Creative workshop for the Velvet Carnival

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor

Name of lecturer(s)

Olga Věra CIESLAROVÁ, Filip NOVÁK

Department

The subject provides Department of Authorial Creativity and Pedagogy

Contents

Let’s form a “clique” for this year’s Velvet Carnival! This allegorical parade (with a fifteen-year tradition) was born at KATaP DAMU and each year tackles current social themes with irony and humor in the form of a visually and performatively conceived procession (www.sametoveposviceni.cz). Students, artists, and NGO partners work together in the preparations; on 17 November the festive parade moves through Prague and is seen by many thousands of spectators.

Participation will take the following shape:

1.Together we will search for a theme we consider pressing in contemporary society.

2.We will discuss how to stage and perform this theme with humor, irony, and satire.

3.In the Velvet Carnival workshops we will make masks, costumes, an illuminated structure, and devise/write a pamphlet.

4.We will bring the chosen theme to life in the streets of Prague during the parade, accompanied by music.

5.Reflection.

The course runs in blocks – the introductory phase (presentation of the event, search for theme) meets weekly, followed by work in the Velvet Carnival workshops. In the summer semester, the seminar Contemporary Public Festivities at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, will loosely follow on.

Learning outcomes

The aim of the seminar is both to practically prepare a performance for Velvet Carnival and to reflect on this feast in the streets as a whole. We will both create and theoretically address symbolic action in public space, the role of public rituals, and how artistic disciplines can contribute to their creation.

By taking part in the seminar and going through the entire process, including participation in the parade, students will develop the ability to critically assess symbolic action — to recognize and clearly articulate what works and what does not — and to actively create and work with symbols, aware of the strengths and limits of symbolic communication. They will thus gain capacities to serve as dramaturgs for Velvet Carnival groups in future years.

Prerequisites and other requirements

Students from all disciplines are welcome.

Literature

All participants must watch the video lecture by Assoc. Prof. Radek Chlup, “Satire vs. caricature in the Velvet Carnival” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tutzoVf4vpM), which introduces working with symbolic imagery in Velvet Carnival.

Optional recommended reading:

• Ronald L. Grimes, “Ritual in Prague’s Velvet Carnival,” TDR: The Drama Review 61, no. 3 (2017): 56–71.
• Section on Velvet Carnival in the collective monograph Alena Rybníčková, Radek Chlup, Martin Pehal, Evelyne Koubková, Happening: Between Intention and Play, Prague: AMU, 2015, pp. 133–188 (esp. R. Chlup’s chapter “Symbolic Efficacy in the Velvet Carnival”).
• Chapters on Velvet Carnival in Olga Cieslarová’s dissertation, When Anger Dances: Basel Fasnacht and Prague’s Velvet Carnival, defended at the Department of Authorial Creation and Pedagogy (KATaP), DAMU, April 2018.
• Unpublished article by Martin Pehal and Barryhoe Stephenson, “If Not Now – When? If Not Us – Who?: Symbolic Nodes and Performative Modes of the ‘Velvet Revolution’ Celebrations (17 November 1989) in Contemporary Czechia.”

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students earn 3 credits for:

1. Participation in all main seminar activities (two absences allowed only from interim activities, not from the final class or the parade itself).
2. Timely submission of a written reflection on this year’s parade (by 25 November).

Note

Attention – First Information Meeting (non-binding) will take place on Wednesday, October 1, right after the start of the academic year, at 12:00 in R312 at KATaP.

The first seminar will be held on Thursday, October 2, according to the timetable at 17:30, where we will already begin working on the preparation of the topic. The seminar will be conducted in English.

If you cannot attend the first meeting, please contact olga@sametoveposviceni.cz.

It is also possible to participate in the seminar in a shortened form starting from the end of October for 1 credit – by making a mask, joining the parade, and writing a reflection. Registration in KOS is required for this option.

Further information

This course is an elective for all AMU students

Schedule for winter semester 2025/2026:

• Week view
• List

Schedule for summer semester 2025/2026:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Authorial Acting in English (B.A.) (Elective subjects)
• Authorial Acting (M.A.) (Elective subjects)
• Authorial Acting (M.A.) (Elective subjects)
• Authorial Acting (M.A.) (Elective subjects)
• Authorial Acting (B.A.) (Elective subjects)