We carried out the
interview in the courtyard of Prague College. With people passing in and out,
sitting down on a nearby bench to smoke a cigarette or drink a cup of coffee,
it sometimes felt like a live show. In short, the atmosphere was vivid, positive
and good-humored, as we discussed architecture, photography and much more.
OVERTURE
First off, what were your BA and MA courses?
Both were in English
literature.
Do you remember what your theses were on?
I did one thesis on
the Second World War poet Keith Douglas and I did the other on Ezra Pound which
wasn’t really successful.
How come?
(laughs) I was very lazy, didn’t do enough research.
Both were at the University of Cambridge?
Yes, I was at
Cambridge a long time ago. I’m not telling you which class!
Since you graduated, you have done quite a lot of travelling and you
have moved abroad to work. How come?
Well my first
introduction to Prague was in 1991, I was teaching English at the time and we
have bought one of the first ever secondary school visits to Prague from the UK
to the new Czechoslovak Republic, as it then was. And it was love at first
sight really, as it is with many people.
Did you know anything about the history of the country before you
arrived?
Not really, no – but
I know a lot more now!
It’s usually that when I ask people who came into the country in
nineteen ninety something, this question, many say that their parents even
today just are horrified that their kids are going to live or are living in a
communist country.
I believe that there
are many people who still believe that it’s called Czechoslovakia. I was told
that until recently some staff at the American Embassy still had
“Czechoslovakia” on their visit cards. I have to check though if this is true!
So currently you’re the head of the Communications Department here at
Prague College. Before you were an editor at City Out Monaco and Head of
Communications at the British Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic.
Looking back, what have all these jobs given you?
Well, my background
is in education and more recently in business and so the opportunity to combine
both of those elements of my experience has come together very nicely in this
work which involves a great deal of networking, particularly with businesses,
all local, national and international. Being an institute of higher education,
we are always looking for ways to develop our links for purpose of internships,
projects and of course employment. And so one of the things we have been doing
at Prague College was setting up an industry network which is intended to
deepen and enrich our connections with all those companies.
And that’s going well I suppose?
It’s going very well
and we’re looking to expand our numbers quite rapidly this year when it’s also
our 10th anniversary.
·
ON ALCHEMY
When you came to Prague, did Alchemy already exist?
I believe it didn’t
exist at that point, but it had been running and was well established when I
came to live here permanently in the late 2000s.
You have volunteered to host it?
I’ve been doing it
for just over a year now, together with my girlfriend Petra.
What is your goal as hosts?
We’re really looking
to consolidate what we have at the moment in terms of both external speakers
and of course a regular audience of readers. So there are no immediate plans to
expand or diversify. We feel that the once-a-month format for Alchemy works
well.
Where do you get the guest speakers from?
Really many of them
come along by chance! We just happen to bump into people or on occasion we are
written to by someone from abroad. For example this autumn we are having a lady
from Australia coming in – she came across the website, as a lot of people do
on the international reading circuit and offered her services. So we are very
pleased to invite people from abroad. Generally speaking, Alchemy is an
English-speaking event and so clearly Anglophone countries tend to provide the
majority of our speakers but we do welcome other language speakers, including
Czechs of course.
· ON PRAGUE VITRUVIUS
You run a website dedicated to Prague architecture called Prague
Vitruvius.
Yes, I do. I started
it in 2011. Before that I had been running another blog - actually, let’s not
call it a blog, I don’t like that word - photo journal, based on the suburb of
Vršovice which is where I live. But it’s quite a small
suburb so I sort of ran out of places to photograph and decided that I’d expand
and indulge my interest in art history and architecture.
Did you ever think about studying history or architecture?
No, only in a
coffee-table way; my principal love has always been literature.
Do you write all articles in P. V. yourself?
Yes, I go out and
take the photos and usually on the same day when things are still fresh in my
mind I come back home and do a couple of hours’ research on each building.
And you do online research or do you ask the locals?
Mostly online but I
also use printed materials - I’ve got quite a nice collection now of written
works on Prague architecture of different periods. Prague locals have a good
understanding of their own architecture and sometimes I will talk to them to
clarify one or two missing details.
So you do all the photographing, the editing, the writing… How long does
the creation of one post take?
When I go out I’ll
normally take about 100-200 photographs of maybe four or five buildings at once
so I have a sort of pond to dip into at a later date. And as I say, research
for one entry is a matter of maximum of two hours, mostly online.
The site is open to
comments, though it has generated relatively little interaction. There’s a plan
later this year to revitalize the website’s “look and feel”, as they say, so
that may engage people a little bit more.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to get interns?
No, God no!
Definitely not, this is my own private hobby, it’s a way to get away from other people!
And I was just about to ask if you view P. V. as an obligation or
leisure, so I guess that’s answered!
No, but it’s a nice
idea. What I am keen to do is to get
more testimonials from institutions – for example the Pražská informační služba
and Radio Prague have already made nice testimonial quotations about the site.
My aim is to try and get some of the more conservational heritage groups to
have a look at the site and recommend it. I’ve tried UNESCO but without much
luck so far.
ON ARCHITECTURE AND PRAGUE
What is your original hometown?
I’m from a town
called Stafford, right in the middle of England, just north of Birmingham. It’s
a very beautiful and much underestimated county. People who live there rather
like the fact that it’s perhaps not so much visited as other parts of the
country and so it’s been able to be preserved in its rural beauty.
What’s the architecture like there, more countryside like, I presume?
The architecture I grew up with was pretty much vernacular – farm
houses, small villages, that sort of thing. So of course to me anything as
splendid as the streets of Vinohrady is like walking into a treasure box!
Would you say the face of Prague has changed since 1991?
Well of course, but I
didn’t see it changing, as I was just coming here periodically for visits.
In the last 5 years then?
Well, going back to
the architecture, there have been a few egregious projects for which I don’t
understand how they got planning permission, really. I wouldn’t like to name
particular ones, but we all know that there are buildings that are real
eyesores now, along the riverbank in Prague – that gives it away. I for one am
not a fan of Kaplický’s blob, the octopus. I really hope they don’t build that
thing up at Letná, it’d be dreadful.
There was some talk about changing the location to somewhere else.
I’ve seen pictures of
a miniature version of it that they’re used as a bus shelter in Brno and I
think that that’s where it should stop. He did do the Selfridges building in
Birmingham, which I quite like, but given that the rest of Birmingham is quite
a hodge-podgef architectural styles, it kind of fits. In the context of the
Prague skyline it would be a disaster.
By interest, have you heard about the project URBEX?
Not before this
interview, but I have looked at their website. I definitely am interested in
urban architecture – in fact I have a long-standing invitation that I haven’t
yet taken up to photograph the ČKD works in Karlín - an old industrial
compressor plant. If I do more work in
the future on industrial architecture, I am very open to getting in touch with
URBEX.
How’s your Czech actually?
For somebody who has
been living here for 5 years full time and been visiting for 20 years it’s
completely hopeless, I think. People say I’ve got a decent accent – but
restaurants are about my limit.
How would you describe the neighborhood you live in, Vršovice?
The part I live in, Staré Vršovice, it’s a little untouched gem,
really. It sounds odd to say, but to a
certain extent it is a nice place to live because it feels lived in, like a
sort of worn glove or an old sock. I like the fact that the pavements are
broken. I don’t appreciate the dog shit, but I quite like the fact that things
are not perfect. But I suspect like everywhere else that it will become a sort
of haven for the next generation of people with money who want that ‘authentic
experience’ of living in an older part of the city.
Do you have favorite places in Prague, ones than you would recommend?
These are my three
V’s. I think everyone should go to Vyšehrad because it is kind of the spiritual
center - I think nobody should visit Prague without going to the graves of
Dvořák and Smetana, so that’s very important.
And then I think
people should go to Vítkov, simply because it is not much visited, it’s got a
great panoramic view and it’s the other end of Prague history – not only the
Communist side of things, but everything really from the First World War.
Originally the museum there was built as a memorial to the Czech Legionnaires –
and that’s an interesting, often forgotten part of the history.
And then the third V
is the Veletržní palace which I think is hopelessly
under-visited - partly because of the National Gallery’s relatively poor recent
administration and partly because of its location. I mean, it is one of the
finest collections in Europe.
It has Mucha there now, right.
Yes, the Slav Epic is
there, but it doesn’t belong to them, it’s just hosted there. But the actual,
permanent collection at Veletržní palace is absolutely fantastic! I mean, at
some points of Prague’s history, it was very well curated; they were buying
really quality stuff. They got fabulous collections of Picassos that are just
unrivalled. They got only one Van Gogh, but it is a bloody good Van Gogh, then
they got that chap who went off to the South Sea isles…
Gauguin.
Gauguin. They’ve got
only one Gauguin, but again, it is a bloody good Gauguin. I think it’s a great
thing they’ve got going on there; it’s a really nice collection. But when you
go there, the only people you see regularly are the old-school babičky who insist on following you
around.
ON WRITING
You also write your own creative writing, mainly poetry.
Yes, yes. I’ve tried
my hand at prose but I’m not very good at plotting out large scale narratives.
Instead I try to concern myself with what one might call the glinting shards of
observation and experience, since poetry is better suited to that. Most of my
recent poems are published online – pragueleaves.blogspot.com. So if people
want to read my stuff there, they can.
What are the poems based on?
Most of them are
based on my experiences in this country as well as my own understanding of the
politics and history of the country. But I usually take as my starting point
something artistic, like a book I’ve read, a painting, a bit of architecture,
whatever.
I looked at the web yesterday actually and it seemed that the most
frequent themes were architecture and history.
Yes. What I try to do when constructing a poem
is that I try to lead the reader in a particular direction that is often
delimited by historical information and then to apply a modern or contemporary
twist – a mobile phone here, an e-mail there, something that brings the reader
sharply back into contemporary focus. That tends to be my strategy.
So you once said that music inspires you.
Yes, well I’m very
keen on the baroque music of this region.
How come?
On my first visit in
‘91 I came across a small shop that doesn’t exist anymore that was playing CDs
of a composer called Jan Dismas Zelenka. I think there were just 2 CDs
available back in 1991 and since then along with me the rest of the world seems
to have discovered this extraordinary composer. There are now, I don’t know, 60
or 70 CDs available and he has become, I suppose, one of the more well-known
Bohemian composers.
What appeals to you about his work?
Well, again, he does
something that I try to do in my own writing, which is just to apply an
unexpected turn in a structure that you may be more familiar with. For example,
he’ll construct a piece that builds in a particular way and then there’ll be a
really unusual key change or modulation that just throws you completely - I
rather like that.
Surprise, basically.
Yes, I like the
element of surprise.
· ON LITERATURE
In terms of literature, do you have a favorite period, as you do with
music?
I do like Elizabethan
writing and, like you, I enjoy the works of the metaphysical poets which is the
closest one can come to the element of surprise and shock. But for me, the big
areas of interest are really Shakespeare – the sonnets as well as the plays -
the Romantics and some 20th century writing.
For example?
Very keen on The Great Gatsby, Heart of Darkness…
Fitzgerald, Conrad… Trying to think of other writers who I am keen on… Evelyn
Waugh, that’s a big influence. David Lodge…
DH Lawrence maybe?
I like travel writing
actually – I like his books on the Etruscan tombs in Italy, called Etruscan Places.
Kerouac?
Not so much, I’m not
much of a Beats fan. I’m not completely antipathetic to that, but I find that
some people who come here to Prague tend to be readers of Kafka and Kerouac and
not much else. It can become a little bit…
Limited?
Yes, but I think it’s
more self-limiting, that sort of
conversation. I’d much rather if people reached out and explored other literary
arenas.
Is there a book or collection of poetry that you return to?
(Long pause) Well, not really – I mean, there are authors I return
to and also materials that I should have read before but haven’t. Recently I
read Tender is the Night for the
first time, and some less well-known Virginia Woolf. Right now I’m reading Anna Karenina which again I should have
read years ago and left it till now. It’s a bit of fun, isn’t it? (Smirks)
Have you read Everything is
Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer? It’s a travel novel.
Oh yes. No, though I
did come across another book by him, Extremely
Loud and Incredibly Close, about the aftermath of 9/11. But I’m bit of an
old fogey aren’t I, not keeping up with the new authors.
This book was published in 2002.
Still new, to me. But
generally I think a lot of people in this fast-moving world could learn a lot
by taking a break from the schedule and giving their time to others. That’s
also one of the reasons why used to enjoy teaching Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird – one had to step
out of one’s shoes and walk in someone else’s in order to understand them.
They have actually taken that book off the iGCSE reading list not too
long ago.
Oh well, nothing
surprises me these days.
· CONCLUDING QUESTIONS
Where do you see Prague Vitruvius in a few years?
As I said to you
before, I’d like it to get more attraction and more interest from big
institutions. And then really, its expansion is solely dependent on my time -
and the money to buy a new camera (contributions welcome!) Seriously, I really value the ability that
the internet gives to extend knowledge free of charge.
Alchemy?
I’d like to see that
continue to be a harbor of creative arts in the expat community in Prague. It
has had its competitors but at the same time it has the virtue of lasting
longer than any of them. I think it is very important for people to have this
regular meeting point. I especially like that concept of regularity.
Well, you say that Alchemy is an English writing platform – and yet some
of the readers read their works that are written in French or Czech.
I’m extremely in favor of that. I think that the mystery of the word is
so important, the mystery of sound, to our identity as human beings. Especially
when that sound is so confusing to us, it produces a music that should inspire
us to widen our own perceptions of what makes us human beings. You could say that
was true of literature even in your own language that you don’t get or understand straight away –
there’s the famous Eliot line that great poetry communicates before it is
understood. Even though the writing is in French or any other language, there
can still be a visceral level at which communication happens. I often think
that people overlook the strategic importance of language in all its forms,
whether in everyday gossip, business writing or formal literary discourse and
to me, not only are all these three deeply connected, but people should never
stop learning how to do it better. In
that way, life is for me a little bit like going back to college – you learn
every day to improve your communication skills.
And lastly, where do you see yourself in a few years?
Oh, I don’t know. My
friends all joke about me talking about moving back to Scotland – whenever I
mention my affection for the land of my ancestors, they choose to see it as a
metaphor for my impending death. In a few years I will probably still be here.
And in terms of my work, I’d like to continue communicating in all ways – but
maybe for more money! (Laughs)
Anna
Hupcejová
Links
Alchemy - http://www.alchemy-prague.com/
