The Incredible Lightness of Being:Jiri Pelcl — Czech Design

About

Jiri Pelcl is a leading Czech designer whose innovative and exciting work has been recognized internationally for more than two decades. He has received many highly prestigious design awards, invitations to lecture around the world and has had more than 20 solo and 110 group exhibitions globally. His place as an influential figure in design futures is conveyed through the work of a selection of present and former students included as the conclusion to the exhibition. The British premiere of recent work in the University of Brighton Gallery provides an opportunity to study his work at first hand as well as the platform for a one-day symposium ‘Czech Design — Independent, Free and Democratic? The Pelcl Symposium' on 20th January 2012. Drawing on original contributions from design professionals, design critics, theorists and historians from the Czech Republic, Estonia and the UK, the symposium will consider the ways in which Czech design horizons have changed since the mid 1980s when the ideologies of the Eastern Bloc began to undergo change and challenge. The emergence of a new democratic state has not been without its problems for design. The day will conclude with a screening of ‘Czech Dream', a funny and provocative film which looks at the effects of rampant consumerism on a post-communist society. Directed by Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda. Full fees are £50 (including lunch and refreshments), £30 concessions, including external students, £25 University of Brighton staff and £18 University of Brighton students. If you wish to attend the film screening only there will be a charge of £2 per person. DOING An exhibition of student work from Design and Craft at the University of Brighton entitled ‘DOING' will complement the show. DOING will illustrate the shift of emphasis from traditional disciplines to symbiosis and interdisciplinary partnerships within and around design and crafts. Creativity in the Easter Block An exhibition of Czechoslovakian posters from the 1960s-1980s, selected from the University of Brighton Design Archives collection, will be displayed in reception and the ground floor corridor. For further information and to book a place at the symposium please contact Madeleine Dutton: 01273643720/m.j.dutton@brighton.ac.uk