The kings of the maypole. Student Festivals in Czechoslovakia 1945-1990 | The Kings of Majáles. Student Festivities in Czechoslovakia 1945-1990

The Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century and the Museum Kampa - Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation have jointly published a companion publication to the exhibition The Kings of the Majals. Student Festivals 1945-1990, which will be on display in Kampa Park from 29 April to 27 July 2022. The publication will be available from 29 April 2022 in the shop of the Museum Kampa - Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation and in the office of the Museum of Memory of the XXth Century.

The main theme of the publication is the majáles tradition and its changes, with a focus on the period after the Second World War, when it took on distinctly political connotations. Student festivals reflected the nature and changes of political regimes, the mood of society and the degree of emancipation of the student movement, which played an important role in many historical ruptures. The catalogue presents not only the famous majales of 1956 and 1965 (Allen Ginsberg became the king of the majales), which had a distinctly protest character, but also deals with post-war majales, student festivals during the Prague Spring and the revival of the majale tradition after 1989. He also describes, with the help of previously unpublished photographs and documents, the unofficial majales on Prague's Petřín Hill, which in 1962-1966 turned into riots and in some years into street demonstrations.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA OF THE PUBLICATION

Title. Student Festivals in Czechoslovakia 1945-1990 | The Kings of Majáles.

Student Festivities in Czechoslovakia 1945-1990
Editor:


Jiří Pospíšil, Hana Kordová Marvanová, Petr Hejma
Publishers.

Cover