Karel Císař
Karel Císař, Prague, 13 October 2025
“Perhaps we’re living through an era of mistrust toward the future”
The Czech philosopher, curator, and art theorist Karel Císař conceives of the modern era less as a historical phenomenon and more as an idea or project that, even today, has to be repeatedly scrutinized and put to the test. In this conversation in the lecture hall of the Prague Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design, where he holds his own lectures on theory and history, he explains why art fascinates him as a practice that involves translation in many respects. As in the translation of experiences with historical material when engaging with the present, or: translation as a form-giving, haptic extension of philosophical thought. In dealing with artistic manifestos, for instance, Císař—as an enthusiastic collector and as a reader of Walter Benjamin—perceives possible ways of showing that precise observation of the vital dynamics surrounding a utopian space can frequently be almost more interesting than describing origins or temporally defined eras.
“Perhaps we’re living through an era of mistrust toward the future”
The Czech philosopher, curator, and art theorist Karel Císař conceives of the modern era less as a historical phenomenon and more as an idea or project that, even today, has to be repeatedly scrutinized and put to the test. In this conversation in the lecture hall of the Prague Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design, where he holds his own lectures on theory and history, he explains why art fascinates him as a practice that involves translation in many respects. As in the translation of experiences with historical material when engaging with the present, or: translation as a form-giving, haptic extension of philosophical thought. In dealing with artistic manifestos, for instance, Císař—as an enthusiastic collector and as a reader of Walter Benjamin—perceives possible ways of showing that precise observation of the vital dynamics surrounding a utopian space can frequently be almost more interesting than describing origins or temporally defined eras.