Culture this week: Watch Japanese films, or a Greek play come to life

Animals from another angle|The photography exhibition Touches of Africa is in the Passage Myslbek until March 30. The photos, which were taken by Martin Veselý, who recently ranked second in the prestigious Czech Press Photo 2022 award in the category Man and Environment, show the feet of African animals "in stunning detail."

Colorful utopias|Markéta Magidová is the first of a series of emerging artists that Kunsthalle Praha presents to the public. In My Sweet Inedible Planet, which runs until May 1, Magidová takes visitors on a colorful visual odyssey that spans various artistic mediums extending from computer-generated and animated films, and encompassing digital paintings and tangible objects.

Cave myths|While the allegory of Plato's cave is one of the best known about hidden spaces in Western culture, representations of caves were also a popular theme in visual arts, especially in the 19th century. The exhibition The Cave Phenomenon in Drawing and Printmaking around 1800, which looks into the topic and its meanings, is at the National Gallery Prague until April 23.

Behind the classic music scene|The Cate Blanchett-starring biopic Tár is at Kino Pilotů for several days next week, starting on Feb. 21. The movie, which is nominated for 6 Academy Awards, tells the story of Lydia Tár, who is the first female conductor of a major German orchestra, and one of the greatest living conductors and composers.

Japanese film festival|The Unseen Japan film festival brings Japanese movies (with English and Czech subtitles) to Kino Lucerna between Feb. 20 and 25. The 16th Festival of Japanese Film and Culture will show the land of the rising sun in a different light, which showcases the cultures of Japan's indigenous people, and takes viewers through different periods of both modern history and Japan's Samurai Middle Ages.

Redemption story|Director Darren Aronofsky's latest film, The Whale, is at Bio Oko on several days next week, including on Feb. 23 and 24. Starring Brendan Fraser, which earned several awards and a nomination for the upcoming Oscars for his performance, the movie tells the story of a morbidly obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter.

Synth experiments|International band Machina Mundi is at Palác Akropolis on Feb. 20. Its line-up includes Czech saxophonist Luboš Soukup, keyboardist William Larsson and drummer Daniel Johansson, both of them hailing from Sweden, and Canadian Graig Earle, who plays double bass. Their use of analogue synthesizers earned them comparisons with Weather Report.

Gospel post-punk|U.S. band Algiers will play at Lucerna Music Bar on Feb. 24, which is also the release date of their new album Shook. The band, whose previous album There is No Year Pitchfork praised for its "loose, open-ended" sound, cites among its influences post-punk, hip-hop, Southern Gothic literature, and the concept of the Other.

Mozart opera| Listen and watch a performance of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Magic Flute on stage at The Estates Theater on Feb. 22. The opera draws on the tradition of old Viennese magic opera, which sees supernatural beings join human characters on set, while stage machinery effects add magic to the fairy tale plot.

Greek tragedy|Following its premiere this week, Euripides' The Bacchae is at The Estates Theater on Feb. 20 (with English surtitles). The play, which revolves around the arrival of Greek god Dionysus in Thebes, and the chaos that ensues, takes on a contemporary twist thanks to a new translation by Matyáš Havrda and Petr Borkovec, directly commissioned by the National Theatre in Prague. 

Circus history|The performance Senses brings circus history to Jatka78 on Feb. 21. Produced by Finnish director Maksim Komaro, who has been working with Circus La Putyka for more than a decade, the performance celebrates the history of the individual members of the ensemble, as well as the history of circus performances in the last four centuries.

New theater festival|A showcase of 35 theaters presented across 21 festival stages, The Malá Inventura Festival is a retrospective of the most outstanding premieres of the past year in the field of new theater. Venues include Alfred ve dvoře / Motus, Divadlo X10, MeetFactory, PONEC, and the National Galler's Trade Fair Palace. Many performances are language-barrier free and there are numerous family-friendly shows and accompanying activities planned.

Back to the sixties|A play capturing the rise and fall of Pavel Juráček is at Divadlo Na Zábradlí (with English subtitles) on Feb. 24. The Golden Sixties, or Diary of Pavel J. follows entries from diaries that Juráček, a director, screenwriter, and signatory of Charta 77 kept for more than a decade (between 1959 and 1974), which document his times, creative struggles, and the Czechoslovak Golden Age of cinema.