl created the interactive exhibition Orbis Pictus, which will soon take place in Brussels in its tour around the world. It has already been proven by the enthusiasm of half a million people and has now been granted the official status of an accompanying event within the Czech Presidency of the Council of Europe.

After guesting in Vancouver the exhibition will be in Brussels from 8th to 28th April when it will provoke the fantasy and understanding of visitors to the Madou Tower and Gallery of the Czech Centre in the headquarters of the European Commission for Education and Culture. It is actually an extension for the whole year as an accompanying event in the European Year of Creativity and Inovation 2009.

“It was a collective piece of work from the start,” emphasises the creator of the concept Petr Nikl. It connected artists active on the borders of creative fields, designers who are also musicians, there’s an organ builder, an architect, an astronomer, a dramatic artist. Because the project is a kind of “free metaphor” of the thoughts of J.A.Comenius there is always a simultaneous publication of his timeless book, Labyrint světa a ráj srdce (The Labyrinth of the World and The Paradise of the Heart), in the mother tongue of the host country. For Brussels an English version has been prepared. The work of the “Teacher of the Nation”, written in Brandýs nad Orlicí in 1623, which was the inspiration for the exhibition, has been published with illustrations by Petr Nikl. Apart from this the exhibition will be accompanied by a descriptive illustrated atlas mapping the development of instrument objects over the last nine years. It will also include a DVD and CD of Comenius’s quotes and bear the tittle “Orbis Pictus , or…” Here too we meet the co-creators of the exhibition conceived by Petr Nikl. Objects are presented by Milan Cais, Michael Delia, Luboš Fidler, Petr Lorenc, Jiří Melzer, Quido Sen, Martin Janíček, Jiří Konvrzek, Ondřej Smeykal, Václav Smolka, Jaroslav Kořán, Čestmír Suška, Zdeněk Šmíd, Ivan Havlíček, Miloš Vojtěchovský and others.

Not only sight, but also sound

The bizarre instruments and apparatus on display produce various sounds, optical devices enchant with colour and shape and everything is in motion like a fantastic theatre. Visitors delight in the fact that they can get to know this theatre themselves, through their own touch and exploration. This takes them right to the very centre of the exhibition, to the pulsating metaphorical heart. The spontaneous, enthusiastic reaction of visitors shows that the phenomena of play can act as a universal means of communication. Regardless of age, nationality or religion. The opportunity to get to know about the world and how it works through our own senses and energy is really fascinating and attractive.

At the Prague celebration of the Czech Republic’s Presidency, José Barroso, the President of the European Commission, referred to the current European Year of Creativity and Innovation. The aim of this year was thought up by the Euro-Commissioner Ján Figel. It is precisely in this direction that the creators of the play exhibition Orbis Pictus are aiming and challenging.

Meanwhile, an interactive surprise also awaits visitors to an exhibition in Prague. An independent group of artists opens in the Ecotechnical Museum in Bubeneč, Prague in May. This former water treatment plant hosts an exhibition entitled “Labyrinth of Light, the Magical Light Laboratory”

Source: 2media.cz