Oko! Magazine Edition 1

MAGAZINE

N°1

Take Off

Dec/Jan 2018

We Are Oko! Message From The Founders Hello and thank you for reading the first ever issue of Oko! Magazine. Oko! Magazine hopes to become your new best friend wherever you find it, whether that be in cafĂŠs, bars, offices and many other locations all over Prague.

Oko! Magazine is not about fake news, propaganda, greed and quantity over quality. We are passion and love for this country, the place we call home and all the people inside it.

We are an international team with members aged from their early 20s to late 60s, from all over the globe. Czech, Slovak, UK, US, France, Netherlands, Syria, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, Iran, Ireland, Montenegro and Italy‌ Coming from such diverse backgrounds, ages and genders, it enables to cover a whole bunch of different topics that will touch everyone in some way. We are all about supporting local artists, designers, Czech brands and eco-friendly businesses.

Oko! Magazine in itself will be a work of art in arms reach, placing the reader and the advertisers in the limelight with a beautiful high-end stylish design with a minimalistic approach.

2

You will also be able to find an e-version of the printed magazine online together with other interesting articles, video content and blogs.

Oko! Magazine will be published every two months, and will always be available for free in Prague and the Czech Republic. Oko! Magazine will offer you content in English, curated for the locals whether that be a native Czech, someone who is new here or a long term expat.

We want to strike a balance for all perspectives, while keeping the highest standard of writing on all of our pages.

Not only will Oko! become a name you can associate with quality, but also a name you can trust.

Needless to say, Oko! Magazine offers something for everyone!

Once again, thank you for reading Oko! Magazine and feel free to write to us or give us your opinion at: info@okomagazine.cz www.okomagazine.cz Claire Dognini & Benny Water Co-founders Oko! Magazine

Contents A Very Pagan Christmas

4

The Good, the Bad and the Bearded.

8

Interview: Erik Kessels

12

Size doesn’t matter it’s how you wear it

16

The Czech music scene before and after the velvet revolution

20

Jarda, Merlijn, Ben & Century of Sound

22

Interview Booka Shade

24

The Strength to Dream

28

Could The Czech Republic Become a Tech Superpower?

32

The Spectre of Old Town

36

Introduction to Richard York

43

Pumpkin Pie

44

Bistro Štrecha

46

Dear Zuzka

50

More than 90 minutes

52

3

AJURVEDA ● WELLNESS ● YOGA ● WEIGHTLOSS ● BEAUTY KATERINARESORT.CZ 2

+420-565-456-801

INFO@KATERINARESORT.CZ

WELCOME TO RESORT SVATÁ KATEŘINA Slow down! Put down your notebook, turn off the mobile phone! Leave your car keys, deep in the bottom of your bag!

Now imagine a world without cars, with peace and quiet, and nature in all its calming vibrancy. Forget everyday worries and relax, you’ve arrived at St. Kateřina, where harmony has found its name.

Ayurveda in Svatá Kateřina Why go far for authentic Ayurveda at the highest level? The Resort Svatá Kateřina has been working for many years together with the Kairali Ayurvedic Group from Kerala, India.

Here you will find Indian Ayurvedic doctors with accredited qualifications in western medicine as well as professional Ayurvedic therapists and chefs. Find balance, restore your strength and vitality in the heart of the Czech countryside.

You can choose one of our eight Ayurvedic programs.

Get acquainted with Ayurveda in a new program ‘Ayurveda Weekend’, try our Ayurveda Rejuvenation treatment for removing fatigue and effects of stress or choose one of our ‘women focused’ Ayurvedic programs. Enjoy massages, therapies or have a consultation with our doctors.

Ayurvedic Pavilon Coming in the new year and currently under construction, is our authentic Ayurvedic Pavilon.

Unique architecture, special massage rooms, an indoor pool, whirlpools, Kneipp´s walkway, and saunas.

Opening Spring 2019.

3

A Very Pagan Christmas While many of us are eagerly looking forward to Christmas, now that all the lights are starting to appear and gift shopping has reached its full potential. Few of us realize how this annual tradition that we have come to associate with the church, baby Jesus, and, more recently, our beloved but slightly overweight friend in a red suit. Actually has much of its most recognizable trademarks set in times far before Santa, and even baby Jesus were first mentioned.

4

It is through the many beliefs and rituals which we call paganism in the modern world, that we find the origins of practices such as Christmas trees, dinners and angels as well as the original Christian ways being far less joyous and focused more on piety and reflection of oneself. What we commonly refer to as Paganism covers a stretch of time in humanity much longer then the two thousand years or so of Christian tradition and it is sometimes hard, especially for a place as central as current Bohemia to pinpoint how, and when, precisely a custom became part of local custom.

A long time ago, before we could grasp an understanding of physics, chemistry, and astronomy, the rise and set of the sun represented the battle for light between Good and Evil. The consequence of a lost battle meant the end of light and with it harvest, food, and life. Version of this myth can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt, with the story of “Ra and the Sun Boat”, but has variations all over European mythology.

Even though not exactly related to Christmas, the first tradition is also one of the oldest and originates in Proto-Indo European belief, when man was equal to beast and was more in harmony with his natural environment. Before the winter solstice, excess cattle were slaughtered and this sudden abundance of fresh food led to celebrations. Around a fire, dressed with the horns and hides of the hunted, men would feast, dance and sing loudly, some accounts even mention the drinking of blood and eating of raw organs such as the heart. Later due to technological and agricultural advances the sacrifices ceased and wooden masks were used to celebrate.

Misunderstood and exaggerated these practices were quickly assumed to be human sacrifices and devil worship by historians, and have since been strongly condemned by the Church. It is interesting to notice that through a number of transformations, the custom of dressing up and the celebration of death has remained in many cultures worldwide and is a returning event during winter solstice.

After the autumnal sacrifices, days gradually became shorter and colder, until the shortest day of the year around December 21st. This day meant that the separation between the dead and living was a thin crossable veil, and thus it comes as no surprise that to appease spirits, good or evil, a multitude of practices were held over the course of seven days, starting a little before the 21st and lasting until around December 24th. On the Roman Pagan calendar this celebratory week was called ‘The Feast of Saturnalia’ or Yule, the slavic faith named it “Koleda” after the Goddess “Kolaida”, bringer of the sun. Giving birth to the current Czech word ‘Koleda’, which has gained the meaning of caroling during the winter festivities.

Photo by Oscar Keys

5

Photo by Mallory Johndrow

During these days of celebration, a multitude of practices were held, many of which can be found back in our current holidays. To fend off evil spirits from entering, Romans brought inside branches and wreaths, to guide returning relatives back and forth from the spirit world, lights were placed alongside doors, roads and waypoints to ensure they would find their way.

On Koleda, masked, costumed and cross dressing groups, often accompanied with effigies or actual goats heads on sticks would go door to door for Koleda ( caroling ) invoking the goddes Kolaida for praises and good wishes in return for handouts, small treats in the shapes of animals, often baked by the elderly members of a household.

In most Pagan beliefs the last day of ‘Koleda’ or ‘Yule’ would culminate in a feast. According to Roman traditions, on this day boundaries between masters and slaves were forgotten and they would eat, play and often gamble together. Even allowing slaves to cuss and mock their owners without repercussions.

Archeological finds have revealed rules for Yule, forbidding work, anger, and describing gifting customs in detail. Alcohol, music, singing and dancing often led, much like today to some occasional form of nudity, later much condemned by the Church.

6

Slavic traditions mention lone men begging farmers for a scoop of oats, but often more than a single scoop was needed to avoid them from stealing more, the oats were then sold to finance the later pre-spring festivities.

The last custom of winter is New Year’s Eve. For many pagan cultures this day was special in that it made for an unusual power of divination. Many divination practices and fortune tellers led this date to become one of the most significant winter holidays we still celebrate today.

Rituals such as cutting an apple in half to tell the future through its seeds were common. It was customary for a girl on New Year’s Eve to back up to the bathhouse door with her rear-end exposed and ask a question to the Bannik. If a cold touch or scratch from his claw was felt, it meant no. If a warm touch or caress was felt, it meant yes. This same divination could be used if one put their hand in-between the wood of the bathhouse.

Small clay dolls and plaques were bought and given as gifts, accompanied with blessings and good omens for the coming months.

All together the winter solstice celebrations seemed to have been a joyous occasion of feasting and celebration for all our pagan ancestors, as a passage by Caesarius of Arles in southern Gaul, serves testimony to how opposing this seemed to early Christian values :

“On those days,” says the preacher, speaking of the Kalends of January, “the heathen, reversing the order of all things, dress themselves up in indecent deformities.... These miserable men, and what is worse, some who have been baptized, put on counterfeit forms and monstrous faces, at which one should rather be ashamed and sad.

For what reasonable man would believe that any men in their senses would by making a stag (Cervulum) turn themselves into the appearance of animals? Some are clothed in the hides of cattle; others put on the heads of beasts, rejoicing and exulting that they have so transformed themselves into the shapes of animals that they no longer appear to be men.... How vile, further, it is that those who have been born men are clothed in women’s dresses, and by the vilest change effeminate their manly strength by taking on the forms of girls, blushing not to clothe their warlike arms in women’s

garments; they have bearded faces, and yet they wish to appear women.... There are some who on the Kalends of January practise auguries, and do not allow fire out of their houses or any other favour to anyone who asks.

Also they both receive and give diabolical presents.

Some country people, moreover, lay tables with plenty of things necessary for eating ... thinking that thus the Kalends of January will be a warranty that all through the year their feasting will be in like measure abundant.”

The text goes on to condemn these practices, but as with most of these customs, the Church, not able to part people with them, decided to adopt and adapt them to facilitate later adoption of their doctrine, which, ‘spoiler alert’ was a success.

Paganism is a part of our past that has so clearly left its marks on our present. So this Christmas while opening your gifts and sipping on your hot wine, be sure to thank your ancestors for making these cold winter days a little more jolly for all of us.

By Benny Water

Photo by Ashley Batz

7

The Good, the Bad and the Bearded

Almost every month, one festivity or another will offer us an opportunity to have a slap-up meal, a drink or two, and a chat with friends. Just as our predecessors have done for hundreds of years. Christmas, perhaps the most widely celebrated, is no different.

Festivals and traditions have always been a way of boosting the moral, fortifying the masses and bringing together all of the inhabitants of the villages, towns or cities they are held in. Today many of these traditions survive and have morphed into variations of those from the past. However, when it comes to Christmas no other festival can compete.

The sight and smell of the ubiquitous Christmas markets and their surrounding ambience, the hot wine, the snow and the smell of charcoal grills drifting into the muffled darkness really do make me want to take in this wonderful time of the year. Forget Coca-Cola Lorries and candy; instead take in the traditions and behaviour of the local people, which definitely surpass commercial endeavours and remind us of what Christmas should be about; good morals and goodwill to all.

The Santa Claus tradition is believed to have stemmed from St Nicholas and his endeavours; apparently in order to help out a poor family he dropped a bag of gold down their chimney. It landed in a sock which had been hung by the fire to dry, and so began the legend of gifts and chimneys.

Illustration from the 1850 book St. Nikolaas en zijn knecht (“Saint Nicholas and his servant”), by Jan Schenkman, 1850.

The story of St Nicholas became so unpopular after the reformation that parts of his legend were mixed with new ones and when Dutch settlers in America changed St Nicholas to ‘Sinterklaas’ it was only a matter of time until it morphed further into Santa Claus. So it’s refreshing to find that the original and non-commercial St Nicholas is still widely celebrated across Europe - perhaps a reflection on his original popularity. He was said to be the guardian of sailors and once saved a whole ship from sinking and was forever known as Patron Saint of Sailors. Added to this he was also the Patron Saint of Merchants, Archers, Repentant Thieves, Children, Brewers, Pawnbrokers and Students.

The Germans and the Austrians celebrate St Nicholas’s day on the 5th of December as well as 6th of December, the date is believed to be the day he died. In the Netherlands they celebrate on the 5th December and St Nicholas Eve, “Sinterklaasavond” (present evening) as it’s known, is the main celebration of Christmas in Holland. The Czech Republic along with other many other European countries including Belgium and Italy maintain a tradition which is aimed specifically at children. It’s one which perhaps terrifies some and delights others, it is controversial, it is

An illustration of Mikulás and Krampusz from 1865.

8

Photo by Michell Zappa

delightful and it is one which instills the realization of cause and effect into young children. We have all been told about the bogeyman and various other scary individuals who specialised in scaring badly behaved children.

Every country has its own version and it’s no different in the Czech Republic. Here the children are judged by a trinity of the Devil (Čert), St Nicholas (Mikuláš) and his Angel (Anděl) and on December 5th, there is a knock at the front door and evil laughter can be heard on the other side, some children run upstairs, others hold their ground. The door is opened and often the devil will be banging a chain against the floor as the ghastly group enter and approach the scared children.

St Nicholas is the bringer of gifts and he brings these as well as a list which he reads to the children with a glint in his eye.

In major cities this is played out in town squares and children approach the terrible trio ready to appease them with a song before they receive gifts.

In smaller towns and villages three characters can be seen wandering the streets in the darkness, menacing laughter echoes across snow laden streets as children anxiously wait in their homes. More often than not the messages are light hearted and serve to entice the child (who may have been a bit naughty once or twice that year) to behave;

“You have picked your nose much less this year Karel, Even that time when you thought no-one was looking, now sing us a song”.

There is, of course, a message here which is probably most its most controversial aspect. Children are told “Behave or I’ll tell St Nicholas and the devil will get you”. I have heard stories of how children are told they will be “carried off in sacks” if they are badly behaved. It all seems a little over the top and these can be a little disturbing if not terrifying to an eight year old, but the main message of St Nicolas and his chums is clear: try to make good that which you made bad.

Personally I’m all for keeping things real and traditional and if giving your children a slight scare results in a few nights of peace. After all in no time at all, your children will be parents themselves and the delights of the St Nicholas tradition will be theirs to savour and judge from a parent’s perspective and long may it continue.

Happy St Nicholas day.

By David O’Brien

9

T O N I A N D G U Y. C Z

@toniandguydsalonprague

T&G PRAHA

T&G PRAHA

T&G PRAHA

T&G BRATISLAVA

Soukenická 5, Praha 1

Opletalova 4, Praha 1

Michalská 17, Praha 1

Paulínyho 1, Bratislava

tel.: (+420)222 320 056, 57

tel.: (+420) 224 267 218

tel.: (+420) 222 212 578

tel.: +421(0)254 641 664, 65

info@toniandguy.cz

mob.: (+420) 602 800 089

mob.: (+420) 601 216 217

info@toniandguy.sk

academy@toniandguy.cz

opletalova@toniandguy.cz

michalska@toniandguy.cz

www.toniandguy.sk

10

Founded by brothers, Toni and Guy Mascolo, who opened their first salon in Clapham, South London in 1963, TONI&GUY is now the largest independent salon chain worldwide, offering some of the best education in innovative cutting, colour and styling.

Driven by this philosophy and the belief of delivering creativity, quality and consistency to every client, Toni Mascolo OBE was one of the first to harness the franchising boom, opening the first franchise salon in Brighton in 1998 and by the 1990’s the company had grown from a single salon, to over a 100 in 20 plus countries worldwide. His unique franchise model has maintained the company’s high education and creative standards, protected the brand and made successes of thousands of TONI&GUY hairdressing entrepreneurs worldwide. These days Toni&Guy has more than 600 salons worldwide.

TONI&GUY has been in Prague since 2002. Currently the brand maintains three salons in the center of Prague as well as a TONI&GUY academy and one salon in Bratislava. Hairdressers and technicians are all educated in the TONI&GUY academy in London.

Photo by Ondřej Pelikán

11

Interview: Erik Kessels

“My Exhibition Is about Light and Irony” It is always easier to lead an ordinary life, rather than being engaged and unafraid of expressing your own opinion, isn't it? But after visiting the “Welcome to Hard Times” exhibition at the DOX gallery in Prague, you will not have the option of remaining indifferent anymore. Under the leadership of the Dutch designer and photographer Erik Kessels, 600 square meters of the exhibition hall have been turned into a huge gym, where a conversation with the visitor is held on urgent topics – migration, terrorism, ideological and religious confrontation, and misinformation in the media – in a humorous form. Having come there, you yourself become part of the installation.

There is always a story behind everything. What is the story behind your exhibition?

I was already a little bit busy with this kind of work.

Last year I did an exhibition called “Jump Trump,“ which was like a large mat of several square meters with Trump‘s portrait on it, and people could actually climb onto a height and jump onto his face.

So I think that in most installations or in exhibitions there’s not a lot of visitor reaction to what is going on, so I decided to change that. There was also an exhibition earlier called “Welcome to Capitalism!” (in the DOX also), so then came the idea of calling the new one “Hard Times,” and finally I had the idea of calling it “Welcome to Hard Times.” Just to make a gym out of it and to combine these art things with

12

the problems of wealth. In fact, when you have a large space like this one in the DOX gallery, you can really rebuild it into a gym, and really come here not only for a physical workout, but for a mental workout.

Which one of the problems that you’ve pointed out do you consider to be the toughest to resolve? Maybe there are also some which are fake?

There are no fake problems here. The fact is that there’s a growing failure of cooperation among countries, and among politicians, and the public. All this is increasingly dividing and separating people from each other, and this exhibition tries to close the gaps a little bit by confronting them and also helping people to work on them.

Photos by Ondřej Tylčer

13

While presenting the installation you mentioned public apathy as well. What is the reason for it?

I think lots of it has to do with the media, they massage us, it’s all about how quickly everything becomes normal, and also about how the media have injected fear into us. In that way it’s kind of bizarre, that people are more and more busy with physical effort than with protesting or talking out loud.

Do you consider your exhibition to be a work of contemporary art, or is it just an expression of your own mind and inner thoughts?

That is a good question, because I think even in the modern art world everything needs to be categorized, you know. Like this is a sculpture, this is a painting, this is an artist...

I mean for me this is just an installation.

It is also a museum, a gym, so you can call it whatever you like. It could be many things, but the purpose is clear, to provoke the public by saying: «Listen, if you go to a gym, you don’t have to say so much to each other, there are no questions in a gym, there’s just a workout. But maybe here you will have questions after you leave, won’t you?»

Do you think that you are influenced by the media also?

To what extent?

Of course. We get more and more influenced in the sense that there is no escaping it anymore, to escape, maybe you would have to live in the countryside and have no television, but! But we are now bombarded with information.

People are becoming like editors. Every morning you have to decide what to see, what to read, what to hear, what to listen to, and you have to make selections about that, otherwise you go crazy. But even apart from that, whatever you see, whatever you look at, there’s a repetition of it the next day, because your news feeds get pumping with it.

It works in a simple way: if you look at something they think you’ll also want to see it or something like it the next day, which is probably not true at all. We are getting more and more infected by that. On the one hand, there is not so much wrong with that, but on the other hand, the people who have all the power, they totally benefit from it. You know, if you look at the situation in America and how everybody there just does this. People are getting tired of all these random decisions by Trump. It’s a bizarre moment in time when this can happen.

Just look at it: something happens, but if you can’t 100% prove it, then it’s not true.

So how to find the truth? When you are a media specialist you have a chance to compare facts, to find out interconnections and to detect the real version. But if you do not, what then?

There is no answer to that. Well, maybe the answer is that we are too far from this to see anyway, because the moral understandings of many people have faded in a certain way.

Maybe we go to the gym to forget all of it? Getting back to the exhibition – it’s a mix of roles we are playing. It’s a boiling thing. An exhibition like this is much more difficult to do because it’s a provocation. It’s not comforting. It’s disturbing.

About disturbing – how do you fight against negative emotions in daily life?

I still have my creativity, so I can create things which are a little bit like plaster on the wound of negativity, so that is maybe what I do, but I have to say it becomes more and more difficult. I think it is the same for a lot of people. There’s so much negativism and inequality in our life that you just need to look for positive things, just to balance it.

Photography is one source of balance for you?

Exactly. And also humor – you need that, you have to work on it. There are enough serious things going on around us. But I live with the feeling that I can create some positive things even from the negative. This exhibition – it’s not heavy, it is more about light and irony anyway, and that is what is nice about it.

There are several unique projects presented in the “Welcome to Hard Times” exhibition: a multimedia project by artist Elinor Milchan from Israel, and interactive installation by Cuban-American artist Antuan Rodriguez (curated by Marisa Caichiolo) and a collection of sculpture by Slovak artist Viktor Frešo.

The exhibition in the DOX gallery will run until February 4th, 2019.

By Yulia Gottstein

14

Where Your Career Begins

Indago

www.indagorecruit.com 15

Size doesn’t matter, it’s how you wear it It’s not about what size you wear, it’s about how you wear it. Learn how to spend the upcoming holiday season in clothes that enhance your body as well as boost your self-confidence.

As a Style Coach, I often find that women like to buy clothes they admire on someone else or that they fall in love with, flipping through fashion magazines. This can be tricky, though.

A dress that looks so gorgeous

on another woman will often look completely different on us, and we ultimately won’t feel pretty in it at all.

One of the reasons for this might be that a friend, a colleague or a celebrity have a completely different coloring and body shape than we do.

IT’S ALL ABOUT BODY SHAPE & COMFORT When you understand your body shape, it empowers you to make excellent wardrobe choices and shopping becomes a breeze. You will have focus and clarity, and your money will be spent much more efficiently.

Interestingly, you may buy less, but you will find that your wardrobe starts to fill with outfits that make you look and feel your best. As Hubert de Givenchy once said: “The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress.”

What’s most important for all of us is to feel comfortable, self-confident and like you can be your truest self in what you

wear. If that’s not the case, people will sense it. In addition, the clothes should enhance your positive features and bring balance to your figure, no matter what your shape and size are.

Whatever your body shape, the aims are mostly the same: - To balance out proportions.

- To enhance and draw focus to the positives.

- To cleverly disguise any challenging areas.

- To bring balance & femininity to the figure.

Photo by MontyLov

16

LEARN TO CARRY YOUR CURVES WITH GRACE The Inverted Triangle Figure - You have broader shoulders than hips - You have little definition between your waist & hips - You have a smaller bottom half than top half Goal: Draw attention to your lower body & help to minimize your upper body Quick Tips for Enhancing your Figure: - Wear darker colors on top and lighter colors on the bottom - Choose A-line, full, or pleated skirts to add width to the lower body - Define the waistline and hips with belts and tailored styles

Photo by Daria Shevtsova

The Hourglass Figure - Your shoulders and hips are a similar measurement - You wear roughly the same size on top and bottom - You have a clearly defined waist Goal: Make the most of your figure & emphasize your feminine curves and waist.

Quick Tips for Enhancing your Figure: - Look for figure-hugging dresses - Choose wrap styles, tailored shirts with darted waists and flowing tops that are tied at the waist - Experiment with waist-defining belts

Photo by Alexis Chloe

The Triangle Figure - Your shoulders are narrower than your hips - You take a larger size on your bottom half and a smaller size on your top - You have fuller hips, bottom and thighs and more slender upper body Goal: Draw attention to your upper body & help to minimize your lower body Quick Tips for Enhancing your Figure: - Choose lighter or brighter colors on the top & darker colors on the bottom.

- Look for jackets & coats with details like wide lapels & structured shoulders.

- Choose tops with interesting sleeves & wide or off-the- shoulder necklines. You can also choose details like ruffles, patterns & prints.

17

The Rectangle Figure - Your shoulders, waist & hips are similar measurements - You wear the same size on top and bottom - You have very little waist definition Goal: Create the illusion of curves, define the waist & add femininity to your figure Quick Tips for Enhancing your Figure: - Gently tailored jackets that define the waist will help create a flattering silhouette.

- Wrap-over tops and dresses can help to add curves and emphasis to the bust & waist.

- Abstract, bold and bright prints can all be used to add interest, shape & definition to the figure.

Photo Nicole De Khors

The Round Figure - You have balanced hips and shoulders.

- You have no definition at the waist.

- You carry weight around the tummy & upper body.

Goal: Achieve more of an hourglass shape by elongating your figure, and enhancing & defining your natural waist .

Quick Tips for Enhancing your Figure: - Look for tops with wide ‘V’ necklines & hemlines that finish above or below the widest point.

- Try straight, long tunics that taper at the waist .

- Vertical details & stripes elongate the figure .

Photo by Ovayo Ntlabati

Dagmar Gabulova is the first certified Style Coach for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Previously working at Elle Magazine, she is passionate about helping women to uncover their true beauty, boost self-confidence and find their unique style. Besides personal shopping, she teaches individuals as well as companies how to look at clothes differently and benefit from using them in a smart way. Learn more about Dagmar’s work on www.dagmarstyle.com.

Dagmar’s Book

STYLE - The Journey to Beauty, SelfConfidence and Charisma.

Want to know how to dress to impress? This beautifully illustrated style guide full of practical advice will take you on an exciting journey to find your own style, offering the right colors, types of clothes and accessories for you. If you want to shine and receive compliments, this book is just for you.

By Dagmar Gabulova Dagmar, author of STYLE - The Journey to Beauty, Self-Confidence and Charisma.

18

DRINK - CHILL - FLIRT

Balbi Bar was opened for the first time in May 2018, since then it quickly became the new place to be for the cool and trendy in Prague.

The great cocktails, the unique interiors, and the welcoming staff makes it the perfect place to spend a night between friends, a romantic date, or a large celebration.

Whatever the occasion Balbi Bar will leave you pleasantly surprised.

www.balbibar.com

Balbinova 27, 120 00 Prague

19

The Czech music scene before and after the velvet revolution

Photo by Sudhith Xavier

A bit of a historical recap is needed before we start to talk about the difference between the concept of music nowadays and the idea of music that was characteristic of the past as, without the past, there is no present, and in the Czech scene this is as twice as true.

The contact with major centres of musical development occurred at a time when only two or three good-quality foreign albums could be seen on the decks of gramophones since the Czech audience used to have a strong inclination specifically towards local artists.

20

It hadn't been easy for the innovative idea of contemporary music to reach the isolated Czech audience; rock titles and two state-run publishers could be counted annually on the fingers of one hand.

It was more favourable to record the semi-official scene, which at best served in clubs and some festivals that were coincidentally overlooked by the state and because of that, it wasn't easy to bring the audience to this new concept of music that, at the same time, was spreading out all over the world.

The considerable isolation that art was facing in the present Czech Republic had created a focus where local musicians had come to discover themselves: nonetheless, they approached this revolution, achieving a quite significant result.

While both Anglo-American and European artists actively operating in the 60’s were using English as the 'rock language', in the Czech scene things went quite the opposite.

This is due to two main reasons: the political scenario that wouldn't allow any contact with western society and the lyrics of the music which had to be performed exclusively in Czech.

This condemned a large number of interesting projects to being forgotten forever.

November 1989 was a cornerstone when it came to culture, music and society. The legendary folk songwriters, together with underground and alternative musicians that were once banned or ostracized by the system, started to gain popularity and hold sell out performances, whereas the so-called “proregime” performers needed to adapt or find a new job.

After the Velvet Revolution a lot came at once, and not only music: suddenly a new concept of culture had risen.

With time Prague has become one of the most important areas for music development in the world - there is always something interesting going on, regardless the type of music you're interested in - jazz, rock, blues, folk or electro music, and especially if you're interested in the so-called 'avantgarde', thanks to its bright subculture, Prague is now one of the best places to look at.

In issues to come, Oko will keep you appraised about concerts, festivals and artistic events and will bring you exclusive content by conducting personal interviews with various local and international artists.

How music developed after World War One From September through December, a celebration has been taking place in Prague, a celebration of the end of World War One and the birth of modern music.

After WWI, Europe had witnessed a remarkable growth of democracy along with an impressive expansion of women’s rights. Cinema and radio had turned into powerful tools that society could use to spread out unexplored concepts in all realms, but especially music.

Afro-American immigrants had brought jazz into Europe, the first nightclubs were opened in Paris, London and Berlin, and the mix of street music between European and North American musicians had started. These post-war innovations had become cultural threads throughout the 20th century and are still apparent in musical culture today.

In the last three months, various events in Prague have been taking place such as interactive exhibitions and debates on the contemporary developments that nurture this avant-garde concept of music.

The celebration kicked off with a concert including the headliners ‘Groove Armada’ (See Interview) at Cross Club.

There was a lot of discussion on collaboration between American and European street musicians and the social freedom that has risen after WWI, and there were many chances to listen to contemporary music and how it can express its own self as an independent language. We have seen amazing performances from Lake Malawi, the awardwinning young Czech singer Maella, DJ Ben Osborne (UK), Black Montmartre (EU) and many more.

Bar at Cross Club Prague

The events were organised by DJ Ben Osborne of Noise of Art, Jaroslav Raušer (head of Institut Moderni Hudby and Move Association) and Merlijn Poolman (Head of Stichting Nederlandse Muziek Export).

Jarda Rauser and his Move Association focus on musical creation, present foreign premieres and co-organises foreign workshops for Czech bands. He does immense work teaching children about producing music and he has a lot in store for the future, so Oko! Magazine will be keeping a close eye on his achievements.

By Ljiljana Goller

21

Jarda, Merlijn, Ben & Century of Sound Merlijn, Jarda and Ben are the organisers of the “Century of Sound“ Festival, which took place from September to December in Prague. Century of Sound is a series of events to celebrate 100 years since the end of the First World War. The event incorporates the passion and drive that comes from their shared love of the subject matter and of course, the music. We were lucky enough to sit down with Tom Findlay of Groove Armada who opened the festival and also Booka Shade who played on the last night of it.

Find the exclusive interview on www.okomagazine.cz

22

Interview of Tom Findley, Groove Armada Hi Tom, what have you been up to over the last decade?

How does streaming affect your music’s impact?

We’ve been pretty busy. We stopped playing live in 2011 and that was the end of a phase when we left our record label. We decided to go back to where we started. Back to clubs. We always had a place in Ibiza, we played a lot at the Space Terrace. Our lives got complicated but we’ve been re-establishing our place in the club world. The last decade has been a mixture of creating records, playing gigs and dj sets. In November/December we’ve set four dates in the UK (Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and London), and all going well we’ll be looking to release more material next year and tour again.

It’s great to see that there’s a record of our stuff, not just on Spotify, but also YouTube. It makes a difference in getting paid, but I am very pro-streaming, since it opens doors to people finding our stuff.

Today you’re alone on the DJ set, how do you prepare?

On a DJ set I try to imagine what the space is like and every week I get sent two or three hundred records. Lots of downloading. I don’t really plan a set, but the nice thing is that I keep all the material on me. I’ll go in with a loose idea, but that’s all it is.

Do you see any markable difference between fans in different countries?

There are very distinct scenes between countries. It used to be the UK and America that was predominant, but now it’s a more international scene. Now there’s a Paris scene and a Berlin scene, so it’s always a different experience and you try to find common ground between them.

What are your favourite ways of playing a set?

It’s really lovely to have a large amount of time. It’s nice sometimes to play for four hours, it allows a lot of freedom.

There’s an event in Ibiza at Amnesia called ‘All Night Long’ and you play from midnight to when the place closes at around 7am, which is always great, I love that chance to really develop a set.

What are your fondest memories of performing?

Playing the John Peel stage at Glastonbury, that was amazing.

Can we expect a change in style from Groove Armada in the future?

Yeah we’re writing new stuff at the moment. It’s a similar style to our old album Black Light (2010) it’s more song based and less heavy. At the moment I don’t want to call it an album.

First record you ever bought?

I’m not just saying this to sound cool, but the first record I bought was ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.

And finally, how does it feel to be a part of Century of Sound?

It’s a great event celebrating a key moment in world history.

I’m honoured to take part.

By Claire Dognini, Oliver Horsfall & Petar Mrdjen

Are there any songs you have on repeat at home at the moment?

Stuff moves so quickly at the moment, but I’m really enjoying a band called Khruangbin who are a three piece jazz outfit from Houston, Texas. They have a track called ‘White Gloves’ and it’s brilliant.

23

Interview Booka Shade Can you introduce yourselves to us?

- I’m Walter - I’m Arnold We are Booka Shade and we play electronic music. We just came off stage at the Lucerna Music Hall here in Prague.

There was a great atmosphere from the crowd. Is there a special reason you enjoy playing in the Czech Republic?

One of the first gigs we did was in Prague. So from the early 2005/6 we started to play here at some really great festivals. We played at The Roxy in Prague and other big venues, we love the drive down and the train back up to Germany.

What’s your part in Century of Sound?

A: Ben Osborne was actually fundamental in our decision to take part. We’ve known him for about 15 years now. We love the opportunity to perform and transmit our mission to people everywhere in the world and that is ‘love’. We want people to find faith in the music. Our generation feels European, more-so than any single country.

W: We love electronic music. We started out with synthesisers in the early 80’s, but it really started in the early 70’s. And it was the last music revolution we had.

Groove Armada kicked off the Century of Sound Festival and you’ve finished it. Will we see more of you?

If Ben asks, absolutely, we are very up for being a part of future projects. He’s always got some exciting and artsy ideas that we love to do. It’s not all about the banging techno, we also enjoy electronica as well.

24

Were the visuals for this gig your idea?

Yes, we’ve always loved the combination of cinema and movies and soundtrack, so we’ve always had videos running with our music. We always love to combine the music with a strong visual element.

You just released a new album, tell us a bit about it?

The album is called Cut the Strings, it’s a new start for us with electronic music as we’ve been doing it for a very long time. A couple of years ago we felt like we needed to do something different and outside of the club called Galvany Street.

After doing that we realised how much we could get out of club music. We like to believe that we can get more out of it than just a melody or baseline. Cut the Strings, is a start into a new era, where we have a strategy where we have a new song or EP or remix, which wasn’t the case in previous years. Now it’s very fresh for us, we’ve known each other since school and now we have our own label called Belfield.

Last question, what is it we can expect in the future from Booka Shade?

We just played one of our new tracks with an Icelandic singer, we also did a single with a band called ‘Under Her’. So our next project is an album that incorporates collaborations in different countries. And we’re working on bands we’ve been signing from all over the world.

You’ll see us back in Prague next Summer. It’s usually our European season.

By Claire Dognini, Oliver Horsfall & Petar Mrdjen

Photos by Booka Shade

25

26

chateau-hostacov.cz

A relaxing countryside escape with a charming historic ambience.

Chateau Hostačov is a picturesque estate tucked away in the forests of the Czech highlands region. We offer a peaceful base for anyone looking to relax away from the hurried stresses of modern day life.

Hotel Fall in love with the magic of our luxurious chateau chambers.

All of them are unique, with different antique furniture and beautiful fabric. Each room entices with a different perk be it a fireplace, spa bath or balcony.

Restaurant Treat yourself to a delicious gourmet experience in the enchanting environs of our restaurant with a 5 course tasting menu created seasonally from local ingredients by new our head Chef Lukáš Vokřál.

Weddings The romantic surroundings of the chateau create an unforgettable atmosphere for your special day. Create your dream wedding in the elegant setting of our historic chambers and established park.

Corporate Events The refined spaces of the chateau provide a prestigious venue for those looking to impress an important business partner or for those looking for a more inspirational backdrop for business meetings and events. We have a whole host of team building activities to entertain your team, ranging from disco-golf or a treasure hunt in the park, to an escape room or wine tasting indoors.

27

Photo by K. M. Baalbaki

The Strength to Dream It is common to say, ‘if you really want to get to know a country then you have to get to know its people.’ In every issue of Oko! we will do our best to introduce to you the most interesting personalities in the Czech Republic, those who shape our perception of modern Czechia in general and Prague in particular. Today we shall meet a unique Czech artist, Milos Vacik Jr., who will talk to us about his oeuvre and how combining various forms of art can help to see and express the beauty around us.

Milos Vacik is a musician and percussionist, an artist and composer, an illustrator and writer. He admits, all these forms of art are close to his heart and mutually inspire each other.

“Music brings me to the middle of audience, it is a very extroverted activity, full of energy. Painting and writing, on the contrary, are about silence and solitude, a certain kind of meditation. Each brings me joy, I think none of them would be what they are without the others”.

This makes Milos an artist with a very unique set of skills: drawing his inspiration from his travels through South America and Africa, bringing vibrant colours and beats to life through his art and music.

28

As a musician, Milos has performed with many famous Czech artists such as Laura a jeji tygri, Prazsky Vyber, Kontraband, and the Afro-Latin band. With his positive energy orchestra ‘Tam Tam Batucada’ he has performed all over the world.

They play anything: Samba Reggae, Samba Batucada, Rumba, Afro-Samba, and many other rhythms. Vacik Jr. himself plays on a special drum set, ethnic percussion instruments, and also sings. He is considered to be one of the best-known drummers in the Czech Republic.

“I wanted to play drums since I was 7, but ended up studying at art school. However, right after my art school studies I got into the Laura a jeji tygri band, and my life took a new direction. I began studying Cuban rhythms, African and Brazilian rhythms. Music in these countries is supplemented with dances, costumes, fine arts, everything goes together and connects with everything else, and that is a huge inspiration for me.”

In 2019, the Tam Tam Orchestra will celebrate 20 years since its foundation and 15 years from founding the Samba School and Tam Tam Batucada. So currently Milos is preparing to release a new record, to come out in April.

His other passion is creating stunning acrylic paintings and sketches using vibrant colours. His pieces can take almost any form but once again are very much inspired by his travels and passionate love of nature.

“Nature, trees, sun, stars ... my life, stories, all of that inspires me. I feel the beauty around me, and I have the need to express it, to share it.”

“It is a fulfilled dream. The music is actually a soundtrack, sort of an addition to the text. It’s ambient, meditative, calm.

I would say that it is completely different from all my other, rhythm-charged recordings.”

Just recently, Milos Vacik Jr. has written a book named ‘Pod Hvezdami’ or ‘Under the Stars’, with tales out of ‘One thousand and One Nights’ accompanied by remarkable illustrations inspired by old coloured wood carvings depicting stories of life by the sea and in the desert.

“These are stories about searching, love, silence. In extreme conditions like the desert and the sea, the landscapes of silence and storms - everything feels different. I accompanied each story with colorful illustrations. The book is full of symbols».

Vacik Jr. has selected one of the illustrations from the book as a gift to Oko! Magazine’s readers. The illustration is originally from the Night Pilgrim story in the book. As Milos explains, he selected this particular picture because the first issue of our magazine will come out during Christmas, and it is very important time of the year for recapitulating, thinking about dreams and wishes as well as making new plans.

The book is also available as an audiobook, with special music composed by Milos and the legendary Czech musician and performer Alan Vitous. The music enhances the experience of the book and carries the listener into a fantasy of landscapes, the depths of the universe, the wind from the desert and the sound of waves from the sea. The two magical voices are from the actors Josef Somr and Viktor Preiss.

Both the book and its audio version are available online on Supraphonline.cz (text) and Argo.cz (audio).

The pilgrim in the story is also thinking about his way forward, he is on his way somewhere just like each of us.

“He is getting stronger step by step, he has his own aim, just as we all do. With this picture I would like to wish for Oko! readers the strength to follow their dreams and walk towards them... I hope my picture will inspire you”.

The illustration can be found as a large poster in the back of the magazine or a smaller version on the next page.

By Yulia Gottstein

29

30

31

Could The Czech Republic

Become a Tech Superpower?

Photo by Chris Happel

Calling any country a ‘superpower’ will bring attention, popularity and hopefully more money to that country. Backing this hefty claim with solid-based arguments and data might prove too complicated and end up as wishful thinking, especially in a country as small as the Czech Republic that suffered so much under communist reign for more than four decades. Nevertheless, its industrial base and inventive people brought it back on its feet, and even though many perceive it as catching up to the western world, Czech Republic is in some areas already ahead.

Not so fast

More than just a car manufacturer

When talking about technological advancements and innovation, the heart of Europe doesn’t usually make the top list. Take for example the latest Regional Innovation Scoreboard report by the European Commission, where the Czech Republic fell short of the European average, revealing the relatively low research and development expenditures, a weak knowledge-intensive service sector, or ineffective governance of public research.

As doomy and gloomy as the current situation might seem, there are areas where the Czech Republic truly shines and could stand among the world’s best. Some might not come to mind at first, for example, aviation, namely ultralight aircrafts; Czechs are one of the largest ultralight and light sport aircrafts producers in the world and belong to the world’s top aircraft engine developers .

The backbone of innovation and future successes, the educational system, despite all political chest-thumping and bold statements, is not hitting the mark when it comes to international comparison as well. In fact, the structural problems, such as low teachers’ salaries or low spending on students, have been prevalent for as much as twenty years and are among the lowest across OECD countries .

Czech schools are also poorly equipped with IT hardware and most of Czech teachers, despite the enthusiasm of many of them, haven’t been appropriately trained in IT skills.

32

In addition, Czech Phoenix was the first electrical two-seat aircraft in the world to take off , and guess who is the threetime-in-a-row European freestyle aerobatic champion and the current rising star of Red Bull Air Race…?

Getting back to digitisation and innovations, thanks to similar technological jump that brought Hungary to the top list of countries with 4G penetration and speed, the Czech Republic became a European e-commerce leader with more than 43 per cent of technical or non-food goods sold online and the highest number of e-shops per person in Europe in 2017 .

Since the introduction of mobile-contactless payments with Google Pay (formerly Android Pay) last year and Apple Pay promised to come soon , Czech Republic is on the way to fortifying its lead in the field.

Cyber citadel If you’d rather keep your feet on the ground and you need to touch the goods before you buy them, cybersecurity might be more to your taste. Avast is an outstanding example of this small country’s footprint on the global stage. As of today, the Czech IT giant has the largest market share among anti-malware application vendors worldwide , with more than than 435 million users . If you are reading this article online, there is more than a 1 in 10 chance that Avast is currently protecting your electronic device.

The Czech government isn’t behind either, to name a few of its successes, it was the first in the EU to create a unique legal framework to protect Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), and the first one to prepare and sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Cyber Defence in NATO . A Czech team composed of representatives from private, public and academic spheres, won the largest and most complex international live-fire cyber defence exercise ‘Locked Shields 2017’ and ended up third in the 2018 edition . No wonder the Czech Republic sits in the top 10 best-protected countries against cyber attacks in the world by EGA. The birth of a nano spider The home of the great Jara Cimrman does not seem so beer and ice-hockey driven after all. As the immortal infomercial hero Horst Fuchs would say: “...but wait, there’s more!”. Let’s finish the back-patting with something outright impressive and look at something you literally can’t see in the field of genetics, nanotechnology and robotics.

Photo by Serge Kutuzov

33

These three areas are going to determine the fate of humankind in the 21st century according to one of today’s brightest minds, Ray Kurzweil. And thanks to the joint efforts of the Technical University of Liberec and local company Elmarco, Czechs quickly boarded the nano-ship and positioned themselves at its helm. The year was 2004, and the project’s name was ‘Nanospider’, the first machine in the world that could “weave nanofibers on an industrial scale.”

With the generous financial support from both private sources and the public, Czechs built a solid base for research and practical application, quickly becoming one of the pioneers in this nascent industry. We can make an awfully long list of all Czech nano-tech discoveries and inventions, but we’d rather stick to some practical examples. Just a few solutions to global problems, if you will.

Beijing blue for everybody Air pollution definitely counts among the most pressing issues of today and window screens enhanced with nanofibers are not only keeping out mosquitoes but also smog, dust, soot and other nasty particles that can irreversibly make your lungs their new home . Taking it to an entirely different level, the FN® nano-coating, purifies air and only needs sunlight to work . Picturing all major cities having blue skies like Beijing during the APEC Summit in 2014 just by painting all the facades with nano coating seems just as wonderful as it is bewildering. Funnily enough, EC announced a competition for developing such technology in February 2017 but cancelled it after finding that Czechs had already been testing and using it for more than two years .

And it’s not just the air outside, with the number of people suffering from allergies on the rise, nanofibers have come to help indoors as well. To battle dust mites and their allergens, engineers from nanoSPACE came up with nanofiber-barrier bedding covers, which work on a straightforward principle: the nanofibers form such a tight grid that even the tiny mites and their tinier faeces that cause allergies and respiratory problems are way too big to pass through . Bringing it all together, the Bellevue Hotel in Cesky Krumlov is now offering a fully hypoallergenic room using both bedding covers and photoactive air purification .

Czech nanotechnology is also solving first world problems, for example, wrinkles and acne. Contipro’s hyaluronic acid-based nanofiber cosmetics are head and shoulders above classical creams and liquid serums due to its ability to release more active substances per square centimetre with less waste.

Based on the same principle, Nanopharma company has come up with the very first dry sheet nanofiber mask. More efficient substance delivery feature of nanofibers also has a medical application in healing deep wounds.

Keeping focus It seems that for any given problem the Czechs will answer with nano. Need something to turn human faeces into drinking water in space? Sure. Want an exoskeleton that would help you grow back a severed ear? Alright. More efficient, cheaper and safer batteries? Absolutely. Anti-flu scarf? Here you go.

34

Photo by Jaromir Kavan

The landlocked, nano-sized, Central European country has undoubtedly become a nano paradise over the last two decades, on the other hand, it will never have as many resources as China or the US to dominate the whole industry.

Careful selection of specific areas in nanotechnology has served Czechs very well and is the main reason why they are years ahead of their competition in many areas. As long as they strengthen venture capital investments support, increase education, research and development funding and further facilitate the linkages between the public, academic and private spheres, they may retain the title of a world niche tech superpower and take part in shaping the future of mankind.

By Dominik Ježek

www.tonyadams.cz Laubova 1561/1, 130 00 Praha 3-Vinohrady 35

The Spectre of Old Town Walking through the dense network of passages and streets of Prague’s Old Town, I can hear the ‘click, clack, click, clack…’ of sturdy soled shoes as they hit the cobbled pavement. The sounds of my feet underneath me are reverberating against the handsome stuccoed townhouses, echoing through the portals of Baroque palaces, and diminishing in some sheltered courtyards. Alone with my thoughts, the methodical rhythm of my gait synchronizing with my heartbeat as I both leisurely, yet determinedly, make my way through the heart of the city and to my next destination.

People today flock to Prague, for its picturesque, historic centre, but Prague is not a relic, it is an alive force that continually changes as its environment requires. The question therefore becomes, are the changes of the Golden City perceptible to us?

Of course, before it could be “The Golden City”, there had to be a city to gild, and before that, there had to be a settlement to coalesce into a city. Prague today was not always one entity. Even its historic core was once fractured and independent, like Buda and Pest. Though not the oldest of the settlements, and today, not even the most densely inhabited, Old Town continues to conjure up almost metonymic associations of the city.

Prague was already an early medieval centre of trade and commerce, it experienced the chatter of languages from all over the world, a melting pot of increasing diversity, In fact, the polities that inhabited the city left their own marks.

In the middle of the 10th century, we have literary as well as archeological evidence of a large and thriving Jewish community in the area now known as Josefov to the north of the Great Market. These fortified communities were established both for the safety of the Jewish traders and residents who were suspicious of the heathens in their midst.

36

The Jewish settlement would be relatively distant from the actual city centre, at that time in the 10th century, an informal settlement directly under the fortified protection of Prague Castle in what would later be redeveloped into the Lesser Town. The Judenstadt, or Jewish district then stood most to gain when the primary trade nexus moved directly south of them to Old Town.

The ratification of Old Town’s charter in the mid-13th century further intensified the city’s development. Already completely urbanized, structures in the city had to fight for the basic utilities of that time: sunlight and ventilation. Built in stone, buildings transformed completely in functionality and access, whereas Romanesque houses had front yards and space for ground floor warehouses and workshops. New Gothic-style homes boasted new space-saving technologies: covered arcades, which allowed them to build further into the street which would maximize upper floor space, while allowing the public to shelter during rain and snow, consequently the oldest arcades in the country are found right on Old Town Square.

German traders then moved their settlement within the Old Town Walls to establish a chapter of the Order of Teutonic Knights at the church of St. Benedict, now the location of the Kotva shopping centre. The Dominican Order strengthened themselves by moving close to Judith Bridge, which was slightly North of the current Charles Bridge. The old Romanesque Rotundas, which were privately funded began to be interconnected to networks of parish churches.

Possibly most interesting however, is what happened to all the cemeteries. In Prague, as in most European cities, cemeteries came as a package with Churches. Cities were population sinks until the 19th century, so more people died there than were born.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier

37

Eventually most cemeteries had to become multilayered to keep up with demand, something still visible in the Old Jewish Cemetery. Urbanization however, put even more pressure on Old Town, and even these crammed cemeteries started to disappear. Some of the Sites were redeveloped into buildings, but some remained empty, being turned into city squares. Small Square is one such place, a medieval cemetery that was paved over at the end of the 13th century.

The beautifully decorated well in the centre of this square is also at the centre of the cemetery, whose bodies remain 800 years later.

Prague, and especially Old Town, quickly became a Continental centre of culture as well. Agnes of Bohemia, granddaughter of Vaclav I. suffered when her betrothed decided to marry someone else. She decided to give up her privileged, if oppressed, life as a royal daughter, and contacted Clare of Assisi and her Order of Poor Ladies to construct a convent on the Northern banks of Old Town that would serve the city’s poor like their male counterparts the Friars, however, she used her previous position through her father, the King, to contact the best craftsmen in Europe to aid in the convent’s construction.

Many of these craftsmen came directly from the French royal court in Paris thanks to her correspondences with The French King and Pope. The resulting convent of the Clarisses, now the National Gallery, contains also the first traces of truly Gothic architecture in Central Europe, in addition to this the same craftsmen who constructed the famous SainteChapelle in Paris, built the main chapel, which has the same monumentality.

Some of these same craftsmen stayed in the city to construct other private and sacral structures, including the Old-New Synagogue. It was at this time Prague began to be called “Golden”.

The ensuing 14th and 15th centuries carried with them the marks that Old Town would export not only to the rest of the country, but to Europe as a whole. The German traders had long since began to inhabit the areas of the city that had previously been dominated by the local, Slavic population.

Their wealth, accumulated through the importation of faroff luxuries, such as salt and spices, precious stones, and

38

knowledge, allowed them the means to establish themselves in the city’s government. Old Town began to be increasingly German dominated, as the poorer Czech population simply couldn’t afford the fees necessary to run and maintain office.

Compounding this was the principle of Ostsiedlung (lit. East settling) in which Polish, Czech and Hungarian Kings invited settlers from the overcrowded German polities in the Holy Roman Empire, to settle the sparsely populated mountainous border regions of Bohemia, and thereby make those areas economically productive.

This likewise led to an increase in local nobilities being established as German or Germanizing. Successive Kings were aware of this growing ethnic tension, and proceeded to attempt to alleviate the situation in Prague by first founding the Lesser Town to lure the growing urban German aristocracy closer to the surveillance of the King, and later the establishment of New Town, which became heavily populated by the indigenous Czech population of the city, increasing the power of the German citizens in Old Town. Attempts to unify Old and New Town failed in 1367 spectacularly, which forced the emperor to revoke his decision just a decade later, reestablishing the division.

Ethnic tension meant religious tension as well. Europe-wide peasant revolts in the early 1380s shook the King’s faith in his safety in the city, after experiencing the rising tensions, the king permanently evacuated to Prague Castle, abandoning his home in Old Town. This loss allowed more violence to erupt soon after.

In 1398, Prague’s most infamous pogrom against its Jewish population occurred. On Easter that year, a group of Jewish children were playing with a bag of sand, which hit a Christian priest. The priest whipped up a furor when he declared the act a “defilement of the Body of Christ“. What followed was the massacre of 3000 Jews and the expulsion and confiscation of property of all the remaining inhabitants of the Judenstadt. To this day the reason for such depraved acts is still debated, though it is commonly accepted to have stemmed from contemporary attacks on corruption in the Church. It is no surprise then, that this period also corresponds to the rise of the Hussites.

Photo by Chelsea London Phillips

Josefov before its demolition.

39

The Hussite period mixed these religious tensions with political allegiance. Though much of the juicy details of the conflicts are outside the scope of Old Town itself, it is important to note that Jan Hus, the father of Protestantism, studied and taught Theology here in the Charles University and likewise preached on Bethlehem Square, named after its eponymous Chapel. The only original remnants of that chapel are some of its exterior walls, which were reused for that apartment building. As a result, we will never know what the deeply satirical frescoes that once lined its walls said, even though we have many accounts of travelers describing their experiences and sometimes shock in seeing them. For this period, it is however important to note that due to the numerous wars, Hussite loyalists took over positions of power in the city and established their own councils.

The 17th century dealt another striking blow, as Old Town was ravaged by a massive fire, destroying much of the Renaissance and Gothic city, as well as most historic documents from that time. It was this devastating fire, that allowed for the city to transform into the form we know today.

With its old majestic palaces ruined, the reconstruction efforts at the turn of the 18th century lead to High Baroque architecture that gave the city the distinct core we know today. The subdivided plots of townhouses were bought up for cheap to build ostentatious palaces. Wealthy ecclesiastical orders commissioned expansive luxurious structures, namely the Jesuits who commissioned such buildings as the Klementinium, the Church of St. Nicholas on Old Town Square, St. Francis and St. Jacob.

Slowly recovering during the 18th century, the city was occupied once more by the French and Prussians during the War of Austrian Succession in 1744. Old Town saw its final blow to its sovereignty, under Maria Theresa’s son, Emperor Josef II, who, in 1784, finally achieved what previous Kings could not, the unification of all Prague’s cities (except the Judenstadt and Vyšehrad) into one city. From then on until its destruction in 1945, the entire city was headed in the Old Town Hall. On Old Town Square. Josef II, however also abolished ecclesiastic orders, which again freed land in the city for redevelopment, with numerous monastic gardens succumbing. Most importantly, he also abolished most forms of serfdom, allowing newly unshackled peoples to travel from the countryside to cities to make better lives for themselves.

In the 19th century, the increase in population from Czech peasants, started to change the city’s demography. The city council became majoritarily Czech and, by 1900, the German Population of the city dropped to just 15%. The Rise of Prague as the centre of Czech culture and then Nationalism reverberated in the desire for it to become a world-class metropolis for the Czechs. What we now call Národní Třída (National Avenue), was at the time of its reconstruction called Alejová (Alley, after the alley of trees that lined it). Larger palaces were reconstructed to face onto the street, like the Platýz Palace, which before its reconstruction had fronted onto Uhelný trh (Coal Market).

40

The second largest change for Old town was the construction of embankments on the Vltava River. Old Town had always suffered from seasonal flooding, which led to schemes to raise the city, but it was never enough. Starting from the 1850s however, being inspired by the Victoria Embankment in London, Prague began destroying the baroque workshops, dye factories and tanneries on the riverfront to make pleasant embankments for promenading.

The final great change for Old Town was decidedly the destruction of the Jewish Quarter, the Judenstadt and its redevelopment. Prague was the only city in Europe aside from Rome that had not embarked on an extensive system of demolishing its historic inner-city core in order to rebuild it to better hygienic standards. As a result, much of the Northern section of Old Town, not only the Judenstadt, but also the remaining Gothic Quarter were slated to be torn down and rebuilt. Thankfully, the full plan was never achieved, thanks to the founding of monument protection societies.

The entire Judenstadt, save for 4 buildings and part of its historic cemetery were leveled and, in their place a few decades later, arose the fashionable and ornamented apartment palaces that now are emblematic of the Pařížská locale. Of the Jewish community that once lived there, those who were better off chose to move to the newly founded city of Vinohrady, until the community was decimated in the Second World War. From this period onward, Old Town has continued to progressively lose inhabitants every year. Whether it was under the auspices of the First Republic, which encouraged the growth and the incorporation of rapidly urbanizing suburbs, or the Socialist Regime that intentionally moved citizens from the city centre to newly built, healthier and more comfortable estates in the city’s periphery, Old Town experienced the one constant of depopulation. This trend has only increased after the Velvet Revolution and the lack of a developed central business district due to Socialist planning, led the free market to choose one. What were for hundreds of years individual townhouses with workshops on their ground floors, are now unified into block-sized hotels.

I do not lament the loss of the composition of Old Town as it was. I do not fear that the district itself will cease to exist.

It has shown resilience for over a thousand years, through disaster, through hardship and through prosperity.

I used to enjoy my walks through Old Town, hearing the soles of my shoes reverberate off those handsome buildings, listening for the miniscule changes in echo that give every trip through there a sense of uniqueness. Today, between the shouts of generic buskers, large tour groups chanting in unison, the fake klaxons of new cars masquerading as old, I cannot hear this echo anymore.

By David Lameš

Photot by Fredy Martinez

41

Photo by Lada Nayevo

42

Richard York “Richard York is an Australian international lawyer who, together with his Czech wife Karen and their two children, divide their time between Luxembourg and Prague.

Richard travels extensively in search of new and interesting fine dining experiences and previously wrote restaurant reviews for E15 magazine. Richard has held various positions with business, cultural and sporting groups in Prague, including serving as a director of the British Chamber of Commerce and the Czech Australia New Zealand Association, and in 2017 he received the Order of Australia medal in recognition of services to relations between Australia and the Czech Republic.

Starting with our second issue coming out at the beginning of February 2019, Richard will write reviews on his favourite restaurants. The reviews are formed on the quality, uniqueness and presentation of the chefs’ cuisine, while the restaurant is assessed on its ambience and customer service.

We’re really looking forward to seeing what he serves up.

By Claire Dognini

43

Pumpkin Pie - Recipe INGREDIENTS For the Crust

For the Filling

220 gr flour

1 can or 250 gr steamed pumpkin.

1/2 teaspoon salt

( for best flavor use a hokkaido pumpkin )

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

140 gr butter, cold and cut in to small pieces

4 eggs

2 Tablespoons Cold Water

1 tablespoon Mixed allspice

2 Tablespoons Cold Vodka

1 pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS Making the crust - Mix all the dry ingredients.

- Mix in the butter until the dough as a crumbly texture.

- Add 1 Tbs cold water and 1 Tbs cold Vodka, and combine until large clumps of dough appear.

- Add the remainder of the cold water and vodka and knead until a ball of dough forms.

- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes in the fridge.

- Remove dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of baking paper then lay the dough in the pie mold, trim the edges and set to rest in the fridge for another 10 minutes.

For the Pie Filling: - Add 1 Egg white and 4 egg Yolks to a blender.

- Add Pumpkin flesh, sweetened condensed milk, salt and spice to a blender and mix until thoroughly combined.

- Pour the pie filling almost to the edge of the chilled pie crust. place it in the center of a 180°C preheated oven for at least 25 minutes, the pie is ready when the center is still slightly jiggly but no longer liquid.

Serving Tips Pumpkin Pie is traditionally eaten with whipped cream but also serves very well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Photo by Joanna Kosinska

44

By Benny Water

45

Bistro Štrecha, a vegan restaurant changing lives

Nearly six hundred years ago, the famous Czech Military commander Jan Žižka and his army were surrounded at Kutná Hora by the Roman Empire. With determination, guile and some fearsome farm wagons, they managed to punch their way out of encircling forces and went on to win a famous victory. Now, in tribute to this and numerous other military victories, a huge statue of Jan Žižka sits proudly on Vitkov hill casting his one good eye out over Prague. We’re talking of course about Žižkov and this bustling little area, which is home to nearly sixty thousand people, contains countless bars and restaurants, shops and charming little bistros.

If you happen to find yourself in Žižkov it is worth visiting a rather unique little Bistro located in Milíčova, here you can while away the time, eating their terrifically good value lunch offerings. This in itself is not that unusual, the set-up however is: The Bistro Štrecha is a cooperative vegan restaurant.

The Bistro was founded by people who have had direct experience with homelessness or whose lives have been adversely affected by their social backgrounds, and their employees are homeless individuals and ex-prisoners.

Anyone who has had experience of either of the two predicaments will be only too aware of the vicious circle of homelessness or the stigma of having spent time in prison and how they can prevent an individual from moving on with theirv life. Here, while not a solution to the problem, it is at least a leg-up for those in most need of it.

If they manage to work at Bistro Štrecha for six months they are entitled to become part of the cooperative, however this can also cause problems, those who are indebted to the bank can find their part in the cooperative removed and taken over by the bank in question, a heartless and cruel thing to do, these individuals struggle with earning a low wage and they are expected to pay off debts to the bank before they eat. Working in a vegan establishment also means that the employees as well as the patrons are playing their part in the painfully slow movement over to sustainable and greener eating options, the benefits are therefore environmentally sound, as well as material.

46

Bistro Štrecha couldn’t do this without help of course, and it works with two non-governmental organizations (NGO’s).

The first of these is ‘Rubikon Centrum’ and they help ex-cons to integrate back into society, to try and overcome any financial debts they may have and to be an organization ex-prisoners can turn to. The second NGO is called ‘Jako Doma’ and they help homeless women, standing by their side and encouraging the recognition and removal of inequalities that homeless women face, these range from experiencing terrible violence to struggling mothers in desperate need of a long term solution to their predicament.

These NGOs provide the workers for Bistro Štrecha, they have only been open for eight months and in that time they have hired eight people who now have the chance to build something better for themselves.

The success of the project is such that they have decided to open a catering business in order to help more people.

Great food, excellent prices and superb service also comes with the knowledge that the food you’re eating is sustainable, which generates a satisfaction in the soul and in the stomach!

Sadly in the Czech Republic there are over 68,000 homeless people, the figure in Prague is seven thousand and unless you’ve been walking around with a blindfold on you can’t have failed to notice. Debt, alcoholism and unemployment are major contributory factors.

There are NGO’s, which exist to try and help with the situation but they face a chronic shortage of governmental support and social workers, contributing to the malaise. In addition to the existing number of homeless people on the streets, there are nearly 120,000 people on the edge of being homeless.

If you are living on a small pension you are unlikely to be able to afford the two month’s deposit required by most real estate companies and social housing is scarce and difficult to obtain, so the only option for some is to live in a rented room or stay with a friend and only if they are lucky enough to know someone with available space. Since prices continue to grow relentlessly, the problem will only get worse.

47

As a result of unpaid bills and the unfair and unchecked fees levied by debt collectors, ex-prisoners accumulate debts on average of 250,000CZK while they are inmates. These debts can quickly escalate and get out of hand, leading to desperate situations. There are also health insurance and social security costs to pay and while state programs offer inmates the opportunity of working and earning money, 50CZK an hour will do little to dent these debts, let alone pay them off. Quite often an ex-prisoner will end up back inside because their dire situation leads to committing a crime just to try and get out of debt.

We can do our bit to try and alleviate the situation by supporting worthy causes such as Bistro Štrecha. Spread the word to your friends and family, follow them on social media and head into Žižkov to try them out, homelessness is a terrible stain on today’s society and it is society which must lead the way in reforming and eradicating the awful predicament that will be faced by thousands this winter.

By David O’Brien

Photos By Bistro Strecha

48

Welcome To Coffeepark!

We are a small family café located right next to Riegrovy Sady park in the Prague neighborhood of Vinohrady.

We love dogs and their owners too, of course. We aim to provide a pleasant environment for your coffee shop lounging.

We offer a wide variety of excellent desserts, gluten-free even vegan meals, breakfast menus, and more. Everything is freshly made in our kitchen. Our goal is to serve people with various dietary restrictions while maintaining quality and the original flavor.

Your dog friends won’t leave unhappy either For them, we have treats and goodies, and if it’s their birthday, we’ll make them a cake! Speaking of birthdays, we have a back room for private parties and events. There is even a photo studio, where we’ll gladly snap a family picture of you and your dogs!

Some dogs’ lives are much harder. For every cup of coffee you buy in our café, we donate money to Psí život, a nonprofit organization that helps dogs owned by people living on the street. If you buy a chic bowtie for your dog, the manufacturer Funky Dog donates 30% of the price to various animal shelters. We also support charity bazaars and fundraisers by hosting them from time to time.

Don’t worry people who don’t like dogs don’t come to our café. Here, dogs and dog lovers are truly welcome!

www.coffeepark.cz Chopinova 1556/6, Královské Vinohrady, 12000 Praha

49

Photo by Aris Sfakianakis

Dear Zuzka Ahoj! Ja jsem Zuzka, a jsem z Prahy, ale nebojte se, I speak English. Don’t be afraid! In fact if you want to speak Czech with me to help you practice, I will just speak English to you anyway. I want to show you I am better at English than you are at Czech. And if you keep speaking Czech, I will say something very difficult in Czech to make you go back to English!

As I say, don’t worry, I’m not really scary, I am Oko Magazine’s resident Agónie Teta, or Agony Aunt, along with my good friend Susie.

We know that Prague is a wonderful place, but we also know that it can have its complications for many different reasons and we are here to help you overcome these obstacles. You can find details below for how to contact us and you will get the unique opportunity to get feedback from a Czech native, me (!), and a long-term expat, Susie, about the problems, troubles and difficulties you face in Prague, and the Czech Republic. Yes, there is more than just Prague you know!

Hi, Susie here! I am from London but I have been living in Prague for almost eight years. It’s a great city to live in and I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but it hasn’t always been plain sailing.

So if you have any problems or difficulties or need some advice about life here, Zuzka and I are here at Oko! Magazine to help you from both sides of the ‘trdelnik’ as they say in Czech.

Along with helping out directly with your problems, we will be giving out general advice on topics such as: Chatas, what’s the real deal?

Why are Czechs always sick for one week?

You eat what for Christmas now?

42 letters in the language, really?

How to survive as an English teacher until you get private lessons, and how to get the best out of Prague and maybe even fall in love on less than 20,000kc a month. (Zuzka says there’s no chance but I’m sure there must be!)

So get in touch with us at zuzka@okomagazine.cz

50

51

More than 90 minutes

A leader is only a human-being without their followers.

And an ideology is just a thought without those who believe. Similarly, a football club may easily cease to exist if it weren’t for its supporters.

This is the story of the people who kept Prague’s oldest football club alive. This is the story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things. This is the story of the fans of SK Slavia Prague.

OKO! magazine spoke to one such fan, Lukáš Vala, about being a Slavia fan and how this has driven his life. We asked Vala when and why he became a Slavia fan: “I was born into it,” he replied, “my grandfather was a Slavia fan, my father was a Slavia fan and I grew up in a neighborhood where all my friends were Slavia fans.”

52

Vala recalled how his grandmother had told him that they cancelled holiday plans because his grandfather refused to miss a Slavia match. His father had grown up as a diehard fan and when he was accepted to play for the Slavia first team it was a great honor for him despite difficult circumstances: “My father started playing for Slavia during communism. The communists made him choose between a football career or studying at university and he chose university.”

The Slavia community faced one of its most testing times during communism. The regime seemed to favor Prague’s second oldest football team, Sparta, and the reasons for this date back to the very beginnings of these teams.

Slavia was originally founded by a group of students in 1892, in an effort to increase sport activity amongst students.

Sparta, on the other hand, was founded a year later and was commonly supported by the working class. As part of every communist regime, the intellectuals in the society were frowned upon and subsequently Slavia, known as the team established and supported by intellectuals, became the target of several blows.

The original Slavia stadium at Letná was destroyed to make space for the biggest statue of Stalin at that time. The Slavia team and fans were then moved to Vršovice, their name was changed, and their famous red and white uniforms were taken away. These were difficult years but the fans never gave up on their team. Some decided to team together and form a special group called ‘The friends of Slavia’. Their goal was to get Slavia’s name and uniform back and, through great dedication, they succeeded in doing this. While the Slavia football team didn’t win a single championship for nearly half a century, they finally won their 14th title in the Czech League in 1996.

This high note would inevitably end as the Slavia community experienced yet another challenging period in the following years.

The Slavia football team was in exile at the Strahov Stadium, since the old Eden stadium in Vršovice was falling apart, but this didn’t stop a small group of fans from supporting their team as best as they could. Vala recalls that around 2004, he noticed that the fans of teams abroad displayed more organized means of support through choreography and chants initiated by crowd leaders: “We wanted to show the same kind of support for our team so some friends and I raised some money, we bought a megaphone and one day during a match I just jumped over the fence and started leading a crowd of about 30 people.

In the next match, we had 32 supporters and in 2008, when we finally moved back to our newly built Eden stadium, we had thousands!”

Starting at the young age of 15, Vala, armed with unwavering commitment and a megaphone, lead the Slavia fans as they channeled their devotion and support for their team.

“Being a fan is so much more than 90 minutes,” he said. Vala described how before matches, these fans would raise funds, plan and practice intricate choreography and, in carrying their reputation as intellectuals, they would school other fans about history and tradition through lectures known as ‘The University of Slavia.’

53

In 2010, the Slavia fans entered the political world when they teamed up with another Vršovice football club, the Bohemians, to start a political party which successfully prevented Bohemians from losing their stadium.

While their efforts off the field are plentiful, one tradition commonly displayed in those 90 minutes made headlines around the world in 2007 when Slavia played at the famous Arsenal FC. Although Slavia suffered a record loss 0-7, the fans’ reaction took Arsenal spectators and the media by surprise.

“One of our traditions is that after every match the players will sit in front of the fans so that we can sing the ‘Thank you’ chant,” Vala said. In this so called ‘Thank you’ chant, the fans let the players know that they are always with them, no matter whether they win or lose.

Vala spoke about one of his favorite memories, which highlights fan dedication and tradition through surprising circumstances that stem from events in 1911. Slavia was invited to Croatia in 2011 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Croatian football club, the HNK Hajduk Split. The club was established by Croatian students in 1911 in Prague with the help of Slavia club members.

A century later, the Croatian fans have still not forgotten their sharedhistory.

Vala described how he fell in love with Croatia when he went to support Slavia in a friendly match against Hajduk: “We were treated like family. There were over 45 000 people in the stadium but over 150 000 in the streets. Hajduk and Slavia fans were celebrating the creation of the club by enjoying fire shows, concerts and unbelievable emotions.

Slavia and Hajduk fans still travel to support each other’s teams during derby matches.”

In 2015, Vala decided to end his time as a crowd leader as he focused on starting a family and opening a business.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Vala returned briefly as the crowd leader from the end of July 2017 and continues to be active in the supporters’ scene.

Slavia is now on the rise, as they are at the top of the Czech League. In 2017 they won the Czech League title for the first time since 2009. When asked to comment on the recent development, Vala had the following to say: “Of course I’m enjoying the current success but I am also standing with both feet on the ground. Slavia has a long history of ups and downs and it is important to stay humble.

My father likes to remind me that while I waited for 8 years to win the championship, he waited for over 40!”

Vala stressed that the players and results will always be second to the history and the Slavia community. “It doesn’t matter whether we win or lose,” Vala concluded, “Slavia will live forever.”

Slavia is currently fighting for the Czech League title and is also doing well in the Europa League group stage. Feel free to buy tickets through their official website and come and support the oldest Czech football club.

Photos by Lindsay Oliver

54

By Debbie Liebenberg

Výstava

Malého formátu 30x30

OPENING 4.12.18 6:00 PM

EXHIBITION CONTINUES UNTIL 2.2.19 Latin Art Gallery | Jungmannova 17/3, Praha 1

Pondeli - Pátek 15:00 - 18:00 Mimo vyznacené hodiny vstup pouze na domluvu +420 734 332 420 www.latinartgallery.com / Prague - Czech Republic Pozvánka platí pro 2 osoby. Prosíme potvrd’te úcast na: info@latin-art.com Dress code: casual smart 55

EDITORIAL STAFF

PUBLISHER

Marketing Director Claire Dognini marketing@okomagazine.cz

Art Director Benny Water design@okomagazine.cz

Oliver Horsfall editorial@okomagazine.cz

Cover Photo l Ondřej Tylčer Writers David O’Brien

Dagmar Gabulova Ljiljana Goller David Lameš Comedy Club Praha Debbie Liebenberg Photographers Lada Nayevo Oscar Keys Mallory Johndrow Ashley Batz Michell Zappa MontyLov Daria Shevtsova Alexis Chloe Nicole De Khors Ovayo Ntlabati Sudhith Xavier Ljiljana Goller

56

info@okomagazine.cz DISTRIBUTION

CONTRIBUTORS

Yulia Gottstein

www.okomagazine.cz Registration : MK CR E 23315 IC: 0645533 Edition #1 Dec/Jan 2018 Published December 12th 2018

GENERAL INQUIRIES

Editor In chief

Dominik Ježek

Oko! Magazine

Elena Ludovisi Chris Happel Serge Kutuzov K. M. Baalbaki Felix Mittermeier` Chelsea London Phillips fredy-martinez Jaromir Kavan Joanna Kosinska Aris Sfakianakis Lada Nayevo Lindsay Oliver

Oko! Magazine is a free review, distributers have the posibility to receive Oko! Magazine directly at their business address, for more information contact info@ okomagazine.cz.

PRINT reus s.r.o.

Ke Karlovu 1102/7 301 00 Plzeň-Skvrňany

MAGAZINE

MORE OKO! MAGAZINE www.okomagazine.cz facebook /magazineoko I instagram @okomagazine

Oko! Magazine is a free publication and to make sure it remains this way we reserve space for advertisers. Oko! Magazine does to the best of its ability to try and curate advertisements of interest to our audience. Should you be interested in advertising or cooperating with Oko! Magazine, then please contact us at info@okomagazine.cz

N°1

Take Off

Dec/Jan 2018

57

MAGAZINE

WWW.OKOMAGAZINE.COM

58

N°1

Take Off

Dec/Jan 2018